History and Mission

Our Mission

The mission of Sophia Institute shall be to nurture the spiritual, moral, and cultural life of souls and to spread the Gospel of Christ in conformity with the teachings of the magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church.

Sophia Institute shall accomplish its mission chiefly by the use of printed media and works of art but also through cultural projects, charitable activities, information services, conferences, and other means from time to time deemed appropriate by the Board of Trustees.

The Meaning of “Sophia”…

Catholics understand philosophy (philo: love; and sophia: wisdom) to be the love of wisdom — wisdom which reaches back, as did St. Thomas Aquinas, to the Greeks (Plato and Aristotle) and rises up through theology to the holy wisdom (or hagia sophia) of God Himself.

In the Old Testament, too, we find the holy wisdom of God, often personified as a great queen who teaches and protects the faithful. (See Proverbs, Sirach, and the Wisdom of Solomon.)

The Virgin Mary has also traditionally been considered a model of holy wisdom grounded in fear of the Lord. This Catholic tradition culminated architecturally in what was for centuries the largest church in Christendom, the formidableHagia Sophia (the Church of the Holy Wisdom) that still dominates the dramatic skyline of Istanbul.

The name “Sophia” is therefore triply apt for our Press which seeks to publish works of holy wisdom that are faithful to the tradition of the Church.

Sophia Institute is a non-profit corporation as defined by the IRS Code, Sect. 501(c)(3). Tax I.D. 22-2548708.