April 23, 2021 | 7:30 p.m. | Online
About the Lecture
Peter Meehan, the new President of St. Jerome's University, argues that Archbishop Philip Pocock was both a progressive and a conservative, demanding that the Church change in response to current challenges while preserving its core beliefs and practices. Pocock took on the issues and challenges of his times, including relations between church and state, birth control, roles for the laity, and Catholic education. With his appointment in 1961 as Coadjutor Archbishop of Toronto, Pocock became an inspired disciple of the Second Vatican Council and remained a pilgrim of its message of renewal and engagement with the world for the remainder of his life. Meehan looks at what Pocock’s response to change can teach us about the challenges the Church faces today.
About the Speaker
Peter Meehan, PhD
President and Vice Chancellor, St. Jerome's University
Recently appointed President and Vice-Chancellor of St. Jerome's University, Peter Meehan received a Doctorate in Education from the University of Toronto. His academic research and teaching focus on the social and educational history of the Catholic Church in Canada. His most recent research, which was commissioned by the Archdiocese of Toronto, details the life of Phillip Pocock, the seventh Archbishop of Toronto. Before coming to St. Jerome’s, Dr. Meehan served as President of Corpus Christi/St. Mark’s College, the affiliated Catholic college of the University of British Columbia.