St. Thomas More College unveils new academic centre

St. Thomas More College recently unveiled a new academic centre aimed at promoting teaching excellence, research and community outreach in three program areas closely related to its mission as a Catholic institution.
The Centre for Faith, Reason, Peace, and Justice was launched at a noon-hour webinar on Jan. 28, 2021. The event included a panel of guests from three Saskatoon Catholic organizations which will work as community partners with the new centre.
In blessing the new centre, Dr. Gertrude Rompré took inspiration from Dom Hélder Câmara, former Archbishop of Brazil, who said: “Without justice and love, peace will always be a great illusion.”
“So, taking inspiration from his words,” she said, “I invite us to pray this blessing: May STM's new Centre for Faith, Reason, Peace and Justice be a place where faith and reason walk hand-in-hand, a moment when justice deepens our love for each other and a continuing conversation where swords are transformed into ploughshares. May the Centre for Faith, Reason, Peace, and Justice be an incubator of hope, a birthplace of understanding, a leaven for reconciliation. May our work together be rooted in faith, nourished by the intellect, and seasoned with love.”
Dr. Carl Still, President of STM College, said this new centre has been years in the making, with lots of hard work from dedicated faculty and staff and many steps along the way.
The idea for such a centre first arose around the time STM proposed a minor in Catholic Studies, which marked the first time that the University of Saskatchewan approved a program at STM for which there was no counterpart at the University. Not long after that, a minor devoted to Social Justice and the Common Good was proposed and approved.
“Since these programs were multidisciplinary, they had no obvious departmental home,” Dr. Still said. “One way to house them was to create a centre that could oversee these programs, coordinate between them and develop active community outreach to potential partners.”
“As we launch the new centre today, STM has also proposed a new program in Peace Studies that again has no parallel at the University of Saskatchewan, and thus the name of the new centre reflects the three founding programs: Catholic Studies focused on the ongoing dialogue between faith and reason and its significance for our culture; Critical Perspectives on Social Justice and the Common Good, which explores justice and solidarity across cultures; and now also Peace Studies, which will analyze and address conflict and its resolution.”
Dr. Still said the new centre will coordinate instruction in these three programs and will foster new inquiry into all kinds of topics associated with faith and reason, peace and justice. He added that the centre is intended to reach beyond the walls of STM, and the boundaries of the University campus, to engage community partners who share an interest in the issues of our time that involve faith, peace and justice.
Three founding community partners are part of the advisory committee for the new centre -- the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon, Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools and the Catholic Health Association of Saskatchewan -- and all three were represented on the panel discussion that was part of the launch. They were Myron Rogal, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon, Darcie Lich, of Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, and Blake Sittler, from the Catholic Health Association of Saskatchewan.
“Today we will hear a first conversation about how the new centre can collaborate with its original partners. From here the conversation will grow and include other topics and other partners,” Dr. Still said. “The centre will truly succeed if it convenes discussions on critical issues that might not otherwise take place. At a time when many of us are more comfortable talking only to those who already think the way we do, the centre will practice the art of dialogue which Pope Francis recommends so strongly.
“You can expect the centre to discuss the ongoing dialogue between the Catholic Church and the wider society, but also to welcome into that discussion many perspectives from other Christian communities, from other communities of faith and from any and all people of goodwill who are engaged in making our society a more peaceful and equitable place for all its members.
“In a time of worldwide pandemic that is magnifying every issue with which we normally grapple. We have much to talk about and to learn from one another. We have much to recover from. Much to rethink in how we live or want to live, and much to rebuild in our communities and in communities throughout the world to which we are connected. So, let's begin that conversation today.” 

Hrynkow named director of CFRPJ
The first director of the Centre for Faith, Reason, Peace, and Justice will be Dr. Chris Hrynkow, who is also the head of the Department of Religion and Culture.
“I want to congratulate and thank Chris, the first director of the centre, for accepting that position and being willing to guide it through what is been a difficult year,” said Dr. Arul Kumaran, Dean of STM College. “He has been instrumental in the budding Peace Studies initiative, soon to be a certificate program, thus becoming the third pillar of the centre.”
“I'm sure his dynamic leadership will shape the centre in years to come and make it an important part of what STM is to all of us.”
For Dr. Hrynkow, the launch of the centre was a culmination of many years of effort.
“The Centre has been in the works for at least a decade, in various forms, and a lot of visioning work was done since the creation of the Catholic Studies and Critical Perspectives on Social Justice and Common Good Minors,” Hrynkow said. “We are now trying to bring alive that vision, including by strengthening it through dialogue with community partners.”
He said the CFRPJ has a three-fold purpose: To act as a home for STM distinctive area programs in the areas of Catholic Studies, Critical Perspectives on Social Justice and the Common Good, and Peace Studies; To promote these programs with students, community partners, and faculty, including in the last case passion for teaching and research in these areas; and through outreach to bring the insights and values associated with these programs alive through mutually-enhancing work with community partners.
“The Centre touches on so many areas in the College Plan 2025,” Dr. Hrynkow said. “In fact, I think of the plan particularly in the area of Hospitable Catholicism as a real partner in this work. I am particularly excited about the Centre’s potential as a path -- but certainly not the only one at STM -- to incarnate the mission of the college with students and community partners. Overall, I think it will make the college more relevant as faculty and staff share and learn from students and community partners in these areas.” 
The first event sponsored by the CFRPJ is coming up on Feb. 16, with the Synod for the Amazon: New Paths for the Church in Latin America and Canada webinar. Several other initiatives are also in the planning stages, with announcements coming out soon.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE LAUNCH AND PANEL DISCUSSION