About the Institute
Situated in the heart of one of the world’s most diverse cities, we are a Roman Catholic organization rooted in the Dominican tradition and the spirit of Vatican II. We are a collaborative community committed to the exploration and proclamation of the mystery of God’s Word in history in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious context. In keeping with the vision of St. Dominic we engage the Other in constructive and critical dialogue for the benefit of the church and society.
We accomplish our work through seminars, workshops, conferences, and the Vatican II Research Institute.
Discerning Our Identity
Our identity is focused on bringing about the multiplicities of life: multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious. We embrace the Liturgy of the Church as the Source-and-Summit of the Christian life. Through a greater sense of Dialogue, we embrace the diversity of the Church and the Kingdom of God.
Guiding Principles
Above all, we desire to be collaborative, contemporary, and diverse. We value theological analysis dealing with contemporary issues: liberation and feminist theologies, eco-theology, post-colonial and diversity theologies. Revelation is inculturated through the experience of the Church, and we seek to develop and promote this truth.
Defining our Commission
Recognizing the charism of the Dominican order, we aim to promote quality Liturgical preaching and literacy within the Roman Catholic and wider ecclesial context. We foster spaces for encountering the Word through dialogue with academia, other denominations, and the wider community. We aim to share the wealth of the 800 year-old Dominican Tradition.
Director
Dr. Minlib Dallh is a Dominican friar, a member of the Southern Province of the USA. His research focuses on comparative mysticism, women mystics, and love-mysticism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He holds a DPhil from the University of Exeter (UK). His teaching and research interests extend to early Dominican friars’ involvement with Islamic studies and Sufi confreries in Sub-Saharan Africa. His first book is entitled The Sufi and the Friar: A Mystical Encounter of Two Men of God in the Abode of Islam (SUNY Press 2017). His second book is, Sufi Women Mystics: Models of Sanctity, Erudition and Political Leadership (Routledge, 2023).
The Team
Michael Pirri
Program Coordinator
Michael Pirri joined the Dominican Institute of Toronto in 2018 as a Program Coordinator. Michael helps facilitate conferences and manages communications and marketing at the Dominican Institute.
He currently serves at St. Aidan’s in the Beach as Coordinator of Music Ministries.Michael is also the Chair of the Toronto chapter of the Royal School of Church Music Canada, and has served on the nationwide Executive Board of the same institution since 2012 where he works to further the work of music in the Church. He recently completed his Master of Sacred Music at The University of Toronto.
Members
of the Board
Dr. Dias, Darren
OP Executive Director at the Toronto School of Theology (TST), PhD (St Michael’s)
Dr. Michael Attridge
Director of the Vatican II Research Institute, PhD (St Michael’s)
Dr. Michael O’Connor
Associate Professor at St. Michael’s, DPhil (Oriel College, Oxford), and STB, STL (Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome),
Dr. Minlib Dallh, OP, DPhil,
(University of Exeter, UK)