LOCATION
Join us at Université Saint Paul/Saint Paul University throughout May 28th - 30th to explore methods for effective peace-making, and justice in Palestine. Engage in new models and opportunities for interfaith dialogue and relations that promote a lasting peace and just liberation in Palestine
Taking place on Turtle Island, on the unceded territories of the Anishinaabe-Algonquin Nation, this conference will also explore the enduring history of settler colonialism—in Palestine, Canada, and in other colonial contexts. As the Call for Repentance puts it, the churches must repent of their “entrenched colonial discourses” that use the Bible, theology, and other ideologies to justify the oppression of Indigenous Peoples. This conference will seek to critique those discourses, and elevate Indigenous and/or decolonial discourses, which both perpetuate and obscure Indigenous suffering.
Wednesday—Friday 28—30 May 2025
—Ottawa, ON — Saint Paul University
This conference will offer a setting to critique colonialism’s abiding presence – in Canada, Palestine, and beyond. In the spirit of repentance, this conference intends to strengthen ecumenical and interfaith solidarity through the discussion of strategic theological and political interventions that promote a lasting peace and justice in Palestine.
Meet the Co-Contributor Conference Organizers:
Dr. Michel Andraos & Dr. Jane Barter
Michel Andraos (he/him), a native of Lebanon, is the dean of the Faculty of Theology at Saint Paul University and a professor of intercultural theology. His main areas of teaching and research include theologies of inter-religious dialogue and religious pluralism, religion and culture, the churches and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, dialogue with Indigenous spiritualities and resurgences, and the Christian communities in the Eastern Mediterranean since the colonial period. He is a member of the Working Group for the Study of Settler Colonialism and Decolonization at Saint Paul University.
Jane Barter (she/her) is a Professor and Theologian specializing in political theology, memory, and violence at the University of Winnipeg in the Religion and Culture Department. She holds a PhD from the University of St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto, and is the author of Lord, Giver of Life and Thinking Christ. She recently co-edited a special issue of the Journal of Moral Theology on the papal apology to Residential School survivors in Canada and serves as editor of the Christology volume in The T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Christian Theology. Her current work explores theological responses to contemporary atrocities.