History of Regis College
In the year 2000, Regis celebrated a history of 70 years of preparing people for ministry in the Church. Regis originated as the Jesuit Seminary / College of Christ the King in downtown Toronto in 1930, offering a program of undergraduate studies in philosophy and arts and sciences for English-speaking Canadian Jesuits. In 1943, the course of studies was expanded to include theological preparation for priestly ordination. The rationale for Regis was to prepare candidates for ministry in the Roman Catholic Church. This raison d'être was strengthened in 1956 by its being designated as the Toronto section of the Faculté de la Compagnie de Jésus au Canada, able to offer ecclesiastical degrees in theology--a status reaffirmed regularly by the Sacred Congregation for Education. In 1957, Regis College was constituted as the School of Sacred Theology of Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, which was then sponsored by the Upper Canada Province of the Society of Jesus; Jesuit graduates then began receiving civil degrees in theology from St. Mary's. In 1961, Regis College, by then exclusively a theology faculty, moved its quarters to North York, Ontario.
Regis' identity changed dramatically in 1969 when it became a founding member of the new Toronto School of Theology (TST), an ecumenical federation of seven theological faculties and colleges. The TST member colleges pool courses, share a unified course calendar and class schedule, operate under commonly accepted standards, and support a central co-ordinating office. For the first time, Jesuit theology students pursued their studies together with students from all the colleges in classes offered on the campus of the University of Toronto. In 1976, Regis moved to new facilities located near the main campus of the University of Toronto; the acquisition and remodelling of the buildings located at 65/67 St. Nicholas St., completed in 1983, rounded out the College's current facilities.
Its new relationship with the Toronto School of Theology led Regis to seek membership in the Association of Theological Schools (ATS), which was granted in 1970 and renewed in 1980 and 2001. With the Toronto School of Theology firmly established, Regis College began other new relationships. In 1978, it obtained from the Ontario Legislative Assembly the power to grant degrees in theology; some minor restrictions on the exercise of this power were removed in 1989. In 1979, Regis, together with the other TST colleges, entered into an agreement with the University of Toronto to grant conjoint degrees in theology. Regis became a federated College of the University. The relationship, enshrined in a Memorandum of Agreement, was renewed in 1989 (for a period of five years), in 1994 (for ten years) and in 2004 (for ten years).
The dramatic changes in curriculum and locale occasioned by the Second Vatican Council and the new ecumenical context were but a prelude to the shifts which followed the admission of the first lay student in 1976. To that point, the faculty and student body of the College had been entirely Jesuit; its rationale and structures were predicated upon the norms mandated by the Society of Jesus.
Regis College and the Toronto School of Theology
Regis College is firmly committed to ecumenical co-operation in theological education. It takes seriously the directive issued in 1970 by the Secretariat for the Promotion of Christian Unity in Rome: Ecumenism should bear on all theological disciplines as one of its necessary determining factors, making for a richer manifestation of the fullness of Christ. Accordingly, the nature and aims of Regis College can be adequately grasped only in terms of its involvement in the Toronto School of Theology (TST) of which it is a founding member and integral part.
TST was founded in 1969 as a federation of seven theological colleges in Toronto representing the Anglican, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic and United Church of Canada traditions.
The principal aim of TST is to provide theological education and training for ministry in an ecumenical context. In this respect, one of the great advantages of TST is geographical. All courses are taught on the campus of the University and the classroom locations of all seven Colleges are within walking distance of one another. This makes possible a common class schedule and a highly effective sharing of resources.
The academic strength of the seven member Colleges in Toronto is augmented by a Mennonite presence on campus and at Conrad Grebel College in Kitchener at the basic degree level, and with the Institute for Christian Studies and Waterloo Lutheran Seminary at both the basic degree and advanced degree levels. Collectively, these resources provide a rich environment for ecumenical theological education in the context of a major North American university complex. TST students have access to the courses and facilities of all member colleges, to courses offered by the University of Toronto, and to the full use of the University's library system, Canada's largest.
Regis College and the Association of Theological Schools
Regis College is a fully accredited member of the Association of Theological Schools of the United States and Canada, and as a result the academic standing of our graduates is recognised by ATS schools throughout North America.
