Category: News

We are remembering Sr. Maureen Baldwin, CND, a past member of the Regis College academic leadership team, who passed away on Friday after a brief illness.

Please remember her, her family, and her religious community in your prayers. A funeral will be held in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

A memorial service is being arranged to be held at Regis College. Further details are pending.

The Regis St Michael’s Faculty of Theology (RSM) is using program innovation, infrastructure upgrades and faculty and staff training to move forward in its commitment to offer students a new vision of Catholic theological education.

One of the ways RSM is responding to student and community needs is the introduction of a new degree, says RSM Dean Jaroslav Skira.

“We are pleased to announce that, as of September 2025, Regis St. Michael’s will now offer a Master of Psychospiritual Studies, a degree that prepares students for leadership in specialized ministries, including pastoral care, with courses offered via a Catholic lens,” says Skira.

The degree, he notes, will offer three pathways: social justice, spiritual direction, and pastoral care ministries to meet the needs of a diverse student population working in a variety of fields.

RSM Professor Cynthia Cameron, who helped propose the degree on behalf of the University of St. Michael’s College, Regis College, and Trinity College, says it came in response to student interest in degrees that prepare them for ministries other than the Master of Divinity.

“So much pastoral care in our contemporary society – in hospitals, schools, prisons, social service agencies, retreat centres, and private counseling – is provided by lay people and these lay ministers are deeply desirous of formal training that will equip them to provide this ministry with competence and confidence,” says Cameron, who holds the Patrick and Barbara Keenan Chair in Religious Education. “The MPS does not replace the MDiv, which prepares people for ordained ministries; instead, it gives RSM the chance to widen the kinds of ministries we prepare people for. And, in that wider vision of ministry, we provide students with a Catholic lens for considering the opportunities and challenges of life in the 21st century.”

As well, students will now have the option of taking RSM’s Certificate in Theological Studies, a seven-course program, either in person or entirely online, vastly expanding RSM’s ability to serve students who cannot make in- classes, and particularly those living in remote parts of the country.

As part of this process, RSM is applying for a grant via Lilly Endowment Inc.’s Pathways for Tomorrow initiative to help fund the changes and enhancements, with the goal of further strengthening the Regis-St. Michael’s federation. For example, funding would be used to support more online and hybrid courses, with training available so that professors are

conversant in the best methods of teaching online. Additional funding would also provide more scholarships to RSM’s diverse student base, a community of domestic and international students, both lay and religious, often located in places that make it impossible to study at RSM’s Toronto location.

“This will help us significantly expand access to theological education in the Catholic tradition to where people are,” Skira says.

As an institution dedicated to questions such as how faith helps people to flourish, RSM is mindful of the importance of building community. Therefore, plans for increasing RSM’s online presence include conversations about how to ensure students are cared for even if they are not on campus, and how to bring remote students into the embrace of the existing RSM community.

Another exciting new addition is the introduction of two new courses in prayer and holiness in Islamic thought.

“The addition of these courses at Regis St. Michael’s will deepen the richness of our community, and are responses to Pope Francis’ call in Fratelli tutti to mutual fraternity and dialogue,” says Skira.

Regis St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology is a federation of Regis College, rooted in the Jesuit-Ignatian tradition, and the University of St. Michael’s College, rooted in the Basilian tradition. The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph and the Loretto Sisters have been a vital part of the life and mission of both colleges. Regis St. Michael’s is an integral part of the Toronto School of Theology consortium in the University of Toronto. To learn more about RSM and our offerings, please visit our website.

Regis St. Michael’s has officially launched the online Certificate in Theological Studies. Study Catholic theology, history, spirituality and pastoral theology remotely with our faculty experts. Also offered are courses in Eastern Christianity. Apply now for summer entrance!

Click here for details.

Regis St. Michael’s is now offering a new Master of Psychospiritual Studies degree program with three options: Spiritual Care, Spiritual Direction or Social Justice ministries in the Catholic tradition. For those interested in various existing and emerging ministries in today’s church and society.

Click here for details.

Poster PDF

As Pope Francis remains hospitalized and prayers pour in from around the world, it seems timely to reflect on the past 12 years of his remarkable pontificate. Whether his health improves or not, the fact is he’s 88 years old. Even for a young person, being responsible for the running of the Roman Curia and tending to a Church with more than 2200 dioceses and 1.4 billion Catholics would be overwhelming. At almost 90, doing so is unimaginable. When he presided liturgy for us in Rome in January 2017 for the 800^th anniversary of the Dominican Order, he was strong. Eight years later, at an audience that I attended at the Vatican in December, he was visibly much more run-down. In any case, despite being hospitalized, the news is that he signed a number of decrees approving people for beatification and sainthood and is planning a meeting of the cardinals to discuss future canonizations. In other words, the work continues even if we know his time is now more limited.

Francis has been in many respects a Pope of firsts. He was the first in history to take the name Francis after St. Francis of Assisi, signifying his commitment to a life of simplicity and his dedication to the poor and marginalized. He was the first Pope from Latin America, a continent with more than 425 million Catholics and the first Pope born and raised outside of Europe since the 8^th century. He was the first Jesuit Pope, which is surprising if one remembers that there have been 46 popes elected since the founding of the Society almost 400 years ago. Perhaps most significantly, he was the first pope since Vatican II who had nothing to do with the Council itself. John XXIII opened it in 1962, and Paul VI closed it in 1965. For the remainder of his pontificate, Paul VI would work towards its first reception around the world. John Paul I and John Paul II both attended Vatican II as bishops, the latter being especially involved in the documents on the Church in the world and on religious freedom. Benedict XVI was a young theologian in his late thirties at Vatican II, accompanying the German Cardinal Josef Frings. He helped shape some of the most important documents of the Council. Forty years later, as pope, he never hesitated in expressing his view about how the Vatican should be interpreted. Francis though was different. He was not an eyewitness to the Council, nor was he active on the world stage of theology in interpreting it. He was ordained after Vatican II, which means he lived his entire priestly life as a pastor in Latin America shaped by its theology before becoming Pope.

Francis has also been a reformer and a Pope of the margins. He has sought to bring equality to the offices of the Vatican by doing away with the distinctions between “Congregations” and “Pontifical Councils” and making each division of the Roman Curia simply a “dicastery”. He decided not to live in the papal apartments and not to purchase a new car, a sign of a simpler lifestyle. He has encouraged a more welcome attitude to separated and divorced Catholics, to LGBTQ+ people and has invited transgendered people to meet with him. He has reached out to other religious leaders around the world to build bonds of peace and friendship. Perhaps most importantly in terms of change, he has democratized the Church through his work on synodality, inviting ordinary Catholics to have a say in decision-making. In this process, he initiated a project to listen voices to the people on the peripheries.

In sum, Francis’ papacy has been different and, in many ways, difficult to define. Theologians often look to pin down the theology of a Pope. I would argue that Paul VI was an ecclesiologist, John Paul II was moral theologian for whom theological anthropology was his category, and Benedict was a fundamental theologian. That’s not to say they didn’t engage in other areas of theology. It’s only to point out that in reading their theological works, these categories seem to be their centres of gravity. Francis though has not been a theologian in the same way as his post-Vatican II predecessors. When he speaks and writes he does so with a certain pastoral style. His concern has been less with repeating the doctrinal formulations of the Church, and more with meeting people in their day-to-day lives, especially those on the margins. For many in the Curia, and for many working as professional theologians, it’s been a challenge to pin down what he means doctrinally. For many others, especially those living in difficult situations in the world and those who minister to them, it’s been a relief. For them, Francis speaks the language of mercy and compassion, the language of the Gospel. He has the words that comfort the grieving mother who just lost her child or the young homeless man who lives with loneliness. This has been his style. I’m reminded of the 18^th century French thinker Georges Buffon who once said that “style makes the person”. It is a defining characteristic. Among the many things that Francis will be remembered for, it will be his style.

Whether he continues for days, months or even years, moments like serious illness and prolonged hospitalization are times to reflect on the past. At this moment, we can give thanks for all that Francis has done for the Church and the world through his remarkable leadership.

A new recruitment campaign from the Regis St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology invites prospective students to explore academic programs designed to help them find meaning for themselves and society. 

The campaign highlights RSM’s practical approach to theology through stories featuring a diverse array of students who, while pursing very different post-graduate degrees, share a desire to allow space for different viewpoints as they reflect on the big questions related to contemporary issues in both the church and contemporary culture.  

“Having theology for a purpose, being able to do theology” was one of things that attracted Ph.D. student Neil MacDonald to Regis St. Michael’s.  

For Joao Franscisco, a Jesuit perusing an M.Div., the school’s location is well-aligned with its mission.  

“My biggest learning here in Toronto is this diversity, how enriching it can be if you are open to see it,” says Franscisco, who will soon be ordained as a priest. 

“Regis St. Michael’s is an integral part of the Toronto School of Theology consortium in the University of Toronto,” says RSM Dean Jaroslav Skira, “Theology lives here, and our doors are wide open. If you, or someone you know, is ready to put ideas, hope, and faith into action, now is the time to apply.” 

Learn more about why Theology lives at Regis St. Michael’s, and follow us on LinkedIn.