November 30, 2018 — I attended the graduation ceremonies at Regis College last Saturday (Nov 24). I was happy to be present since I had missed my own Regis graduation. Little did I know then that, as Provincial, I would become the Chancellor of Regis and that I would be the one conferring the degrees some 16 years later. The beautiful ceremony took place in St. Joseph’s Chapel at Regis College and, with a number of beautiful musical interludes, there were some 50 degrees awarded. The recipient of the honorary Doctor of Divinity this year was Fr. Tom Rosica, CSB, the founding executive director of Salt and Light Television and frequent contributor to the Vatican’s English language press office. His Chancellor’s Lecture, the evening before, focused on ‘Doing Theology in the City.’
In sum, Fr. Rosica talked about how God works in the wider world not simply within the confines of the Church. And, in the city, this means in the midst of messiness like seeds sown among the weeds (Matthew 13). Theology in the city is anything but bucolic because, as our field of mission, it contains the best and worst of what humanity has to offer. That said, even though our cities are more and more secular, humanity is always seeking deeper meaning for its existence. Hence, it is no coincidence that the Jesuit theology school is in the centre of the city where our task is to build bridges of fraternity in the midst of challenges. Fr. Rosica cited Pope Francis, who asks us to embrace the challenges of our world and to seek dialogue among peoples; thus laying the groundwork for a new Christian humanism. (Fr. Rosica’s address will be available on the Regis web site and in print form). The convocation address was given by Fr. Scott Lewis SJ, dean of Regis
