Margaret O’Gara, Professor of Theology at the University of St. Michael’s College, entered the realm of eternal life on Thursday, August 16, at age 65, after suffering from cancer for two years.
The characteristic aim of Margaret’s 37 years of work as a theologian was to foster dialogue among Christians for the sake of overcoming divisions between the churches. Besides her teaching, research, writing, and extensive public lecturing, she was a member of official ecumenical dialogues in Canada, the United States, and at the international level. She also served as president of the North American Academy of Ecumenists and the Catholic Theological Society of America. From 2009 to 2012 she served on the board of Bridgefolk.
Margaret’s unusual effectiveness in these professional arenas came from a combination of her scholarly rigor, her exceptional ability to listen sympathetically, her uncommon energy, and her contagious delight at the growth of mutual understanding and friendship. The same traits marked her strong personal relationships with her students and colleagues, the members of her extended family, and her many longstanding friends. Beneath everything else, the fundamental driving force of her life was her deep and abiding Christian faith.
Visitation at Rosar-Morrison Funeral Home, 467 Sherbourne Street in Toronto, on Wednesday, August 22, from 2:00 to 9:00pm, with a prayer service at 7:30pm. Funeral mass at St. Basil’s Church on Thursday, August 23, at 10:30am. Burial in Breckenridge, Minnesota.
A keynote address by Br. Jeffrey Gros, FSC, to the 2011 National Workshop on Christian Unity last May has recently come to our attention. In it he called attention to the use of footwashing at a historic service of repentance and reconciliation, in which representatives of the Lutheran World Federation confessed 16th-century persecution of Anabaptists as a sin. This “icon” should serve as a model for planning similar commemorations as Christians around the world mark the 500-year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in 2017, he said. 
Bridgefolk participant and board member Darrin Snyder Belousek has just published a major new book on atonement. The book develops a biblical theology of the cross in connection with justice and peacemaking. Published by Eerdmans, the book is entitled Atonement, Justice, and Peace: The Message of Cross and the Mission of the Church. Belousek notes that “one chapter focuses on ecumenical peacemaking in the church and is directly influenced by my experience in and reflection on Bridgefolk.” Here is the publisher’s description and a link to purchase online: