- Fr.
- Vivian
- Boland, O.P.
- Professore Aggregato
- Section: Spirituality
Academic degrees earned
S.T.B., Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas
S.T.L., Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas
S.T.D., Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas
Courses at the Angelicum
- sP2518
- Licentiate, Diploma
- Spirituality
- Semester II
- sP1992
- Licentiate, Diploma
- Spirituality
- Semester I
Following studies in philosophy and theology at St Mary’s, Tallaght, the studium generale of the Irish Dominican province, I began doctoral studies at the University of Edinburgh. Transferring to Rome, I gained the STL in 1983 and defended my doctorate in 1992. Between those years I taught at a number of institutions, particularly at St Mary’s, Tallaght, where I was also Moderator and Regent of Studies. Moving to London in 1996 I taught at St Mary’s University, Twickenham and at Blackfriars, Oxford. I was Master of Students of the English province and socius to the provincial. In 2011 I was asked by the Master of the Order to serve as socius for Northwest Europe and Canada as well as for Initial Formation. Later I was appointed his vicar and served as the first socius for Fraternal Life and Formation. Since the 2019-20 academic year I have taught at the Angelicum, mainly courses in Spirituality.
I have taught in the areas of moral and pastoral theology, the development of medieval thought, and the writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas.
1986-90 Association of Moral Theology Teachers of Ireland
1998-2020 Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain
2007-11 Board of Governors, Anscombe Bioethics Centre (formerly Linacre Centre for Healthcare Ethics)
2009- Society for the Study of Christian Ethics
2004–11 Reviews Editor for New Blackfriars (Oxford) 2005-2019
The Pastoral Review (London)
2008-18 New Blackfriars (Oxford)
2011- Studium. Filosofia y Teologia (Tucuman, Argentina)
2011- Medieval Mystical Theology (The Journal of the Eckhart Society, London)
A companion volume to The Spirit of Catholicism (2021) which will complement that book’s consideration of the Christian community with a consideration of the Christian person.
Books
Ideas in God according to Saint Thomas Aquinas: Sources and Synthesis, Studies in the History of Christian Thought, edited by Heiko A.Oberman, Volume LXIX. E.J.Brill, Leiden-New York-Köln 1996
St Thomas Aquinas Continuum Library of Educational Thought, Continuum, London and New York 2007 (republished in paperback in 2014 in the Bloomsbury Library of Educational Thought)
Patterns of Personal and Communal Spirituality: Learning from Monasticism (A Coursebook for the MA in Catholic Pastoral and Educational Studies) Maryvale Institute, Birmingham 2010
The Spirit of Catholicism Bloomsbury Continuum, London, 2021 (paperback edition 2023)
Edited Books
Watchmen Raise Their Voices: A Tallaght Book of Theology Essays to mark the 150th anniversary of the Dominican House of Studies in Tallaght (1855-2005), edited with Thomas McCarthy OP, Dominican Publications, Dublin 2006
Don’t Put Out the Burning Bush: Worship and Preaching in a Complex World, editor, ATF Press, Adelaide 2008
The Word is Flesh and Blood: The Eucharist and Sacred Scripture [Essays honouring Wilfrid J. Harrington OP in his 85th year], edited with Thomas McCarthy OP, Dominican Publications, Dublin, 2012
Encyclopedia and Dictionary Entries
‘Albertus Magnus’ and ‘Theology: Western Christian: Dominican’, in William M. Johnston, editor, Encyclopedia of Monasticism, Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago and London, 2000, Volume 1, pp.21-23 and Volume 2, pp.1262-64
‘Analogy’, ‘Aristotelianism’, ‘Scholasticism’ and ‘Thomist Spirituality’ in The New SCM Dictionary of Christian Spirituality, edited by Philip Sheldrake, SCM Press, London, 2005, pages 106-07, 124-26, 565-67, 618-20
‘Aquinas, Thomas’, ‘Scholasticism’ and ‘Thomism’ in Mark Bevir, editor, Encyclopedia of Political Theory Volume One, pages 60-64, Volume Three, pages 1234-35, and Volume Three, pages 1361-68, Sage Publications 2010
Selected Chapters and Articles
‘Non solum discens sed et patiens divina: the wanderings of an Aristotelian fragment’, in Roma, magistra mundi Itineraria culturae medievalis. Mélanges offerts au Père L.E.Boyle à l’occasion de son 75e anniversaire, édités par J.Hamesse, Féderation Internationale des Instituts d’Études Médiévales, Textes et études du moyen âge X, Louvain-la-Neuve, volume I, 1998, pp.55-69
‘Aquinas and Simplicius on Dispositions: A Question in Fundamental Moral Theory’, New Blackfriars 82 (2001) 24-28
‘Thinking About Good – Thomas Aquinas on Nicomachean Ethics I, Divine Names IV-V and de Ebdomadibus’, New Blackfriars 83 (2002) 384-400
‘Kenny on Aquinas on Being’, New Blackfriars 84 (2003) 388-399
‘”Get into the River”: The Dominican Passion for Study’, in Watchmen Raise Their Voices: A Tallaght Book of Theology, Dominican Publications, Dublin 2006, pp.107-25
‘Boring God: Theology and Preaching’, in Michael Monshau OP, editor, The Grace and Task of Preaching, Dominican Publications, Dublin 2006, pp.52-70
‘The healing work of teaching: Thomas Aquinas and education’, in Gabrielle Kelly OP and Kevin Saunders OP, editors, Towards the Intelligent Use of Liberty: Dominican Approaches in Education, ATF Press, Adelaide 2007, pp.32-41
‘Gestis verbisque’: Proclaiming the Mystery of Christ in Actions and Words’, in Don’t Put Out the Burning Bush: Worship and Preaching in a Complex World, ATF Press, Adelaide 2008, pp. vii-xxvii
‘The Meaning of Suffering and Death in the Catholic Faith’, European Journal of Palliative Care 17 (2010) 18-21
‘Religious doubts and mental health in adolescence and young adulthood: The association with religious attitudes’ [with Anikó Kézdy, Tamás Martos and Katalin Horváth-Szabó] Journal of Adolescence 34 (2011) 39-47
‘Krisztus állhatatossága (2Tessz 3,5) és az erőszakmentesség lelkisége’ [‘The fortitude of Christ (2 Thess 3,5) and a spirituality of non-violence’], Vigilia (Budapest) 76 (2011) 2-10
‘Does God think? Recent work on Aquinas’s doctrine of divine ideas’, in James McEvoy, Michael Dunne and Julia Hynes, editors, Thomas Aquinas: Teacher and Scholar (The Aquinas Lectures at Maynooth, volume 2: 2002-2010), Four Courts Press, Dublin 2012, pp. 120-34
‘Aquinas’, in Ethics: The Key Thinkers, edited by Tom Angier, Bloomsbury Academic, London and New York, 2012, pp. 83-103
‘Wiedza, rozum oraz mądrość: cnoty intelektualne, edukacja i dary Ducha Świętego’ [‘Knowledge, reason and wisdom: intellectual virtues, education and the gifts of the Holy Spirit’], Teofil (Krakow) 30 (2012) 208-221
‘An education in gratitude: initial formation between postmodernity and new evangelisation’, Religious Life Review 51 (2012) 218-29
‘St Thomas Aquinas: what is his relevance to Catholic education today?’, International Studies in Catholic Education 4.2 (October 2012)
‘Thomas Aquinas, Catholic Education and the Transcendental Properties of Truth, Goodness, Beauty, and Integrity’, in Stephen J. McKinney and John Sullivan, editors, Education in a Catholic Perspective, Ashgate, Farnham and Burlington VT, 2013, pp.49-64
‘Isten Igazsága és a teremtmények igazságai’ [‘The Truth of God and the truths of creatures’], in Az Igazság ragyogása a Kinyilatkoztatás szívében: Domonkos megköselítések, L’Harmattan Kiadó, Sapientia Szerzetesi Hittudományi Föiskola, Budapest 2017, 55-68
‘Dominican Education’, Educatio Catholica Anno VII.3-4 (2021) 199-206
‘Thomas Aquinas and Education: Imagination at the Service of Reason?’, Lumen (Fu Jen University, Taiwan) 9.1-2 (2021) 20-31
‘Il sermone Puer Iesus di san Tommaso d’Aquino: una fonte trascurata per la sua comprensione dell’insegnamento e dell’apprendimento’, Vita Cristiana 91.1 (2022) 31-49 [First published in English in New Blackfriars 88 (2007) 457-70]
‘The Healing Work of Teaching: Thomas Aquinas and Education’, Educatio Catholica VIII.4 (2022) 133-41
