My Basilian Priesthood is a memoir of Michael Quealey’s six years in the order in the 1960s. During his priesthood, Quealey was director of the Newman Centre at the University of Toronto and engaged in reforming the mass and in other theological matters. The 1960s was a time of questioning traditions, including the role of Biblical criticism, the nature of liturgy, the place of women in the Church and in society, and the power of community living and decision-making. Quealey was deeply involved in all these matters, and sought to fulfill his commitment to service and balance that with his faith and vows of obedience to the institution of the Church. Written decades after the events he describes, the book is his reflection on the excitement of the times and the tensions created when tradition encountered new ideas and new forms of communal living. Here’s a story that blends Toronto history with Catholic Church history and an inside look at 1960s counterculture.

Michael Quealey was born and educated in Toronto. He received his Bachelor of Sacred Theology from the University of St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto and his Ph.D. in Canadian history in 1968. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1961 as a member of the Basilian Order. Quealey left the priesthood in 1967 but remained in the Church. He went on to teach at York University and became engaged with Therafields, an experiment in communal living. He retired in 2000 and moved with his family to Alliston, Ontario. He died in 2013, in his eightieth year.

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Arthur Haberman is University Professor of History and Humanities at York University. He is the author of 1930: Europe in the Shadow of the Beast (WLU Press, 2018) and The Making of the Modern Age, and the co-author of The West and the World: Contacts, Conflicts, Connections.

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Jan Rehner is a Senior Lecturer in the Writing Department at York and has won both provincial and national awards for excellence in teaching. Her publications include poetry, a critical study of the work of Gwendolyn MacEwen, a feminist analysis of Infertility, and a text on critical thinking. Her novel, Just Murder, won the 2004 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Crime Novel. Her second novel, On Pain of Death won a bronze medallion from the ippy group of independent publishers (2008). Missing Matisse was longlisted for the 2012 ReLit Awards. Jan lives in Toronto and enjoys traveling and amateur photography. She especially enjoys taking pictures of her grandsons, Jake and Kyle.

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