Dr. Patrick A. Messina is Rector and Professor of Philosophy and Theology at the Collegium Augustinianum. He is also Associate Professor of Philosophy at Gwynedd Mercy University. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Pontificio Ateneo Sant'Anselmo, Rome; an S.T.D. in Theology from the Collegium Augustinianum; Ph.L. in philosophy from the Pontificia Universita Gregoriana, Rome; an MA in Religious Studies from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia and an BA in Mathematics Education from La Salle University, Philadelphia.

Professor Messina’s 2007 doctoral dissertation entitled “The Significance of Silence in St. Augustine” examined the hermeneutical significance of silence and its importance for understanding the Confessions as a whole. With Professor de Paulo, he co-edited three books, Ambiguity in the Western Mind, Confessions of Love: The Ambiguity of Greek Eros and Latin Caritas and Augustinian Just War Theory and the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq: Confessions, Contentions and the Lust for Power.