On June 13, 2009 Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Mons. Lluís Clavell of the Prelature of Opus Dei as the new President of the Pontifical Academy of Saint Thomas Aquinas (PAST). He is the third president since the reform of the Academy in 1999 by Pope John Paul II by way of the Motu Proprio Inter munera academiarum. The previous presidents were Edward Kaczynski O.P. (2005-2009) and Abelardo Lobato O.P. (1999-2005).

Professor Lluís Clavell (Barcelona, 1941) holds the chair of metaphysics at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome.