Aquinas Lecture 2026

Aquinas Lecture 2026

Reflections on Education, Gender, and Theology

The Dominican Institute of Toronto, in collaboration with Regis St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology, the Toronto School of Theology, and the Mary Ward Centre, is pleased to invite you to the Aquinas Lecture 2026.

This year’s lecture will explore the enduring contributions of three remarkable figures in the history of education and theology:

Thomas Aquinas, OP
Teresa Dease, IBVM
Delphine Fontbonne, CSJ

Event Details

📅 Wednesday, January 28, 2026
🕓 4:00 – 5:00 PM
🍷 Reception to follow

📍 100 Wellesley Street West
Classroom C
🚇 Subway access: Museum or Queen’s Park stations

RISE UP 2025

RISE UP 2025 in Montreal • Dec 29 – Jan 1

The Dominican Friars of Canada, together with the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia (OP), shared a joyful and uplifting time.

What a blast! 🙌 Our spirits were truly lifted.

Happy New Year to all participants, and blessings to everyone!

RENEW Toronto

RENEW Toronto Conference – A Spirit-filled experience

✨The Dominican family was well represented, demonstrating its presence and commitment in the heart of Toronto.

🗓 November 21-23, 2025

The RENEW Toronto conference was a deeply inspiring and Spirit-filled weekend, with keynote lectures, workshops, Mass, Eucharistic adoration and much more.

🙏 Mass at St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica, presided over by Cardinal Leo, was followed by a lovely moment of fellowship over food and refreshments.

“Be what you were created to be, and you will set the world on fire.” – Saint Catherine of Siena

Dominican Month for Peace 2025: Cameroon

LITANY FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE

Christ’s rights were flouted so that justice and peace would reign forever for all. “It pleased God … to reconcile all things through Christ and for him, both on earth and in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Col. 1: 19).

  • Lord, our Justice and our Peace, have mercy on us.
  • O Christ, our Justice and our Peace, have mercy on us.
  • Holy Spirit, Spirit of Justice and Peace, have mercy on us.
  • So that your Will may come and reign, we pray to you, Lord, hear us.
  • In order for human beings to come to the obedience of faith, we pray to you, Lord, hear us.
  • So that human wills may commune with your holy Will, we pray to you, Lord, hear us.
  • So that human beings may live according to your holy Will which desires the good and the salvation of all, we pray to you, Lord, hear us.
  • So that your reign of justice and peace may come, we pray to you, Lord, hear us.
  • That your justice and your peace reign in hearts and nations, we pray to you, Lord, hear us.
  • So that injustices give way to true justice, we pray to you, Lord, hear us.
  • So that human freedoms are respected, we pray to you, Lord, hear us.
  • So that real equality and equity reign among human beings, we pray to you, Lord, hear us.
  • So that the dignity of human beings, created in your image and likeness, may be respected, we pray to you, Lord, hear us.
  • So that charity and sharing reign among human beings, we pray to you, Lord, hear us.
  • May the castles and paradises of the rich no longer be built on misery and the blood of the poor, we pray to you, Lord, hear us.
  • So that the strong no longer crushes the weak, we pray to you, Lord, hear us.
  • So that the poor are no longer sold for a pair of sandals, we pray to you, Lord, hear us.
  • So that the judges of the nations apply the laws with the fear of the Lord, we pray to you, Lord, hear us.
  • May the innocent be condemned no longer and the guilty set free, we pray to you, Lord, hear us.
  • May our prisons become places of life and not of torture and death, we pray to you, Lord, hear us.
  • So that wars and violence around the world will cease, we pray to you, Lord, hear us.
  • In order for human beings to forgive each other, we pray to you, Lord, hear us.
  • May human beings be reconciled with you and among themselves in Christ, we pray to you, Lord, hear us.
  • Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
  • Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, forgive us, Lord.
  • Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, give us your justice and your peace.

Let us pray: Lord, you have made Christ our Justice and our Peace. Through the merits of his rights flouted on the Cross, grant us to live as artisans and apostles of justice and peace, so that your kingdom may come in the world and your will be done. We ask this through Him, Christ, who reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

Give Us Peace Today and Forever (PDF)

Cameroon’s Forgotten War: A Dominican Witness to Suffering and Hope

A recent special report highlighted the ongoing conflict in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions, a war that has lasted nearly nine years and remains largely ignored by the international community. Rooted in historical divisions between Anglophone and Francophone regions, the crisis escalated in 2016 after the violent suppression of peaceful protests calling for linguistic and legal rights.

Testimonies from Dominican sisters and lay members revealed the human cost of the conflict: widespread displacement, closed schools, destroyed villages, and families torn apart. In Bamenda, Dominican nuns have transformed their monastery into a refuge for women and children fleeing violence, providing shelter, food, education, and hope amid extreme hardship.

The report called on the Dominican family and the wider Church to respond through prayer, advocacy, and concrete solidarity, affirming that lasting peace can only emerge from truth, justice, and faithful accompaniment of those who suffer.

Cameroon Overview (PDF)

The Catholic Church in Cameroon (PDF)

Life behind the Walls: A monastic community’s response to the Anglophone Crisis

The Interior Redesign of Notre-Dame de Paris

The Interior Redesign of Notre-Dame de Paris
📅 November 6 at 7:30 p.m.
📍 Saint-Dominique Church
175 Grande Allée West, Quebec City, G1R 2H1
🎟️ Free admission | Voluntary contribution

After a historical overview of the evolution of the liturgical space of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, Dominican friar Marc Chauveau will present the current redesign and offer a reflection on the challenge of integrating contemporary artworks into a sacred and heritage space.

🕊️ Highlights include:
– New liturgical furnishings
– A series of seven tapestries
– A set of six stained-glass windows

Fr. Marc Chauveau, an art historian by training, has a special interest in 20th-century and contemporary art. His goal is to make contemporary art accessible to everyone, whether initiated or not.

Organized by the Dominicans
📩 Info: Fr. François Pouliot – fpouliotop@hotmail.com

50th Anniversary of the Caribbean Parish in Toronto

Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish – Caribbean-Canadian Catholic Church in Toronto

Siyahamba — “We Are Marching in the Light of God.”


Happy Thanksgiving !


Celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Caribbean parish with Bishop Kasun.

Founded in 1975, Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish was placed under the pastoral care of the Spiritan Fathers of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena from Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Many thanks to the Dominicans of Toronto for their participation in this beautiful celebration.

General Chapter in Krakow

General Chapter in Krakow, Poland, from July 17 to August 8, 2025.

The Master of the Order, Br. Gerard Francisco Timoner III, OP, presents the corresponding Relatio, in which he highlights several aspects, such as “The Call of the Jubilee,” emphasizing that the Order is celebrating the General Chapter in Krakow during the Jubilee Year of the Lord 2025; the “Commemoration of the General Chapter of Madonna dell’Arco”; “Dominican life as the indispensable foundation of our apostolic mission”; “Vision and priorities for realizing the Propositum Ordinis”; and “Dominican Mission In Medio Ecclesiae”. In relation to this last point, the Master of the Order asks the General Chapter to discuss and propose concrete strategies on how to apply the Propositum Ordinis to the following themes: “Missio ad gentes—to those who do not know Jesus (Acts 17:23)”; “Mission to deepen the faith of believers (Lk 1:1–4); ”Mission to those who have fallen away from the Church or those on Her margins (Lk 24:13–32)”; and “Mission to young people”.


08-MAR-2025 Relatio MO Krakow 2025 EN





Three Dominican friars join the College of Cardinals

From Oxford to Rome – RADCLIFFE, Card. Timothy Peter Joseph, O.P.

  • 1945: Born in London, England.
  • Early studies in theology at Oxford University.
  • 1965: Joined the Dominican Order.
  • 1971: Ordained a priest.
  • 1992: Master of the Dominican Order.
  • 2024: Cardinal of the Diaconia of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary in Via Lata, Rome by Pope Francis.

From Montreal to Rome – LEO, Card. Frank

  • 1971: Born in Montreal, Canada.
  • Early studies at the Grand Séminaire of Montreal.
  • 1996: Ordained priest of the Archdiocese of Montreal.
  • 2007: Joined the Priestly Fraternity of St. Dominic (Third Order Dominican).
  • 2022: Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Montreal by Pope Francis.
  • 2023: Appointed Archbishop of Toronto by Pope Francis.
    • Grand Prior of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, Toronto Lieutenancy.
  • 2024: Cardinal with the Title of Santa Maria della Salute a Primavalle, Rome by Pope Francis.

From Lyon to Rome – VESCO, Card. Jean-Paul, O.P.

  • 1962: Born in Lyon, France.
  • Early professional career as a lawyer in Lyon.
  • 1995: Joined the Dominican Order.
  • 2001: Ordained a priest.
  • 2012: Appointed Bishop of Oran, Algeria.
  • 2022: Appointed Archbishop of Algiers by Pope Francis.
  • 2024: Cardinal with the Title of Sacred Heart of Jesus in Vitinia, Rome by Pope Francis.