The Renewed Canadian Welcome Book Tour: Montreal
A Renewed Canadian Welcome (published by McGill-Queen’s University Press) brings together the voices of those who experience the system firsthand to ask a question fundamental to public justice: What would our immigration policies look like if they were reimagined from a human rights perspective, informed by lived experience? Panelists from Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ), the Catholic Diocese of Montreal, the Theological Research Institute for the Study of Interculturality, Migration and Mission (IERTIMM) and Christ the Redeemer Lutheran Church host an evening of dialogue and sharing through the particular lenses of the Quebec experience.
This book launch event will feature book contributor Rena Namago, Alessandra Santopadre, and Martin Bellerose.
This event will be offered in-person and online. To attend the event either way, please RSVP using Zeffy by clicking the link below with your preferred language:
Meet your speakers
Rena Namago is CPJ’s Refugee and Migrant Rights Policy Officer. She has a bachelor’s degree in social sciences and has experience working with human rights organizations, advocacy groups, and grassroots organizers in Palestine, Uganda, and Canada. She is particularly passionate about encouraging Christian faith communities to act for peace and justice. She also coauthored a chapter about settler colonialism, Canadian immigration, and grassroots movements for change in the book A Renewed Canadian Welcome.
Martin Bellerose is professor and director of IERTIMM (Theological Research Institute for the Study of Interculturality, Migration and Mission). After teaching theology at various universities in Colombia, Martin served as professor and director of l’Institut de Pastorale des Dominicains in the late 2010s. He has been the Director of French Formation for the United Church of Canada at Montreal Diocesan College since 2022, where he is also in charge of French continuing education for lay people. His research and teaching centre around the theology of migration, the Trinity, and patristics, specifically Augustine of Hippo.
Alessandra Santopadre was born in Rome, Italy. For 15 years she worked with the Scalabrini Missionaries on immigrant and refugee projects across Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean. She holds a degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology, along with certificates and diplomas in immigration, cultural diversity and human mobility. After moving to Canada in 2012, she became a Pastoral Social Worker in the Diocese of Montreal. Since 2016, she has been Assistant to the Director of the Office of Cultural and Ritual Communities, where she oversees the Archdiocese’s refugee sponsorship program and the welcome of asylum seekers and seasonal agricultural workers. Her work is rooted in a strong commitment to interculturality, fostering encounter, mutual understanding and dialogue between communities of different cultures and backgrounds.
This event is a part of Communities of Peace and Light, a ten-day event organized by Christ the Redeemer Lutheran Church to affirm and generate Peace and Light at a time when the world seems overwhelmed by violence, climate crisis, and despair. To learn more about the event series, visit their webpage in English or in French.
Copies of A Renewed Canadian Welcome will be available for purchase at the event—but to get your hands on a copy before the event, buy your copy through CPJ and support our refugee and migrant rights work!
Double your impact on refugee and migrant rights in Canada
You can help us change the conversation and amplify refugee and migrant voices. Thanks to the visionary generosity of one CPJ member, your donation to CPJ will be matched up to $20,000! Visit our donation page to learn more.
Are you interested in hosting your own CPJ event?
CPJ members are an engaged and connected community of public justice advocates. If you have an idea for an event that you’d like to host in your own community, we encourage you to reach out to us by emailing ac.jpc@jpc.
We can support you with:
- Oct 22 2026
- 7:00 pm
- Free
- 57 Westpark Blvd., Dollard-des-Ormeaux, QC
Speakers
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Alessandra SantopadreAssistant to the Director of the Office of Cultural and Ritual Communities, Diocese of MontrealAssistant to the Director of the Office of Cultural and Ritual Communities, Diocese of Montreal
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Martin BelleroseDirector of French Formation, United Church of CanadaProfessor and director of the Theological Research Institute for the Study of Interculturality, Migration and Mission
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Rena NamagoCPJ's Refugee and Migrant Rights Policy OfficerRena Namago is CPJ’s Refugee and Migrant Rights Policy Officer.
