Catholic Institute of Sydney lecturer Fr Luca Infantino has become the fifth Australian to earn a doctorate in Sacred Scripture from the Biblicum.
Fr Infantino said his study was on the usage of the word “adoption” in St Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, which he says is “generally a little bit disregarded.”
“My question was a more specific one, so this term appears only five times in the letters,” he told The Catholic Weekly.
He said most research on the topic of adoption in the Bible pertains to St Paul’s letters to the Romans or the Galatians and not Ephesians, in parts due to doubts about authorship.
“But the other main issue is that while the other appearances of the term are in a context of building an argument, in this case, it’s a context of a prayer.”
He expressed his gratitude to the archdiocese for supporting him during this academic endeavour, which is the culmination of nine years of in-depth research.
“I’ve been away from diocese for a long time to do this and it’s been a big investment on the part of the diocese, and I’m very grateful for them as well,” he said.
Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP was present in Rome to witness Fr Infantino defend his thesis and congratulate the priest on his achievement.
“The Sacrae Scripturae Doctor degree from the Biblicum is said to be the hardest of all pontifical degrees to attain—if your experience is anything to go by, it is certainly the longest,” the archbishop said.
“That your examiners described your work as ‘a wonderful thesis that must be published’ and ‘well-reasoned, well-articulated, well balanced’ is a great tribute to you.”
He said Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge, the last Australian to earn this doctorate before Fr Infantino, also passed on his congratulations, saying they are now part of a “very exclusive club.”
Archbishop Fisher highlighted Fr Infantino’s academic background, noting he had attempted a project in the past which had to be abandoned before pivoting and researching the use of “adoption” in St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.
“It amazes mere theologians like myself that biblical scholars can spend hundreds of days, or it feels hundreds of years, and thousands of pages on a single word,” he said.
“I was delighted, therefore, to witness in you that this toil on Pauline adoption was not merely an academic exercise but intended to serve the faith of us believers, aiding our appreciation of the beauty and many implications of the gift we have received in our divine adoption.”
He said the study of Scripture and the Bible brought those who study and teach it closer to God and the mysteries of faith.
“It is my dear hope that though you, your students will come to love the Scriptures not as academic hurdles and dusty museum pieces but as the living source of inspiration and prayer, preaching and living,” he said.