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Dr. Ryan Topping convened a group of young Christian leaders across Canada for the Gregory the Great Institute's second annual Faith and Reason Seminar in Edmonton from June 18-21.
Photo courtesy Gregory the Great Institute
June 30, 2026
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Photo from UNRWA
The Gregory the Great Institute and Prairie College are two institutions that recognize the urgent imperative to nurture and empower the next wave of Canadian Catholic and Christian leaders.
Dr. Ryan Topping, the Gregory the Great Institute’s founder and executive director, convened leaders from Catholic Christian Outreach, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College in Barry’s Bay, Ont., the St. Therese Institute of Faith and Mission in Bruno, Sask., among other groups, for the non-profit’s second annual Faith and Reason Seminar in Edmonton.
From June 18-21, attendees delved into seminal texts such as St. Augustine of Hippo’s The City of God, George Orwell’s allegorical Animal Farm, German philosopher Josef Pieper’s Leisure, the Basis of Culture and the late St. John Paul II’s 1998 encyclical Fides et ratio (Faith and Reason). These selections helped participants contemplate the seminar’s theme: "The Next Christendom.”
Topping underscored that given the “manifest signs of decay” in Canadian society, particularly a pervasive culture of death, this seminar is needed to formulate pathways to revitalization.
“I think the primary benefit of an event like this is that the cultural situation has shifted so we as leaders have to have new strategies for renewal,” said Topping. “Now that we live in a post-Christendom society, at least from the point of view of Benedict XVI, where we're going to be most effective is building up communities where creative minorities are able to bring salt and light to our respective communities.”
Topping added that a Canadian society re-embracing Christendom would mean valuing life, promoting flourishing families and advancing an economy that “serves people more than merely profits.”
Earlier in June, Prairie College in Three Hills, Alta., announced its latest contribution towards forming the next generation of Christian leaders: a new four-year Bachelor of Education degree approved by Alberta Advanced Education and Alberta Education and Childcare that will launch in the Fall 2026 semester. The 120-credit program provides students with a blend of education, arts and sciences and Biblical theology courses to bestow them with the professional teaching practices needed to succeed and a Christian worldview informed by God’s Word. Additionally, pupils complete 20 weeks of in-the-field experience before receiving their degree.
The need for such a program has become more pressing in recent years, considering the ongoing enrolment boom at faith-based independent K-12 schools in Alberta.
Dr. Kevin Foth, Prairie College’s academic dean and professor specializing in the Old Testament, believes teaching is a Christian ministry and educators must prepare students to exemplify the Christian light no matter where they are called to teach.
“We want to make sure that our (education graduates) can go into the public school system, as well as the private, independent or faith-based schools,” said Foth. “It really is the opportunity to be those people who are representatives of Christ in those different contexts.”
Foth, who came to Prairie College in July 2025 after serving as a professor at the Denver Seminary in Littleton, Colorado, said he values the school’s theological requirement that all four-year degree students complete seven Bible courses that cumulatively study all 66 Biblical books.
“It helps develop not just knowledge, but hopefully a love of Christ in leadership ability as well. It's as formative as it is educational.”
The formation of youth aged 12-18 will be a focus of the Gregory the Great Institute this summer as its annual St. Gregory's Music & Leadership Camp takes place July 12-16. Participants become acquainted with sacred and folk music traditions as they receive fiddle, penny whistle and voice lessons.
Meanwhile, Topping himself will step up his own visibility in the Canadian cultural renewal discussion with a new 12-part YouTube series called Reasonable Passions, launching on Canada Day.
Topping said this series is for “the builders — the parents, educators and citizens who want to stop being products of a secular assembly line and start becoming links in a living chain of tradition.” He will shed his insights about engendering a renewal of Catholic and classical culture across North America by sharing models of Church renewal, advocating for wisdom contained in the “Great Books” and “Good Books" and examining the lessons imparted by thinkers like Thomas Aquinas, John Henry Newman and more.
(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)
A version of this story appeared in the July 12, 2026, issue of The Catholic Registerwith the headline "Prairie institutes develop next Christian leaders".
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