Sept. 24, 2104, 12:58 a.m. – POPE Francis has named UST
Vice Chancellor Fr. Gerard Francisco Timoner III, O.P. as one of the new
members of the International Theological Commission.
Timoner, the prior provincial of the Dominican Province of
the Philippines, was appointed along with 29 other theologians from different
countries as new members of the commission, according to a press release issued
by the Holy See Press Office.
The new appointees will serve a five-year term, from 2014 to
2019.
Timoner is the fourth Filipino to be named to the Vatican
commission, after the Jesuit Fr. Catalino Arevalo, Don Bosco priest Fr. Francis
Gustilo, and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle.
The International Theological Commission’s primary duty is
to help the Holy See and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in
examining doctrinal questions. It was instituted by Pope Paul VI on April 11,
1969.
Timoner commenced his four-year term as the prior provincial
of the Filipino Dominicans in 2012. He also served as UST vice rector for
religious affairs and rector of the Central Seminary from 2007 to 2012.
Timoner earned his bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from the
Philippine Dominican Center of International Studies in 1991 and bachelor’s
degree in Sacred Theology from UST in 1994.
He obtained his licentiate in Sacred Theology from the
Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen in the Netherlands in 2004. Angeli
Mae S. Cantillana
