We begin our in-depth reading of Fratelli tutti with its opening chapter. In conversation with our guest Agnes Richards - a passionate, Catholic climate change activist inspired by Pope Francis’ previous encyclical, Laudato Si’ - this video includes explorations of:

• How our idea of who our neighbour is hasn’t necessarily widened, even as the horizons of culture and the economy widen through globalization;
• Knowing and respecting our past as a prerequisite for building our future;
• New forms of emerging poverty, particularly with the onset of climate change;
• The importance of nurturing local cultural models, rather than forcing universal, imperial cultural models as a supposed prerequisite for material prosperity; and,
• The hope found in those who, “in the midst of fear, respond by putting their lives on the line,” and the hope we have for the future even as climate change continues to threaten creation.

Join us in reading Fratelli tutti at https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20201003_enciclica-fratelli-tutti.html

Working with an Advisory Circle, Faith & the Common Good, and with GCCM International, Agnes Richard is Coordinator of the Mouvement Laudato Si’ Movement – Canada, a nation-wide network of Catholics focused on raising awareness of the Papal Encyclical Laudato Si’, and inspiring Catholics to act publicly to bring the values of ecological justice to life in Canada. She is a Climate Reality Leader trained with Hon. Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project.

In addition to Catholic Conscience, Agnes is an advisor to several community activist groups, including the “For the Love of Creation” general working group, the “Forum for Integral Human Ecology” of Catholic Conscience, and the Advisory Circle for Villa St. Joseph Ecology and Spirituality Centre.

Agnes is the mother of two lovely daughters, and works to ensure they inherit a just, stable, and sustainable environment in which to thrive.

Our in-depth reading of Fratelli tutti continues with a closer look at chapter two—which includes the Pope’s moving reflection on the Good Samaritan parable—in conversation with Redemptorist priest, Father Santo Arrigo.

Alongside Father Santo, we explore in this conversation (among other topics):

• How Pope Francis invites us into contemplation and reflection on how we are like each of the characters in the Good Samaritan parable in our own lives;
• Imitating God’s compassion for all living beings, even those we cannot meet or see;
• Overcoming the temptation to isolation and separation from our culture, our brothers and sisters, and fleeing the world instead of evangelizing within it;
• The idolatry of time and busyness;
• Letting the sight of a person suffering disturb us into loving action; and,
• The Pope’s powerful assertion that to “include or exclude those lying wounded on the roadside can serve as a criterion for judging every economic, political, social and religious project.”

Click here to join us in reading Fratelli tutti: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20201003_enciclica-fratelli-tutti.html

Fr. Santo is a Redemptorist Priest. He is a former member of the Redemptorist Youth Mission Team, a graduate of the Canadian Certificate in Youth Ministry Studies, and has experience in Parish Youth Ministry, Diocesan Youth Events, Young Adult Ministry and Inner-City Ministry. He served as the Coordinator of Redemptorist Vocation Ministry, Coordinator of Redemptorist Young Adult Ministry and Formation Director for the Redemptorist Community.

Our journey deeper into the wisdom of Fratelli tutti continues in conversation with Luke Stocking on chapter three, and the Pope’s call for openness to strangers and “the other.”

In this discussion, we explore among other topics:

• Cultivating openness to others and a sense of real fraternity;
• The virtue of openness to others;
• How virtues depend on fostering unity with others;
• Being open to others in a world where cultural status is often imbued by social hierarchy, and how we must be “free of every label and position” like the Good Samaritan to love generously; and,
• Creating real fraternity with others in a culture that often reduces our fellow people to “associates”, based on their economic or social value to us.

Join us in reading Fratelli tutti at https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20201003_enciclica-fratelli-tutti.html

Luke Stocking was born in Toronto but grew up on a 50-acre farm in a town called Uxbridge.

Today, he works for Development and Peace – Caritas Canada, the international solidarity movement of the Catholic Church in Canada. Luke was first involved with the movement as a high school student at the age of 16, when D&P had a special campaign to end sweatshop labour. He joined the staff of D&P in November 2006 as the Central Ontario Animator and served in that role for 12 years, working to inspire, educate and organize Canadian Catholics and all people of good will to bring the Gospel call to international solidarity to life. He has led trips for volunteer members to visit D&P partners in Zambia, the Philippines, Paraguay and Ethiopia. He is the Deputy Director of Public Engagement and the face of D&P’s leadership team for the Ontario and Atlantic regions. Luke has a Master of Arts in Theology from St. Michael’s at the University of Toronto with a focus on Catholic Social Teaching.

He is happily married with two children and lives in the Junction neighbourhood of Toronto. He sees himself as blessed to be able to support his family while living his vocation, which is living and giving witness to the social justice message of the Catholic Faith.

We come now to chapter four in our exploration of Fratelli tutti. Alongside Deacon Rudy Ovcjak, we explore this chapter which so particularly calls attention to the plight of refugees and migrants. In this video, we look at these issues through the lens of Deacon Ovcjak’s work at the Archdiocese of Toronto’s Office for Refugees—one of the largest private sponsors of refugees in Canada—and his experience working with refugees in our country.

In this video, we explore among other topics:

• Pope Francis’ four words describing a human response to the arrival of migrating persons—welcome, protect, promote and integrate;
• Welcoming refugees as full participants in society, as citizens, with all the rights and responsibilities inherent in these;
• The importance of gratuitousness, doing things simple because they are good in themselves, especially when it comes to welcoming the stranger;
• The importance of having our own sense of rooted identity as we dialogue with others, and an openness between peoples based on love for one’s own land, people, and cultural roots; and,
• The neighbourly and hospitable approach Catholics take in welcoming, sponsoring, and promoting refugees in our society.

Join us in reading Fratelli tutti: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20201003_enciclica-fratelli-tutti.html

A native of Toronto, Deacon Ovcjak graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Arts degree in geography from Ryerson University in 1988 and began his career in the private sector, working for a number of national and international corporations.

In 2004, he graduated with a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario.  He was ordained to the diaconate and graduated with a Diploma in Theology from the University of Toronto in 2010.

In 2015, Deacon Ovcjak began working with the Archdiocese of Toronto as a Parish Campaign Director. The following year, he joined the Office for Refugees at the Archdiocese of Toronto (ORAT), where he oversaw its day-to-day operations.  He was appointed Director of ORAT by H.E. Cardinal Thomas Collins in 2017.

Deacon Ovcjak also currently serves at St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Church in Pickering, Ontario and as Chaplain of Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences.

As we now enter the second half of Fratelli tutti, we begin to explore the crucial chapter five, which hones in on Pope Francis’ ideas of political love, the vocation of the politician, and the need for a better politics. We are joined in this conversation by a Catholic, former Ontario education minister, and former prime ministerial advisor—John Milloy.

With John, this video explores among other topics:

• Why our world can’t function without politics;
• Politics as one of the highest forms of charity when oriented towards the common good;
• Love in politics, and the need for a loving politics;
• A politics where those on the margins are invited to participate fully, where their perspectives are privileged;
• How politicians must practice love both in their work for all, and in their daily, interpersonal relationships; and,
• An examination of conscience for politicians.

Join us in reading Fratelli tutti at https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20201003_enciclica-fratelli-tutti.html

From 2003 to 2014, John Milloy served as the member of provincial parliament (MPP) for Kitchener Centre in Ontario, holding five cabinet portfolios. Prior to that he worked on Parliament Hill as a political adviser to a number of senior cabinet ministers as well as spending five years on the senior staff of former prime minister Jean Chrétien. Today, he is an Assistant Professor of Public Ethics at Martin Luther University College, and Director of the Centre for Public Ethics. From 2003 to 2014, John Milloy served as the member of provincial parliament (MPP) for Kitchener Centre, holding five cabinet portfolios. Prior to that he worked on Parliament Hill as a political adviser to a number of senior cabinet ministers as well as spending five years on the senior staff of former prime minister Jean Chrétien. Today, he is an Assistant Professor of Public Ethics at Martin Luther University College, and Director of the Centre for Public Ethics.

In the wake of chapter five on political life, it’s appropriate we now turn to the topic of dialogue and friendship in society. As we explore these ideas in chapter six of Fratelli tutti, we are joined by Catholic author and speaker Leah Perrault, whose perspectives on dialogue are energizing and refreshing.

In dialogue with Leah, we discuss among other topics:

• Dialogue as the basis of society;
• The heroism of dialogue;
• The Pope’s idea of a society of bartered self-interest, especially as a place where the law of the strongest prevails;
• Society as a polyhedron, where differences coexist, complementing, enriching, and reciprocally illuminating one another, even amid disagreements and reservations; and,
• Creating new processes of encounter, and a real culture of encounter, that leads to profound and concrete solidarity and fraternity with our fellow citizens.

Join us in reading Fratelli tutti: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20201003_enciclica-fratelli-tutti.html

Leah (McDonald) Perrault is the Executive Director of Southwest Homes in Swift Current. She left Saskatoon in the spring of 2021 where she served as the Director of Mission at St. Paul’s Hospital, since of September of 2018.  She served as Executive Lead of Corporate Initiatives with Emmanuel Care (the Catholic Health Ministry of Saskatchewan) from 2015 to 2018.  Between 2007 and 2015, Leah served as the Director of Pastoral Services for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon. When she’s not busy with her day job, she speaks, consults and writes on the side. Her words find a home at retreats, schools, conferences, book clubs, board meetings, church groups, articles, books and hopefully in the hearts of those who hear and read them.

Leah has a master’s of arts in pastoral theology from the University of St. Michael’s College at the Toronto School of Theology (2009).  Her bachelor’s of arts in English comes from Campion College at the University of Regina (2005), where she perfected the art of writing in the early mornings before sunrise, while her room mates were still sleeping.

Leah met her husband, Marc, during her first day on the university campus in Regina. They dated for four years and married in 2005. Since then, they have been working hard at this adventure called marriage, making each other better people in the process and hoping that their relationship is as good for the world as it is for them. Leah and Marc have been blessed with four amazing little people – Robyn, Eliot, Charlize, and Atticus. Their home is full of noise, books, toys, and big ideas.

In chapter seven, we dialogue through our only group discussion of the series at the behest of our friend, Archbishop Donald Bolen of the Archdiocese of Regina, Saskatchewan. In this chapter centering on the need for truth, reconciliation and peace among different groups in society, we explore these themes specifically through the lens of ongoing struggles for truth and reconciliation in the relationship between Canada and Indigenous communities. To explore this journey of reconciliation, we are honoured to be joined by Jeannine Whitehouse—who plays a critical role integrating Indigenous curriculum and culture into Saskatchewan education—and Tashia Toupin, who works on these issues as the Archdiocese of Regina’s Social Justice Coordinator.

In this conversation, we touch on (among other themes):

• Learning to cultivate a penitential memory;
• Peace processes as requiring an enduring commitment in seeking truth and justice, honouring the memory of victims;
• Truth as an inseparable companion of justice and mercy;
• Building social peace;
• The value and meaning of forgiveness; and,
• The work of the Archdiocese of Regina, Catholics in Saskatchewan, Indigenous communities, and Jeannine’s work specifically on Indigenous cultural participation and curriculum in Catholic schools, as examples of hopeful steps towards truth and reconciliation here in Canada.

Join us in reading Fratelli tutti: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20201003_enciclica-fratelli-tutti.html

Archbishop Donald J. Bolen was installed as the eighth archbishop of the Regina archdiocese on October 14th, 2016. He took as his motto, Verbum Vitae, or Mercy within mercy within mercy. You can read more about Archbishop Bolen’s extensive work as a servant of Christ by clicking here: https://archregina.sk.ca/archbishops-office

Jeannine Whitehouse is an education consultant with the Government of Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Education.

Tashia Toupin is Social Justice Coordinator at the Archdiocese of Regina.

We conclude our exploration of Fratelli tutti on a crucial topic expored in chapter eight: the role of religions in promoting fraternity in our world, and specifically, the role of religious people in building fraternity within society. We are excited to be joined in this exploration by Father Kevin Belgrave, who leads the lay formation program at St. Augustine’s Seminary in Toronto.

In this final video, we discuss among other topics:

• That we are “not orphans, but children,” and how without God there can be stability to co-existence but not real fraternity;
• The collapse of just relations when we don’t acknowledge universal truth and the transcendent dignity of the human person;
• Why we as Catholics are called to publicly witness to our faith, even as some parts of the culture tell us that faith must be hidden in the most private spheres of life;
• The Church as a family of families, and the powerful role it can play on the world stage today as mother of us all; and,
• The essential connection between the Gospel and advancing the dignity of all.

Join us in reading Fratelli tutti: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20201003_enciclica-fratelli-tutti.html

Fr. Kevin Belgrave is the Director of the Institute of Theology at St. Augustine’s Seminary where he also teaches a number of courses in moral theology, including bioethics, foundations of moral theology, human sexuality and Catholic social teachings. Fr. Belgrave received his Doctorate in Moral Theology from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome in 2014. In addition to his responsibilities at St. Augustine’s, Fr. Belgrave is actively involved in ongoing consultation and pastoral work for the Archdiocese of Toronto in a number of areas related to moral theology.