At a conference held in Auckland on 21 February 2026, Fr James Baxter OP delivered a compelling and insightful talk titled “St Dominic, Teacher of Truth.” Although the wider conference focused on St Thomas Aquinas, Fr Baxter intentionally began by returning to the source—the man whose vision made Aquinas possible. To understand Dominican theology, he argued, we must understand the founder whose life shaped the Order of Preachers. Fr Baxter first situated St Dominic historically. Dominic was born in 1170 in Caleruega, in the Kingdom of Castile, and died in 1221 in Bologna. He lived just over fifty years, and was canonised remarkably quickly in 1234—only a little more than a decade after his death. A contemporary of St Francis of Assisi, Dominic founded the Order of Preachers in 1216 amid the pastoral and doctrinal challenges of southern France. What distinguishes Dominic from other great founders, Fr Baxter noted, is not a large collection of writings—he left almost none—but rather the way of life he established: a life centred on study, prayer, community, and preaching. His legacy is the Dominican Order itself, which in turn formed saints, scholars, and preachers, including Thomas Aquinas. Fr Baxter drew on early Dominican sources to paint a vivid portrait of Dominic. Descriptions from those who knew him depict him as radiant, joyful, compassionate, and physically striking. He was remembered especially for his cheerfulness, his tenderness toward the suffering, and his relentless commitment to prayer—often spending nights awake in contemplation. A central theme of the
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