Western Dominican Province Announces Interim President of the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology
Sr. Marianne Farina, CSC, to Lead DSPT Effective Immediately.
Sr. Marianne Farina, CSC, begins her service as Interim President immediately, following in the footsteps of Fr. Allen Moran, OP, who had been appointed President effective July 2022.
We welcome Sr. Marianne as an exceptional and dedicated leader, and offer our profound thanks to her for her willingness to serve. May God bless her ministry at the DSPT for the sake of teaching Truth and preaching the holy Gospel for the salvation of souls!
Learn more about Sr. Marianne Farina at dspt.edu/marianne-farina.
Read the full announcement here or the text below.
January 23, 2023
Western Dominican Province Announces Interim President of the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology
Sr. Marianne Farina, CSC, to Lead DSPT Effective Immediately
OAKLAND, CA – The Very Reverend Christopher Fadok, OP, Prior Provincial of the Dominican Friars of the Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Western Dominican Province), a province of the Order of Preachers, announced today the appointment of Sr. Marianne Farina, CSC, as Interim President of the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology (DSPT) in Berkeley, California.
Sr. Marianne Farina will begin her service as Interim President immediately, following in the
footsteps of Fr. Allen Moran, OP, who had been appointed President effective July 2022.
Fr. Moran, a member of the Province of St. Joseph (Eastern Dominican Province), was elected and confirmed as Prior Provincial of that province on Saturday, January 14, 2023. As was required, Fr. Moran immediately submitted his resignation as DSPT President to serve as Prior Provincial. The friars of the Western Dominican Province thank him for his service and offer prayerful support to Fr. Moran as he assumes the duties of Prior Provincial.
Sr. Marianne Farina, a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, is Professor of Theology and Philosophy at the DSPT and a core member of faculty. She received her BFA in Communication Arts from Parsons School of Design in 1974, her MA in Pastoral Theology from Santa Clara University in 1996, and a PhD in Theological Ethics from Boston College in 2004. She joined the faculty of DSPT in 2005 and has contributed to the programs of the college as Chair of the Theology Department and Director of the Master’s in Theological Studies. Sr. Farina is also a member of the Core Doctoral Faculty of the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) in Berkeley, California, and a faculty member of the Center for Islamic Studies at the GTU. She serves on the governance team for the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, Area of North America.
Fr. Fadok expresses his gratitude, “I am grateful to Fr. Allen for the time he gave us, by which God blessed us, and for the faithful service he rendered to our province at the DSPT. May God bless his ministry as Prior Provincial of St. Joseph. I am equally grateful to Sr. Marianne, who for seventeen years has faithfully served our mission at DSPT to teach Truth and preach the holy Gospel, and for the gift God has given us in her as she assumes the duties of Interim President.”
Background & History of the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology (DSPT)
Inspired by the Dominican practice of disciplined inquiry and learned preaching, DSPT students are drawn into the rich tradition of classical philosophy and Catholic theology, especially as exemplified by St. Thomas Aquinas.
Both as a Center of Studies of the Order of Preachers and an apostolate of the Western Dominican Province, DSPT prepares religious, clerics, and laity for academic and apostolic Vocations.
Originally operated from St. Albert the Great Priory (the Dominican House of Studies in the West), the DSPT has been a member of the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) since 1964, an alliance of schools in Berkeley that is one of the most comprehensive centers for the graduate study of religion in North America.
As a community of scholars committed to the pursuit of truth as revealed in the Gospel and discovered by human reason, the DSPT instructs both Dominican student brothers and seminarians from other religious traditions, as well as lay men and women who desire to serve the Church in leadership and academic roles.
DSPT is the only school in North America to offer a 3-year concurrent enrollment in the MA Philosophy and MA Theology degrees, thus awarding students two master’s degrees upon graduation.
Annual enrollment is ~ 70 students, of which about 50% are Dominicans in formation.
Background & History of the Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers –the Dominicans – is a worldwide religious order of the Catholic Church dedicated to preaching the Gospel for the salvation of souls.
The Dominicans are one of the fastest growing men’s religious communities in the United States. Vocations to the Order have been increasing in the U.S. over the past 15 years, and now account for roughly 1/7th of all vocations to the Order world-wide.
Founded in 1850, the Dominican Friars of the Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Western Dominican Province) serve throughout the Western U.S. in a variety of apostolates, including campus and parish ministries, schools, seminaries, media, international missions, and the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology in Berkeley, CA – a graduate school serving religious and lay students from around the world.
