Our activities
Barbara Fiand, Sister of Notre Dame de Namur
Author of Awe-Filled Wonder: The Interface of Science and Spirituality
Lecture: Spirituality for a Quantum Age
7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., Friday, February 28
Room: Amphitheatre (Guigues, 1124)
Seminar: Spirituality of Presence
Presentations by:
Barbara Fiand on "Spirituality of Presence"
Pierrette Daviau on "Green Sisters" (en français)
Susan Roll on "Sacraments as Energy"
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Saturday, March 1
Room: Guigues 105
Saint Paul University
223 Main Street, Ottawa
Information: ftc-wct@ustpaul.ca
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"Ecumenism : Outdated? Current Challenges"
Lecture given by Dr. Elisabeth Parmentier.
The lecture will be given in French, but the Question and Answer period will be bilingual.
Monday, February 3, 2014, from 7:00pm to 8:30pm, at Saint Paul University, room 1124 (in the Amphitheatre).
Coffee will be served.
Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Parmentier is a Pastor in the Lutheran Church of Alsace-Lorraine and Professor of Practical Theology at the Protestant Theological Faculty of the University of Strasbourg. She is also adjunct professor in the Institute for Ecumenical Studies, Strasbourg. Her particular research interests include contemporary appropriation of biblical texts and hermeneutics, women and gender studies, and models of communion in ecumenical perspective. She is a member of the French ecumenical research group called the Groupe des Dombes.
Ritual and meditation
National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women
GLASMACHER LECTURE with Phyllis Zagano
"Women Deacons: Transforming the Church"
Saint Paul University, 223 Main Street
Normandin Room, Laframboise Hall
Phyllis Zagano's lecture, "Women Deacons: Transforming the Church," will be followed by a panel of respondents from the fields of canon law, the Eastern churches, and the Montreal group "Femmes et Ministères." Following general discussion, a reception will take place in the Normandin Room.
Zagano is currently senior research fellow at Hofstra University and adjunct professor in the fields of Catholic Studies and Celtic spirituality. She has published 15 books, including, most recently, "Women Deacons: Past, Present and Future," co-authored with Gary Macy and William Ditewig. Her groundbreaking work on women deacons, "Holy Saturday," (2000) was commissioned by John Cardinal O'Connor, former Archbishop of New York. Zagano also writes a regular column for the National Catholic Reporter entitled "Just Church," and recently received the St. Catherine of Siena Distinguished Lay Person Award from "Voice of the Faithful."
This event is organized by Saint Paul University's Centre for Women and Christian Traditions to coincide with International Women's Day, March 8th.
Further information is available from the Centre at (613) 236-1393 ext 2232, or sroll@ustpaul.ca
January 26, 2012
The Centre for Women and Christian Traditions "Films on Thursday" was an invitation to raise awareness about situations and issues that women are facing around the world. This was accomplished through a program of documentaries screened during the academic year 2011-2012. Students and professors could share their reactions and their knowledge following the projection. The discussions contributed to deepen different themes related to women.
To explore the theme "Women and Religion," the documentary Je vous salue Mariette was projected.
February 16, 2012
As part of the Centre for Women and Christian Traditions “Films on Thursday,” the documentary Finding Dawn was projected. The goal was to explore the theme “First Nations, Inuit and Métis Women.”
March 1, 2012
The Centre was pleased to welcome the internationally renowned speaker Irmtraud Fischer. Dr. Fischer is Professor of Old Testament Studies at the University of Graz, Austria. One of her books that has been translated into English is entitled Women Who Wrestled with God: Biblical Stories of Israel's Beginnings (Liturgical Press, Collegeville, 2005). The theme of the conference was “Female Counselors and Wise Women in the Bible.”
The university community also benefited from a presentation in a doctoral seminar, and a meeting with the members of CWCT.
March 8, 2012
As part of the Centre for Women and Christian Traditions “Films on Thursday,” the documentary The Refugees of the Blue Planet was projected. The goal was to explore the theme “Women and the Earth.”
March 22, 2012
As part of the Centre for Women and Christian Traditions “Films on Thursday,” the documentary Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai was projected. The goal was to explore the theme “Women and Peace.”
March 8, 2011
For International Women's Day, the film Avenue Zero was presented in partnership with PACT-Ottawa (http://www.pact-ottawa.org/). This film explores the phenomenon of human trafficking in Canada. For more information, visit : http://www.avenuezero.ca/Affiche.html.
April 14, 2011
Presentation of the film Grace, Milly, Lucy... Child Soldiers of Raymonde Provencher. For more information about this documentary, visit http://en.grace-milly-lucy.tv/.
June 6, 2011
Dr. Aparajita Chowdury, professor at the Berhampur University (Orissa, India), gave the conference “Victimization of Elderly Women in India”. A discussion with the participants followed.
September 22, 2011
The Centre for Women and Christian Traditions "Films on Thursday" was an invitation to raise awareness about situations and issues that women are facing around the world. This was accomplished through a program of documentaries screened during the academic year 2011-2012. Students and professors could share their reactions and their knowledge following the projection. The discussions contributed to deepen different themes related to women.
To explore the theme "Women and Religion," the documentary Me and the Mosque was projected.
October 13, 2011
As part of the Centre for Women and Christian Traditions “Films on Thursday,” the documentary Grace, Milly, Lucy... Child Soldiers was projected. The goal was to explore the theme “Women and War.”
November 3, 2011
As part of the Centre for Women and Christian Traditions “Films on Thursday,” the documentary The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo was projected. The goal was to explore the theme “Women and War.”
November 24, 2011
As part of the Centre for Women and Christian Traditions “Films on Thursday,” the documentaries "Sigwan" and "Namrata" were projected. The goal was to explore the theme “Women and their Stories.”
November 25-26, 2011
The conference Women as Peacemakers’ goal was to reflect on women’s roles in peacebuilding, without restriction to armed conflict. This conference provided an interdisciplinary dialogue highlighting women or women’s groups that are little known to the general public and that play outstanding roles as peacemakers in their communities. More than ten presentations of quality have been proposed to fifty participants. The presence of Canadian Voice of Women for Peace also enriched the reflections and discussions. A publication of the presentations will follow.
January 8, 2010
The Centre for Women and Christian Traditions invited the theologian Élisabeth Parmentier, Professor in the Faculty of Protestant Theology at the University of Strasbourg, France, to speak on the theme: “Challenging Feminist Motivations?”
March 5, 2010
Nicole O’Bomsawin gave a lecture in French “Aboriginal Women, Artisans of Peace”. Ms. O'Bomsawin is an assistant in development at a UNESCO Biosphere reserve in Lac Saint-Pierre, Quebec. She is implicated in the dissemination of her traditional culture and is engaged in bringing greater awareness of aboriginal culture and history.
April 28, 2010 – May 1, 2010
The first Match International Women’s Film Festival was a Match International initiative organized in partnership with the Centre for Women and Christian Traditions. On April 28, the Centre WCT offered a wine and cheese to celebrate the Festival's opening night. The Festival included screening of documentaries on subjects as wide ranging as Women and Health, Women and War, Violence Against Women, and Women and Rights. On April 30, a panel discussion was held on the theme of “Global Voices on Maternal Health”. The speakers were Eileen Kerwin Jones, Liette Perron, Katherine McDonald, Rita Kamahanga and Brenda Gatto.
December 6, 2010
The Centre for Women and Christian Traditions commemorated National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women by sponsoring a presentation entitled, "Sisters in Spirit: Raising Awareness of Violence Against Aboriginal Women," given by Ms. Kate Rexe. She reported on the research conducted by the Sisters in Spirit initiative of the Native Women's Association of Canada. The 45 people who attended learned about actions taken to address violence to women.
March 6, 2009
Florence Gillman gave a lecture entitled “Women Who Knew Paul.” Dr. Gillman teaches at the University of San Diego.
June 12-14, 2009
The Centre for Women and Christian Traditions and the Catholic Network for Women’s Equality organized the National Conference “Being the change we seek”. The keynote speaker was the Brazilian theologian Ivone Gebara. She gave two lectures: “What do we mean by ‘change’? Conflicts and limits arising from a feminist ethical perspective” and “La mobilité du désir religieux pour les femmes: une approche contextuelle”. There were also two performances by the group Women of the Well based in Rochester, New York. Moreover, the participants had the opportunity to attend one of the interesting workshops given by Flavie Beaudet, Mary-Ellen Francoeur, Jessica Fraser, Eileen Kerwin-Jones, Kelley Raab, Susan Roll, Michele Birch-Conery and Monica Kilburn-Smith. We hope to publish these lectures and most of the workshops.
October 18-20, 2009
Under the auspices of the prestigious Glasmacher Conference series, the Centre, in collaboration with the Research Services of Saint Paul University, invited the German theologian Annette Esser to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Person’s Day (the day women were recognized as persons within the Dominion of Canada). The title of Ms. Esser’s lecture was “Women without Borders: Feminist Spirituality in Context”. 85 people attended the lecture. The University community also benefitted from Ms. Esser’s participation in the Doctoral Seminar and at a diner-conference she gave on the theme of spirituality and the body.
December 1st, 2009
The Centre commemorated the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women with a round table on the theme of “Places of Peace”. The round table participants included: Josée Laramée of Calacs d’Ottawa, Mélanie Leduc from Centre Espoir Sophie and Kadhija Haffajee. A short ritual followed.
March 8, 2008
Bilingual Workshops were given on the theme of “Women, Peace and Non-Violence” in celebration of International Women’s Day. Workshop leaders included Martine Sauvageau, Gloria Neufeld-Redekop, Miriam Martin, Jeannine Vermette and Lauren Levesque.
April 7, 2008
A presentation was given over the lunch hour by Prof. Cheshmak Farhoumand-Sims on “Women in Afghanistan: health and poverty.” Saint Paul University delegates to the United Nations Study Session on the Role of Women in Development also shared their experiences on the importance of the UN Millennium Development Goals. In collaboration with the Saint Paul Social Justice Group
April 12, 2008
Members of the Centre as well as other invitees shared a supper and discussion with renowned feminist theologian Elizabeth A. Johnson.
October 31 and November 1, 2008
A roundtable and workshops entitled “Women and Ordained Ministries” were organized by the Centre. This event showcased the testimonies of women from a number of Christian ministries and included workshops on a variety of topics related to the principle theme. Round table participants and workshop leaders included Marie Bouclin, Elisabeth Bachem-Jennings, Holly Ratcliffe, Patricia Peacock, Pauline Jacob and Kelly Raab.
December 3, 2008
A celebration and exhibition on the theme of “Women leave their mark” was held in the Atrium for the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women. The event included a display of recent works by female professors and students from Saint Paul University as well as interventions by several women from different sectors of the University.
February 27, 2007
Professor Miriam Martin presented an evening of song, “Singing Ourselves Awake : Songs for a New Consciousness,” with material from her new CD “A New Dreaming.” A free-will offering benefitted PACT, Persons Against the Crime of Trafficking. Sponsored by Kairos, the Faculty of Theology and the Centre FTC/WCT.
March 7, 2007
A book launch for Professor Malone’s new book, Praying With the Women Mystics (Novalis, 2007) was held at the Saint Paul University Bookstore/Canterbury House.
March 8, 2007
Professor Malone gave a Glasmacher lecture entitled: “Women’s Christian Heritage : Challenges of an Alternative Story.” Sponsored by the Glasmacher speaker series and organized by the Centre FTC/WCT.
March 9, 2007
A research roundtable discussion was held with Professor Malone: “How to research women’s history”. A light lunch followed. An evening meeting was also organized with Professor Malone and members of Ottawa C.N.W.E. (Catholic Network for Women’s Equality.)
March 7 – 10, 2007
International Women’s Day Celebration Program with the special guest professor Mary T. Malone (retired Professor, TST and St. Jerome’s).
March 15, 2007
“Acting Religious : Theatre as Pedagogy in Religious Studies and Theology.” Workshop on using theatre to introduce students to religious experience. Guest presenter: Victoria Rue (Professor of Religious Studies at San Jose State University, California, and expert in theatre arts.)
March 22-23, 2007
“All That I Am,” a play by Irene Maloney, OSU. This amateur production gives voice to the forgotten women behind five well-known churchmen. Presented at the Bronson Centre. Sponsored by the Grey Sisters of Pembroke and the Centre FTC/WCT.
September 27, 2007
Glashmacher lecture “What’s Common in Our Common Baptism” by Susan K. Woods SCL, Professor in sacraments and ecumenism at Marquette University.
November 1, 2007
Roundtable with Veronique Isenmann, Hélène Tessier and Pierrette Daviau entitled “Tensions between Women’s Rights and Religious Freedoms? Reasonable Accommodations – Feminist Perspectives.”
December 5, 2007
A service was held in the Mazenod Chapel in celebration of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women. The service commemorated women’s stories of resilience in the face of violence. In collaboration with the Chaplain and Pastoral Team.
January 30, 2006
A roundtable discussion on the concerns and needs of women graduate and doctoral students was moderated by Marion Dewar.
March 8, 2006
A panel discussion on "Women and Liturgy: Feminist Perspectives," was held with Professors Pierrette Daviau, Miriam Martin and Susan Roll, on new creative liturgy developed by groups of women and what it means for the future.
March 10, 2006
A panel discussion on "Women's Issues around the world" with Ana Filomena (Angola), Terry Gall (India), Eileen Kerwin Jones (Bangladesh), Young-Hee Kim (Korea) and Jacqueline St-Jean (Brazil).
October 18, 2006
Pilgrimage to the Hill, Wednesday, October 18, at 12 p.m. A pilgrimage of men and women walked from the Human Rights monument at City Hall to the statues of the "Famous Five" on Parliament Hill. The event marked the anniversary of the Persons Act by drawing attention to the situation of refugee women and women who have been denied basic human rights because they are women.
December 6, 2006
A service was held to note National Day of Remembrance and Action on violence against women
March 2, 2005
Theatre Parminou presented an interactive play on the issue of trafficking of women at St. Joseph’s Church, with support from the Centre for Women and Christian Traditions.
March 8, 2005
Feminist Fair was a showcase on research projects of professors and graduate students at Saint Paul University on women’s issues. Community groups working on issues of concern to women also distributed literature and talked to participants.
March 11-12, 2005
Earth Spirit: Conversations on Religion and Ecology was a conference with the guest lecture by Professor Heather Eaton, followed by a panel discussion featuring Elizabeth May, Marie-Andrée Michaud, Heather Eaton and Sam Shortt, workshops by Jessica Fraser, Darlene O’Leary and Susan Roll, with a closing ritual by Marlene Bosch.
September 14, 2005
Lunch and informal discussion with Lytta Basset, Swiss author on spirituality.
December 6, 2005
On National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, a memorial service was held in memory of the fourteen women killed at the École polytechnique in Montréal, and all women subjected to violence.
March 6, 2004
Centre student member Eileen Kerwin-Jones represented the Centre at the public exchange of women's groups and networking session at Ottawa City Hall to mark International Women's Day.
March 8, 2004
Lunch and dialogue with guest speaker Professor Eileen Schuller, McMaster University, on her research on the Dead Sea Scrolls.
March 16, 2004
Lunch and dialogue with guest speaker Terri Brown, President of the Native Women's Association of Canada, on the "Sisters in Spirit" campaign.
July 14, 2004
Lunch and dialogue with guest speaker Rev. Dr. Brigitte Enzer-Probst, Technical University of Munich, Germany, on her work on women's leadership in liturgical and denominational matters.
December 6, 2004
On National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, memorial service was held.
March 2003
Speaking the Sacred: Celebrating the Religious Contributions of Women, with the Very Reverend Lois Wilson.
September 29, 2003
The Freedom in Everyday Living: Challenges and Risks, with Ivone Gebara, philosopher and ecofeminist theologian from Brazil.
September 30, 2003
Interdisciplinary panel and open conversation: Implications of the work of Ivone Gebara.
December 6, 2003
Memorial Service for the victims of the Montreal massacre and to counter violence against women, at the Chapel of Laframboise Hall. The Centre worked with the Pastoral Services.
March 2002
Healing the Earth: A Challenge for Feminism and Theology, with Rosemary Radford Ruether, an internationally recognized feminist theologian and professor.
February 2001
Corps, spiritualité et féminisme and Les théologies féministes, porte-parole des aspirations spirituelles de nos contemporains, with Élisabeth Parmentier, a Protestant theologian from the Université de Strasbourg.
October 2000
Research and Gender was a Seminar by members of our Centre: Pierrette Daviau, Carolyn Sharp and Maureen Slattery.
