Dr. Michael Attridge
Associate Professor of Theology and Director of the Institute for Research on the Second Vatican Council in Canada
- PhD Theology (University of St. Michael's College)
- STL (Regis College, Toronto)
- MA Theology (University of St. Michael's College)
- BA (Hons.) (University of Windsor)
Teaching and Research Interests
- Second Vatican Council in Canada
- 19th and 20th Century Theologians and Movements
- Ecclesiology
- Christology
I am an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Theology, University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto working in the area of historical and systematic theology. I began at the Faculty in 2004 and received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 2010. I regularly teach courses in Christology, Ecclesiology, 19th and 20th century theologians and theological movements, Catholic Modernism and Vatican II. In 2020, I co-taught a new course with Prof. Darren Dias on “Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church”, which we will offer again.
In terms of research interests, I study the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and am especially interested in the social, political, and ecclesial factors of the 18th to 20th centuries that gave rise to the need for a Council and of its effects on the religious and social landscape in Canada. To advance this work, I created the “Institute for Research on the Second Vatican Council in Canada” in 2012. I’m currently involved in two research projects. The first is a Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), Insight-Grant funded project comparing the different receptions of Vatican II in Quebec and Ontario from 1965 to 1985 through the lens of liturgy and catechesis, ecumenism and interfaith dialogue, and socio-political engagement. The second is a SSHRC, Connection-Grant funded project, the title of which is: “Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” and Ivan Illich’s “Deschooling Society: Fifty Years Later.” In connection with this latter project, I’m a member of the Theory and History of Education International Research Group (THEIRG) at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.
I’m a member of the American Academy of Religion, the Catholic Theological Society of America, the European Academy of Religion, and the European Society for Catholic Theology.
Interested doctoral students should contact me directly through my email address.
-
SMT3670HS L0101
Vatican II: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Winter 2023- Instructor: Dr. Michael Attridge
- Day: Thursday
- Time: 13:00
- Location: Regis College Classroom A
-
SMT2242 L0101
Christology
Winter 2023- Instructor: Dr. Michael Attridge
- Day: Saturdays (Six Classes)
- Time: 09:00-13:00
- Location: AH 108
- (With R. Bruno-Jofre; J. Igelmo), Guest Editors for a Thematic Issue of Espacio, Tiempo Y Educación 9/1 (Spring 2022) Entitled: “Ivan Illich and Paulo Freire’s Ideas and Influences on Education in the Last Fifty Years.”
- (With D. Dias; J. Skira), The Church and Migration: Global (In)Difference. Palgrave Macmillan, 2021. 419 pages.
- (With D. Dias; N. Olkovich; M. Eaton), The Promise of Renewal. Dominicans and Vatican II. Adelaide: ATF Theology, 2017. 389 pages.
- (With C. Clifford; G. Routhier), Vatican II. Expériences canadiennes – Canadian experiences. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 2011. 568 pages.
- Jews and Catholics Together: Celebrating 40 Years of Nostra Aetate. Ottawa: Novalis, 2007. 180 pages.
- “’Grow in love and become in fact The community of the greatest love of God,’ The Early Reception of Vatican II by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto.” In 170 Years of Service: A Collection of Essays on the History & Mission of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto, 201-245. Eds. E.M. Smyth; L.F. Wicks. Toronto: Sisters of St. Joseph, 2021.
- “From Objectivity to Subjectivity: Changes in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries and Their Impact on Post-Vatican II Theological Education.” In Catholic Education in the Wake of Vatican II, 21 – 41. Eds. R. Bruno-Jofré; J. Igelmo Zaldívar, University of Toronto Press, 2017.
- “Le Conseil canadien des chrétiens et des juifs et Nostra Aetate.” In Juifs et chrétiens. 50 ans après Nostra Aetate (Héritage et projet, 80), 121-138. Eds J. Duhaime; G. Routhier. Quebec: Groupes Fides Inc., 2017.
- (with Darren Dias), “Can We Still Speak of a Psychological Analogy After Vatican II?” In The Promise of Renewal. Dominicans and Vatican II, 183-202. Eds. N. Olkovich; M. Attridge; D. Dias; M. Eaton. Adelaide: ATF Theology, 2017.
- “The Local Bishop in the Renewal of Religious Life After Vatican II.” In Understanding the Consecrated Life in Canada: Critical Essays on Contemporary Trends, 113-130. Ed. J. Zuidema. Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2015.
- “Vatican II’s Teaching on Peace and War: A Contribution to Conciliar Hermeneutics.” In Lorenzo Milani’s Culture of Peace. Essays on Religion, Education and Democratic Life, 41-52. Ed. by C. Borg; M. Grech. New York: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2014.
- “New Avenues of Research on Vatican II in Canada: Bishop G. Emmett Carter and the Implementation of the Council in the Diocese of London Ontario.” In Theologia semper iuvenescit. Eds. M. Quisinsky; K. Schelkens; F-X. Amherdt. Academic Press Fribourg, 2013, pp. 99-125.
- “The Struggle for Nostra Aetate. The ‘Quaestione ebraica’ from 1960 – 1962: Issues and Influences.” In La théologie catholique entre instransigeance et renouveau. La réception des mouvements préconciliaires à Vatican II. Ed. G. Routhier; P. Roy; K. Schelkens. Leuven: Bibliothèque de la Revue d’histoire ecclésiastique, 2011, pp. 213-230.
- “A Canadian Anglican at Vatican II: The Activity of Eugene R. Fairweather.” In Vatican II. Expériences canadiennes – Canadian Experiences. Eds. M. Attridge; C. Clifford; G. Routhier. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 2011, 341-359.
- "A More Inductive Method of Interreligious Theology: Joseph Ratzinger's Insights into Christian Experience in Response to Jacques Dupuis" - Shannon Wylie, PhD Dissertation, Defended - May 2022 (Co-supervised with R. Locklin)
- "Retrieving Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Catholics' Contributions to Nostra Aetate" - Christian Stackaruk, PhD Dissertation, Defended - April 2022 (Co-supervised with D. Dias)
- "'From Rome to Home' Reception of the Second Vatican Council through the Second Synod of the Diocese of London in Canada" - Brian Thornton, PhD Dissertation, Defended - August 2021
- "Harkening to the Voices of the Lost Ones: Attending to the Stories of Baptized Roman Catholics No Longer Participating in the Worship and Community Life of the Church" - Bernardine Ketelaars, DMin Thesis, Defended - August 2015 (Co-supervised with J. Skira)
- "Re-Thinking Liturgical Art: How Liturgical Art Advances the Principle of Liturgical Participation" - Joseph O'Herlihy (PhD Candidate)
- The Development and Influence of Gregory Baum's Theological Thought on the Post-Vatican II Relationship Between Christians and Jews in Canada and Internationally" - Mia Theocharis (PhD Candidate)
- “Institute for Research on the Second Vatican Council in Canada”; Director and Founder of the Institute; Duration – 2012 to 2016; 2017-2022; 2022-2027.
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Grant (SSHRC 435-2017-0454). “One Country, Two Catholicisms. The Diverging Developments in Quebec and Ontario from 1965-1985” With Profs. Darren Dias and Gilles Routhier; Duration: 2017 – 2022.
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Connection Grant (SSHRC 611-2019-0427). “Paolo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Ivan Illich’s Deschooling Society: Fifty Years Later.” With Profs. Rosa Bruno-Jofre and Jon Igelmo Zaldivar; Duration: 2020 – 2021.
- “Vatican II in Canada: A Study of the Participation, Reception and Hermeneutics of Vatican II in Canada from 1960 – 2009; Duration – 2008 to 2011.