Pope John Paul II Awards Academic Prize to College Alumna,
Dr. Pia de Solenni
– For Dissertation
on Thomistic Theology
(November 8, 2001)
Pope John Paul II awarded the Pontifical Prize of the Academies
to Dr. Pia de Solenni, a 1993 graduate of Thomas Aquinas College
who recently earned her doctorate in Rome. The pope presented
the prize, which comes with a research grant worth about $27,000,
to de Solenni on November 8 during the annual joint session
of the pontifical academies. (See profile on page 7).
Pope John Paul told the assembly that he was awarding the
prize to her "for her work in Thomistic theology,"
citing her doctoral dissertation, A Hermeneutic of Aquinas's
Mens Through A Sexually Differentiated Epistemology: Towards
An Understanding Of Woman As Imago Dei. The thesis, which
she had submitted to the Pontifical University of the Holy
Cross, examined various feminist theories in light of the
anthropology and theology of St. Thomas Aquinas.
In an interview with ZENIT, the international religious
news service, de Solenni expounded on her thesis, explaining
that "woman is created in the image of God. Like man,
she is created for the purpose of knowing, ultimately knowing
God. True feminism, therefore, respects woman's essential
identity as an image of God. Where she differs from man, a
true feminism understands that these differences are constructive
and complementary."
Pope John Paul gave the award during the sixth public session
of the Pontifical Academies of Theology and of St. Thomas
Aquinas. He reminded the assembly that he had instituted the
prize "to raise up new talent and encourage the efforts
of young scholars, artists and institutions who dedicate their
activity to the promotion of Christian humanism."
A regular columnist for the National Catholic Register,
de Solenni currently serves as a Policy Analyst - Life Studies
at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C., where
she makes frequent media appearances advancing prolife causes.
-- Qtrly Newsletter, Spring 2002
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