Aeterni Patris

Aeterni Patris, an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on Aug. 4, 1879, which strengthened the position of the philosophical system of the medieval Scholastic philosopher-theologian St. Thomas Aquinas and soon made Thomism the dominant philosophical viewpoint in Roman Catholicism.

Citation Information

Article Title: Aeterni Patris

Website Name: Encyclopaedia Britannica

Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Date Published: 20 July 1998

URL: https://www.britannica.comhttps://www.britannica.com/topic/Aeterni-Patris

Access Date: April 21, 2025