As harm and violence continue to affect communities worldwide, the work of safeguarding has never been more urgent. The Regis St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology at the University of St. Michael’s College brought that conversation to the forefront on March 6, 2026, hosting a guest lecture by Fr. Hans Zollner, SJ, Director of the Institute of Anthropology, Interdisciplinary Studies on Human Dignity and Care at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. The event drew faculty, staff, and students from Regis St. Michael’s, along with members of religious communities and His Eminence Frank Cardinal Leo.
Fr. Zollner spoke to pressing safeguarding challenges facing both the Catholic Church and broader society, framing the work as something far more expansive than damage control.
He argued that safeguarding in the Catholic Church is fundamentally about the co-creation of safe spaces, safe processes, and safe relationships, pushing back against a purely defensive understanding of the term. That work, he added, demands an honest reckoning with the Church’s past and present failures, and a recognition that every member of the faithful — whether lay, ordained, or religious — has a role to play.
Meditating on an icon that is the motif of his Institute at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Fr. Zollner indicated that Christ the Saviour, depicted healing and consoling diverse members of the human family, is the model and guide for doing such work. In a global context, safeguarding must centre human dignity, while remaining sensitive to how boundaries, safety, and guarding are understood across different cultures.
This lecture was supported by the Lilly Endowment’s Pathways For Tomorrow grant for the Canadian Centre for Catholic Pastoral Leadership (CCCPL) at the University of St. Michael’s College, which provides continuing education for pastoral leaders in ongoing formation, leadership, synodality and community-building.
When launched in 2026, the CCCPL will be an innovative hub providing continuing education for pastoral leaders in ongoing formation, leadership, synodality and community-building using delivery methods that are accessible to a wide constituency of leaders, lay, religious, or ordained. Administered by USMC’s Division of Continuing Education, the Centre will offer a catalogue of topical and evergreen non-degree seminars, workshops, and courses designed to support ministers engaged with parish work in Canada’s diverse cultural contexts, while also supporting communities of practice.
Read the Archdiocese of Toronto’s coverage of Fr. Zollner’s recent lectures, including his talk at Regis St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology.