Today, St. Jerome’s University has once again raised the Pride flag. Since 2020 this has been an annual celebration of our community’s embrace of a commitment to inclusion, and an important expression of our mission which is fundamentally about the dignity of all people.
 
In addressing the challenges of our times, Pope Francis often refers to the importance of “dialogue and encounter” as a critical first step. He understands that in relating to others we begin to fully realize our human potential. This idea is beautifully expressed in the words of Gaudium et spes:

The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the (people) of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community composed of (people).

As I read these words, which were written for a world in 1965 struggling with problems of social, economic and gender inequality, I now understand them in the trials of this age, including those faced by members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. They summon the image of Jesus from the Gospels, who stands with the marginalized and the endangered. They lead me to understand the Pride flag as a means of dialogue and encounter, and more importantly as a response to Jesus’s “new commandment”: “Love one another as I have loved you”. (John 13:30)

Peace,

Peter Meehan
President and Vice Chancellor
St. Jerome’s University
University of Waterloo