For the fourth straight year, Campion College in Regina, St. Thomas More College of Saskatoon and St. Paul’s College in Winnipeg are joining forces for the Prairie Symposium for the Common Good.

From May 22-23, experts, scholars and practitioners from these three Canadian Catholic undergraduate institutes will gather at Campion to comprehensively examine how to foster a society where a collective disposition of magnanimity and thoughtfulness is more readily apparent.

This year’s theme is On Human Solidarity for the Common Good. All academic papers and presentation submissions submitted for this year’s summit must provide solutions for fostering dialogue and a collaborative spirit to tackle the world’s most pressing issues.

Dr. Sami Helewa, S.J., president and an associate professor of religious studies at Campion, told The Catholic Register the previous three symposiums, which centred on ecology (2022), reconciliation (2023) and health (2024), generated palpable inspiration.

“Whenever there is a meeting of some minds, it’s almost sacramental in the sense that it’s a sacred time to be together and be engaged in serious matters,” said Helewa. “For example, last year there was the issue of diversity, equity and inclusion. And it brought quite a number of people together — thinkers, pastoral ministers and academics. There were some good papers and panel discussions.”

Each year, the planning committee invites various academics and leaders from Campion, St. Thomas More and St. Paul’s to submit any research they might have related to that year’s topic. A committee then evaluates the strength of each submission and determines if its content would spark a meaningful group discussion. If a paper gets the green light, organizers will seek panellists well-equipped to speak on the topic.

Though the symposium is still nearly two months away, planners have already essentially confirmed four of the panel topics.

Kim Rathwell, manager of communications and marketing for Campion, said one group will discuss “how analyzing the ongoing effects of colonial history on contemporary societies can inform current efforts to build solidarity.”

Another panel will weigh in on the ongoing efforts to bolster understanding and cooperation among different religious traditions.

A third body will delve into the “philosophical foundations and political frameworks that underpin human solidarity.”

And naturally, one of the discussions will underscore how education shapes “agents of social change.”

The two-day symposium will launch with an evening keynote presentation from Dr. Monica Marcelli-Chu, assistant professor of theological ethics at Santa Clara University in California. Like Campion and St. Paul’s, Santa Clara University is a Jesuit postsecondary establishment.

Marcelli-Chu will present a talk titled “Care for our Common Home through the Spirit’s Gift of Counsel.” Her presentation abstract previews that her talk will scrutinize how the gifts of the Holy Spirit can help mediate a human-Earth relationship that has been ruptured by various practices and attitudes throughout time.

The California-based academic is keen on identifying a pathway to realizing Pope Francis’ vision of a globalization that "favours spontaneous cultural interchanges, greater mutual knowledge and processes of integration of peoples,” as the pontiff articulated in the October 2023 apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum.

Helewa would like to see the Prairie Symposium for the Common Good attract solid participation from students, faculty and community members. Registration for the event is free. He also expressed his hope the gathering continues to provide an important contribution to Catholic academic life in the years to come. He would ultimately like to see more institutes join in this endeavour.

To learn more about the Prairie Symposium for the Common Good, visit Campion College's website.