St. Joseph Schools host inaugural Aquinas Institute event

Friday, May. 23, 2014

OGDEN — Saint Joseph Catholic Schools in Ogden opened their Aquinas Institute with the May 14 screening of a documentary about Martha and Waitstill Sharp, two of only three Americans who have been honored by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority in Israel, as Righteous Among the Nations. 

During World War II, the Sharps helped hundreds of people escape from the Nazis in Czechoslovakia and France; the couple later divorced.

The Aquinas Institute began with the idea “that there are a lot of social justice topics that we can discuss in a progressive, lively forum, and be better off for having had the discussion,” said Joanna Wheelton, St. Joseph Catholic Schools president.

Two Who Dared “was a perfect fit for the launch of the Thomas Aquinas Institute,” Wheelton said, because it shows what ordinary people can do to help others in terrible circumstances, and it also shows the cost of taking such actions. 

“We face those decisions a lot in our lives and these decisions are not easy for us,” Wheelton said. 

As the idea took shape and the documentary Two Who Dared was advertised as the institute’s inaugural event, suggestions for future activities came in, Wheelton said. “People are interested in this concept.” 

Mara Brown, a St. Joseph School board member, pointed out that Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote about social justice and the ability of the individual to affect change, so “the goal of the Aquinas Institute is to engage the St. Joseph Catholic schools community and the community at large by providing valuable opportunities for spiritual, ethical and intellectual growth through the theme of social justice.” 

Those who attended the May 14 screening also had the opportunity to ask questions of Deeana Byck, the film’s co-executive producer, and Artemis Joukowsky III, the director.

Byck, who lives in Utah, is a member of The Utah Film Center Board of Directors, and is interested in independent films on social issues. Joukowsky is the Sharps’ grandson; he joined the group via telephone from Philadelphia, where he was at another screening of Two Who Dared.

The documentary “is an interfaith story of moral courage,” Byck said, adding that it shows that people “can stand up and make a difference in this world. Our vision with this film is to inspire and empower the next generation of activists with the role models of Martha and Waitstill Sharp.”

After the screening, Joukowsky answered questions from the audience; he also announced that PBS is set to air the documentary next spring.

Joukowsky said he was honored that Two Who Dared was shown at the Aquinas Institute’s inaugural event, adding that the Catholic Church has many saints and stories of courage in the field of social justice.

Among those who attended the screening was Alex Henabray, St. Joseph CHS Class of 2013.

“I thought that this would be a great idea to follow up on what St. Joseph has taught me: to continue to learn, even outside of school,” said Henabray, adding that the film told the story of two people who risked their lives to do something incredible, and they demonstrated sacrificial love. “It’s one quality that I would like to have, because I have great respect for people who are willing to do something that is extremely difficult even when they would rather not do it.”