Peter Kwasniewski

Kwasniewski was born on 22 March 1971 in Arlington Heights (Chicago).[1][2] He grew up in New Jersey. At the Delbarton School in Morristown, he received his first serious tutelage in music.[3] He attended Georgetown University for a single year, before starting as a freshman at Thomas Aquinas College in California, where he received his BA in Liberal Arts in 1994.[1] He received his MA in 1996 and his Ph.D. in 2002 from The Catholic University of America, both in philosophy. His MA thesis in 1996 was entitled "The Dialectic of Reason and Faith in Descartes's Meditationes de prima philosophia"[4] and his Ph.D. dissertation defended in 2002 was entitled "The Ecstasy of Love in Thomas Aquinas".[5]

He served as Assistant Professor of Philosophy from 1998 to 2006 at the International Theological Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Austria (then in the town of Gaming)[6] and as an adjunct instructor in music appreciation at the Franciscan University of Steubenville's Austria Program located on the same campus.[7] In 2006, he joined the founding team of Wyoming Catholic College in Lander, Wyoming, where he served as assistant academic dean and director of admissions, and then as choirmaster and Professor of Theology and Philosophy.[8] He also taught music and art history in the college's fine arts curriculum.[9]

At the end of the academic year of 2017–18, Kwasniewski left Wyoming Catholic College. He is currently working as an independent writer, editor, publisher, and guest lecturer, giving talks on the traditional liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church.[10] He also composes sacred music.[11]

Kwasniewski is a board member and scholar of The Aquinas Institute, which is publishing the Opera Omnia of St. Thomas Aquinas, a fellow of the Albertus Magnus Center for Scholastic Studies, and a senior fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology in Steubenville, Ohio.[12]

Fr. Anthony Ruff, OSB, of the PrayTell blog, has criticized Kwasniewski for an intransigent defense of traditional customs in the Catholic Church, especially those from before Vatican II, and for his apparent rejection of the reforms intended by the Second Vatican Council. Ruff, in particular, argues that Kwasniewski depends excessively on the Council of Trent, whose doctrine was, according to him, completed and corrected by Vatican II.[13] Jonathan Daly maintains that Kwasniewski's vocal preference for traditional worship is itself characteristically modern because it is a lifestyle and worldview choice over against other options that have more to recommend them, such as the contemporary magisterium.[14]

In 2016, TV Infobar made available the video of the book launch of the Czech translation of Resurgent, at which Cardinal Burke introduced the book, calling it "very readable and very accessible" and thanking Kwasniewski "for giving us this work."[15] Other positive publicity for this book included New Oxford Review, which claims that "Kwasniewski accurately sums up the current situation in the Church" and that Resurgent is "a starting point for serious discussion" for "revitalizing the Church".[16] The New Oxford Review also published reviews of Kwasniewski's Tradition and Sanity,[17] Reclaiming Our Roman Catholic Birthright,[18] and Reader in Catholic Social Teaching.[19]

His book Noble Beauty, Transcendent Holiness was praised by The Catholic Herald in Britain and the National Review, both of which published favorable reviews.[20][21]

His collection of writings on eucharistic reverence published by Sophia Institute Press, The Holy Bread of Eternal Life, bears endorsements from Scott Hahn, Peter Kreeft, Michael O'Brien, Fr. Gerald E. Murray, and Dan Burke.[22]

Dr. Kwasniewski has published a number of books and articles in the field of Thomistic studies. His first book—On Love and Charity, from Catholic University of America Press[23]—is a translation, with introduction and notes, of major portions of Aquinas’s Commentary on the Sentences (Scriptum Super Sententiis). At the time it appeared in 2008, it was the most extensive translation into English from that work of Aquinas’s that had yet been published, as explained in its Appendix II (pp. 395–97). Subsequently, Kwasniewski has worked with the editorial team of The Aquinas Institute in the translating, editing, and production of volumes of its Opera Omnia series,[24] which now includes a complete translation of Book IV of the Commentary on the Sentences,[25] with Books I, II, and III in preparation.[26]

Defended in 2003 at Catholic University of America,[27] Kwasniewski’s dissertation for his doctorate in philosophy was published in revised and expanded form in 2021 by Emmaus Academic Press under the title The Ectasy of Love in the Thought of Thomas Aquinas.[28] This study has won significant praise from many scholars around the world.[29]

Kwasniewski has published several scholarly studies of Aquinas in the English-language edition of the international theological journal Nova et Vetera.[30]

Other scholarly work by Kwasniewski on Aquinas includes “Transcendence, Power, Virtue, Madness, Ecstasy—Modalities of Excess in Aquinas” (Mediaeval Studies),[31] “‘Divine Drunkenness’: The Secret Life of Thomistic Reason” (The Modern Schoolman),[32] an article on St. Nicholas of Myra in the life and writings of St. Thomas (Angelicum),[33] and articles on Thales,[34] Proclus,[35] Bonaventure,[36] Ockahm,[37] Leibniz,[38] and the composer Anton Bruckner.[39] He contributed two chapters to The Glory of the Cosmos: A Catholic Approach to the Natural World, edited by Thomas Storck (Arouca Press, 2020): “Genetically Modified Organisms: A Catholic’s Animadversions” and “Listening with an Attentive Ear to God’s Poetry.”[40]

He also edited a Festschrift on the occasion of the seventy-fifth birthday in 2007 of Fr. Lawrence Dewan, O.P. (1932–2015), Wisdom’s Apprentice, which contains essays by Jan A. Aertsen, Stephen L. Brock, David B. Twetten, J.L.A. West, Ralph McInerny, Leslie Armour, Gregory T. Doolan, Christopher A. Decaen, Jude P. Dougherty, Ralph Nelson, Kevin L. Flannery, and Heather McAdam Erb.[41] Kwasniewski wrote an "In Memoriam" for Fr. Dewan, a teacher he says he greatly esteemed and got to know personally.[42]

In 2016, it was revealed that Kwasniewski was among the clergy and theologians who signed the "Letter of the 45", a letter to all the Catholic cardinals which asked them to "respond to the dangers to Catholic faith and morals" which they alleged that Pope Francis' Amoris Laetitia had posed.[43] Kwasniewski was also a signatory of a letter in support of the four Dubia cardinals.[44] In April 2019, Kwasniewski was among 19 Catholic scholars and clergy who signed a 20-page open letter making a formal accusation of heresy against Pope Francis.[45]

Kwasniewski has spoken out strongly against Pope Francis’s teaching on the death penalty and particularly his changes to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.[46] He has been an outspoken critic of this pope on other topics as well—for example, on the motu proprio Spiritus Domini modifying canon law to open the ministries of lector and acolyte to women;[47][48] and the pope's apparent veneration of Pachamama at the start of the Amazon Synod as well as the agenda and conduct of that synod.[49]

Kwasniewski discusses his understanding of the nature and limits of the papal office in many articles.[50][51][52][53] To an Eastern Orthodox hieromonk who had critiqued the Catholic Church in the modern West,[54] Kwasniewski wrote a rejoinder expressing sympathy but also questioning some of his conclusions and presenting arguments in favor of the Roman Church.[55] In an article called "Is It Ever Okay to Take Shelter in an SSPX Mass?", he summarized the changes over the years in the Holy See’s attitude toward the SSPX established by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and counseled Catholics, if their right to assist a Tridentine Mass is denied in their parish or diocese, to avail themselves of SSPX chapels.[56] He exhorts Catholics not to give up on the Catholic Church in spite of what many consider to be its current corruption and waywardness.[57][58]

Kwasniewski has written many articles on the papal motu proprio Traditionis custodes, which severely limits the use and growth of the traditional Latin Mass. Six of these responses, together with 64 responses by 44 other authors from 12 countries, were published in a volume that Kwasniewski edited for Angelico Press: From Benedict's Peace to Francis's War, published late October 2021.[59] The book includes many genres: essays, newspaper articles, interviews, lectures, and homilies, written by prelates and pastors, theologians and canonists, philosophers and cultural figures.[60] His work True Obedience in the Church: A Guide to Discernment in Difficult Times also devotes a considerable portion of its argument to problems of obedience and disobedience in regard to restrictions on the traditional Latin liturgy.[61]

Beyond teaching and writing, Kwasniewski has also worked as a choirmaster and composer.[62] He studied composition and conducting with Roy Horton, abbey organist and music teacher at Delbarton School at St. Mary’s Abbey in Morristown, New Jersey.[63][64] After this he became an assistant choir director at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California (1990–1994).[63][65] While in graduate school at the Catholic University of America he served as director of the Schola Cantorum at Old St. John’s Catholic Church in Silver Spring, Maryland (1994–1998) and later directed music at the International Theological Institute in Gaming, Austria (1999–2006).[66][67] He was the founding choirmaster and schola director at Wyoming Catholic College (2007–2018) until the time he left to pursue a full-time writing career.[68][69][70][71]

Among compositions that have received numerous concert and church performances since 1990 may be included settings of the Catholic Mass, religious motets, English hymns, Christmas carols, and liturgical antiphons and acclamations.[72] The Mass settings include Missa Spiritus Domini (1994), Missa Spe Salvi (1995, rev. 2012),[73][74] Missa Brevis à 3 (1997/2020), Missa Hereditas Mihi à 3 (2016), Missa Honorificentia Populi Nostri (2017),[63][75] and Missa Rex in Æternum (2018). The work Seven Mandatum Antiphons (2010), consisting of English a cappella settings of the texts from the Maundy Thursday liturgy for the washing of the feet, was dedicated to Arvo Pärt on the occasion of the latter’s 75th birthday.[76] Eighty-seven pieces are published in Kwasniewski’s collection Sacred Choral Works (Corpus Christi Watershed, 2014), which received a number of favorable reviews and mentions.[77][78][79][67][80][81][82] The Lenten motet “O Passio magna” was published by Choralife.

Ensembles that have performed Kwasniewski’s choral music include the Ecclesia Choir (dir. Timothy Woods),[83][76] the Vittoria Ensemble (dir. Rick Wheeler),[84] Cantiones Sacrae (dir. Graeme Adamson)—which recorded a CD, Divine Inspirations, of Kwasniewski’s music together with that of British composer Nicholas Wilton—and Cantus Magnus (dir. Matthew Schellhorn).[85][86] Kwasniewski’s three-movement wind quintet Fire and Flame was given its premiere in 2012 by the Antero Winds of Colorado.[87] Other works include a violin sonata and an Ave Maria for SATB choir, winds, and strings.

He has published numerous articles on music, especially on the recovery and renewal of sacred music in the modern church.[88][89][90][91][92][93]

• True Obedience in the Church: A Guide to Discernment in Challenging Times. Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute Press, 2021. ISBN 978-1-6441-3674-4
• Ministers of Christ: Recovering the Roles of Clergy and Laity in an Age of Confusion. Foreword by Leila Marie Lawler. Manchester, NH: Crisis Publications, 2021. ISBN 9781644135365
• Integralism and the Common Good: Selected Essays from The Josias, vol. 1: Family, City, and State. Co-edited with P. Edmund Waldstein, O.Cist. Brooklyn, NY: Angelico Press, 2021. ISBN 9781621387893
• From Benedict's Peace to Francis's War: Catholics Respond to the Motu Proprio Traditionis Custodes on the Latin Mass. Edited with a preface and six contributions by Peter Kwasniewski. Brooklyn, NY: Angelico Press, 2021. ISBN 9781621387862
• Are Canonizations Infallible? Revisiting a Disputed Question. Edited with a preface and a contribution by Peter Kwasniewski. Waterloo, Ontario: Arouca Press, 2021. ISBN 9781989905647
• The Ecstasy of Love in the Thought of Thomas Aquinas. Steubenville, OH: Emmaus Academic, 2021. ISBN 9781645851042
• The Holy Bread of Eternal Life. Restoring Eucharistic Reverence in an Age of Impiety. Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute Press, 2020. ISBN 9781644134337
• Reclaiming Our Roman Catholic Birthright: The Genius and Timeliness of the Traditional Latin Mass. Brooklyn, NY: Angelico Press, 2020. ISBN 9781621385356
• And Rightly So—Selected Letters and Articles of Neil McCaffrey. Edited with a preface by Peter A. Kwasniewski. Fort Collins, CO: Roman Catholic Books, 2019.
• Newman on Worship, Reverence, and Ritual. Edited with a preface by Peter A. Kwasniewski. N.p.: Lulu, 2019. ISBN 9780359969951
• Tradition and Sanity. Conversations and Dialogues of a Postconciliar Exile. Brooklyn, NY: Angelico Press, 2018. ISBN 9781621384175
• A Reader in Catholic Social Teaching: From Syllabus Errorum to Deus Caritas Est. Edited, annotated, and with a Preface by Peter Kwasniewski. Tacoma, WA: Cluny Media, 2017. ISBN 9781944418588
• Noble Beauty, Transcendent Holiness: Why the Modern Age Needs the Mass of Ages. Kettering, OH: Angelico Press, 2017. ISBN 9781621382843
• Resurgent in the Midst of Crisis: Sacred Liturgy, the Traditional Latin Mass, and Renewal in the Church. Kettering, OH: Angelico Press, 2015. ISBN 9781621380870
• Sacred Choral Works. N.p.: Corpus Christi Watershed, 2014.
• On Love and Charity: Readings from the Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard. [A translation of texts from St. Thomas Aquinas's Commentary on the Sentences, containing Book I, Distinction 17, in both the Parisian and the Roman versions; Book III, Distinctions 27 to 32; and selected articles from all four Books.] Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2008. ISBN 9780813215259
• Wisdom’s Apprentice. Thomistic Essays in Honor of Lawrence Dewan, O.P. Edited and introduced by Peter A. Kwasniewski. [A Festschrift of twelve essays with biography and bibliography of the honoree.] Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2007. ISBN 9780813214955

Resurgent in the Midst of Crisis has been published in Czech, Polish, German, Portuguese, Belarusian, and Spanish editions:

• Povstávání z prachu: Tradiční liturgie a obnova Cirkve. Trans. Štěpán Smolen. Nová Ves pod Pleši, Czech Republic: Hesperion, 2016. ISBN 9788090637245
• Kryzys i odrodzenie: Tradycyjna liturgia łacińska a odnowa Kościoła. Trans. Piotr Kaznowski. Tyniec, Poland: Wydawnictwo Benedyktynów, 2016. ISBN 9788373546431
• Neuanfang inmitten der Krise: Die heilige Liturgie, die traditionelle lateinische Messe und die Erneuerung in der Kirche. Trans. Christina Brock. Tremsbüttel: Una Voce Edition, 2017. ISBN 9783926377425
• Ressurgente em meio à crise: A Liturgia Sagrada, a Missa Tradicional, e a Renovação da Igreja. Trans. Nestor Forster. São Paulo, Brazil: Editora Ecclesiae, 2018.
• Адраджэнне пасярод крызісу: Святая літургія, традыцыйная Імша і аднаўленне Касцёла. Пер. з англ. мовы Максіма Фоміча. Мінск: Медысонт, 2018.
• Resurgimiento en medio de la crisis. Sagrada liturgia, Misa tradicional y renovación en la Iglesia. Trans. Augusto Merino Medina. Brooklyn: Angelico Press, 2019. ISBN 9781621384533

Noble Beauty, Transcendent Holiness has been published in Italian and Polish editions:

• Nobile bellezza, sublime santità. Perché la modernità ha bisogno della Messa tradizionale. Trans. Giovanni Maria Olivari. Verona: Fede & Cultura, 2021.
• Szlachetne Piękno, Transcendtna świętość liturgii: Dlaczego epoka nowoczesności potrzebuje Mszy Wszechczasów? Trans. Teresa Milcarek. Dębogóra Editions, 2021. ISBN 9788364964282

Reclaiming Our Roman Catholic Birthright has been published in a Polish edition:

• Powrót do katolickiego dziedzictwa: Doskonałość i ponadczasowość tradycyjnej mszy łacińskiej. Trans. Krzysztof Zabawa. Warsaw: Key4, 2021. ISBN 9788367089005

True Obedience in the Church: A Guide to Discernment in Challenging Times has been published in Spanish and German editions:

• La verdadera obediencia en la Iglesia: Guía de discernimiento para tiempos recios. Lincoln, NE: Os Justi Press, 2022. ISBN 979-8439329533
• Wahrer Gehorsam in der Kirche: Ein Leitfaden in schwerer Zeit. Lincoln, NE: Os Justi Press, 2022. ISBN 979-8807100887

Kwasniewski writes for a number of traditionalist magazines and blogs, including The Latin Mass magazine (since 2006), New Liturgical Movement (weekly since 2013), Rorate Caeli (since 2014), OnePeterFive (since 2014), LifeSiteNews (since 2017), The Remnant (since 2019), and Catholic Family News (also since 2019).

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• Personal website: "peterkwasniewski.com". Retrieved 2019-10-23.