To honour the memory of Father John Charles Hanley, SJ, friends and colleagues from St. Paul's College and the Department of Religion established The Hanley Memorial Lecture Series. Each year, this series brings to Winnipeg a prominent theologian, scripture scholar, or speaker on current religious issues.

Fr. John Charles Hanley, SJ
(August 29, 1910 - October 30, 1970)

John Hanley was born in Winnipeg in 1910. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1933, and taught in Jesuit schools across the country including Campion College (Regina), Loyola College (Montréal), St. Paul's High School, and St. Paul's College. He fostered in his students an interest in poetry, drama, music, public speaking, and above all, theology.

Three of his greatest interests were the works of William Shakespeare, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Teilhard de Chardin - however theology was his principal concern. Perhaps his most enduring contribution to the study of theology was his role in establishing the Department of Religion at the University of Manitoba.