The Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University has appointed Dr. Luke Togni as a research fellow in Franciscan studies in the institute.

Togni, a resident of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, received his Doctor of Philosophy in religious studies from Marquette University in 2019, with a dissertation on St. Bonaventure’s Franciscan Reception of the Dionysian Concept of Hierarchy.

In announcing the awarding of this prestigious fellowship, Fr. David B. Couturier, O.F.M. Cap., executive director of the Franciscan Institute, reflected on Togni’s scholarship and enthusiasm for Franciscan research.

“With this fellowship, the Franciscan Institute continues its tradition of supporting Franciscan scholarship around the world,” Fr. David said. “Dr. Togni brings a distinctive set of research skills in the Franciscan Intellectual Tradition, especially St. Bonaventure. We are honored to have this young and talented scholar on our research team.”

Togni has participated in several recent Franciscan Institute programs. This summer he taught one of the master classes that focused on the spiritual significance of St. Francis in the theology of St. Bonaventure. He also published a major article in the Franciscan Institute’s publication “Saint Bonaventure: Friar, Teacher, Minister, Bishop” (2021), and in September will offer a public lecture to the international institute community introducing the theology of St. Bonaventure, “Mirrors of the Eternal Art: How God’s Word Speaks in the Bible and Birds.”

Togni is grateful for the fellowship opportunity.

“I am thrilled and humbled to be appointed as a research fellow of the Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University. Their rich collection of research resources and generous support are vitally important for me, a young, lay scholar with a family, to continue my work on St. Bonaventure and expand into other areas and junctures in Franciscan theology and research,” he said.

Togni will work on several projects this coming year, including helping in the completion of a volume on the “Collected Works of St. Bonaventure” and a new research project on the theology and spirituality of St. Clare of Assisi. His fellowship begins Sept. 1, 2021.

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University is a community committed to transforming the lives of our students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a lifelong commitment to service and citizenship. In 2020, St. Bonaventure was named the #2 regional university value in New York and #3 in the North by U.S. News and World Report.