PhD (St. Michael's)

jeanpierre.fortin@utoronto.ca | 416-926-7115

Bio

Dr. Jean-Pierre Fortin is Associate Professor of Practical Theology in the Faculty of Theology of the University of St. Michael’s College. Dr. Fortin holds a PhD in systematic theology from the University of St. Michael’s College, a PhD in philosophy from Université Laval and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from Regis College. He serves as Director of Field Education and Pastoral Formation, overseeing the field placements of students completing the Master of Divinity, Master of Religious Education and Master of Theological Studies programs.

His teaching and research are interdisciplinary in approach and focus, geared towards producing a spiritual theology centered in a multi-level understanding of the human person combining the inputs of theology, philosophy, literature and natural science. Topics of particular interest are the spiritual formation of the human person through the processing of traumatic events and experiences, as well as the rethinking of fundamental theological notions such as sin and grace in light of the Jewish experience of the Holocaust, the African American experience of slavery and systemic racism, and the Indigenous experience of cultural genocide.

Specializations

• Practical theology
• Theology of ministry
• Evil, suffering, sin, and grace
• Christian doctrine
• Philosophical theology
• Ecumenism

Recent Publications

Books:

• Fortin, Jean-Pierre. Evolving Grace: Spiritual History of a Christian Doctrine. Proposal approved by Fortress Press on 9 October 2017. Complete manuscript to be submitted in November 2021. (R)
• Fortin, Jean-Pierre. Grace in Auschwitz: A Holocaust Christology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2016 [279 pages]. (R)

Articles:

• Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “White Church or World Community? James Baldwin’s Challenging Discipleship.” Journal of Moral Theology 9, no. 2 (2020): 39-64. (R)
• Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “‘Blessed Are Those Who Mourn’: The Coexistence and Paradoxical Conjunction of Joy and Suffering.” Studies in Spirituality 29 (2019): 273-314. (R)
• Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Pope Francis’ Global Spirituality: Mercy as Foundation for an Integral Theology.” Spiritus 19, no. 1 (2019): 64-80. (R)
• Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Self-Transcendence and Union in Christ: Karl Rahner’s Eucharistic Theology of Creation.” Philosophy & Theology 30, no. 2 (2018): 531-48. (R)
• Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Lament of a Wounded Priest: The Spiritual Journey of Job.” Religions 9, no. 12 (2018): 1-14. (R)
• Fortin, Jean-Pierre. “Scriptural Spirituality as Postmodern Theology: Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Transformational Interpretation of the Psalms.” Theology Today 75, no. 3 (2018): 358-70. (R)