When I first told friends and family that I had been appointed as Executive Director of the Dominican Ecclesial Institute, people would often give responses like “That sounds great; but just what is a Dominican Ecclesial Institute?”  Being fairly familiar with the work of D+E+I at the time, I would usually start explanations saying “Well it’s kind of like…”;  “It’s sort of a…”; “It works along the lines of …”  I soon realized that this was a problem and set out in my mind to clarify the name’s actual meaning.

Without boring everyone to tears or upsetting my Latin tutors, I can  briefly say that “Dei” in Latin can have two meanings, one which is relevant, the other which is not.  Grammatically, it can be a genitive singular meaning “Of God”; this is the meaning we want to emphasize. (The other meaning is a nominative plural meaning “Gods,” which is not relevant here.)

So the name “D+E+I,” “Of God,” is a good start.  Now, what about “Dominican,” “Ecclesial,” and “Institute?”  Each of the terms deserves an explanation.
“Dominican” pertaining to St. Dominic de Guzman and/or his followers, the Order of Preachers.  St. Dominic was a 12th century priest who felt called by God to win people who had fallen into a cult known as the Albigensian heresy back to the Faith of the Church.  To their credit, the Albigensians took the New Testament call to simplicity and common life very seriously; unfortunately they also divided up the faithful into more and less perfect groups and believed in a kind of reincarnation until a soul escaped from the prison of the material world and returned to the celestial realm from which they believed they came.  Early efforts to win this group back to the Church generally failed for two reasons. First, the effort was conducted by wealthy members of the aristocratic clergy whose plush lifestyle seemed to the Albigensians not to respect the Gospel call to simplicity and shared resources.  Secondly, the sales pitch used by the Church at that time tended to take the form of threats and condemnations.  St. Dominic realized that the only way to bring these people back to the Church was to simultaneously admit where they were right and discuss and even respectfully argue with them on points where they differed from the teaching of traditional Christianity.  Dominic was so successful in meeting people where they were and demonstrating the truth and beauty of the Christian Faith that he not only brought people back to the Church but also attracted a following of his own: men and women who wished to share in his mission.  So the Order of Preachers (commonly known as “Dominicans”) was born to preach the truth of the Gospel to all, and to find means of presenting that Gospel in manners in which people of each time and place could best understand, appreciate and embrace it.  From our founding the Dominicans have been at our core both an intellectual and a pastoral Order.  The Dominican mission it is to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world in ways which the world can hear it and really come to believe it.  We traditionally favor discussion and debate over simple enforcement of conformity and we would rather have someone understand what the Gospel means than simply accept it uncritically.  We are charged with knowing the faith and helping others come to that same knowledge.
 When I first told friends and family that I had been appointed as Executive Director of the Dominican Ecclesial Institute, people would often give responses like “That sounds great; but just what is a Dominican Ecclesial Institute?”  Being fairly familiar with the work of D+E+I at the time, I would usually start explanations saying “Well it’s kind of like…”;  “Its sort of a…”; “It works along the lines of …”  I soon realized that this was a problem and set out in my mind to clarify the name’s actual meaning.

Without boring everyone to tears or upsetting my Latin tutors, I can  briefly say that “Dei” in Latin can have two meanings, one which is relevant, the other which is not.  Grammatically, it can be a genitive singular meaning “Of God”; this is the meaning we want to emphasize. (The other meaning is a nominative plural meaning “Gods,” which is not relevant here.)

So the name “D+E+I,” “Of God,” is a good start.  Now, what about “Dominican,” “Ecclesial,” and “Institute?”  Each of the terms deserves an explanation.

“Eccleisal” means “of or pertaining to the Church.”  The word “ecclesial” confuses people sometimes because it can sound strange and exotic.  The word comes from the Greek ekklesia and it was used in the Greek bible to translate the Hebrew word qahal which meant “the assembly of the faithful, those called by God.” The Greek  word was then absorbed almost directly into Latin (ecclesia).  Most Latin based languages use a word descended from this one for “Church” like the Spanish iglesia or the French église. English however, uses a word with a German root (Kirche) but the idea represented by the words remains the same.  “Church/ecclesia” does not mean the buildings we call “churches,” or refer primarily to the ordained men who form the clergy, or the professed men and women religious. Church/ecclesia emphasizes the original meaning of “church” as the assembly of the faithful, the body of Christ, all the baptized men, women and children joined together in God by Christ through the Holy Spirit.  This is the Church in the fullest sense of the term, and D+E+I is meant to be of service to this inclusive body of the faithful.

“Institute” According to Wikipedia, “An institute is a permanent organizational body created for a certain purpose. Often it is a research organization (research institution) created to do research on specific topics. …  The word comes from the Latin word institutum meaning facility or habit; from instituere meaning build, create, raise or educate.”  So an institute is an organization created for the purpose of research and/or education.  That pretty well describes the structure of D+E+I which was established as a collaboration between the Dominican Order and the clergy and laity of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe for the adult Catholic education, enrichment and ongoing faith formation for the people of God in this region and beyond.

So from all this we finally arrive at a description of D+E+I as “An organization, in the Dominican style and tradition, for the up-building of the Church (the People of God) through ongoing education and faith formation.”  It’s still a bit of a mouthful, but I think it helps clarify my task and goal as the Executive Director of D+E+I.
If this sounds right or even exciting to you, I hope that you join us as an event participant or perhaps even a supporter as D+E+I continues its work of bringing the Gospel to life in the hearts and minds of the people of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and beyond.

Sincerely in Christ and Dominic,

Fr. Matt Strabala, OP