The Redemptoris Mater Seminary of Vancouver was opened in 2013. Archbishop Miller established the seminary in the vision of the missionary dimension of the Archdiocese as he indicated in its Decree of Erection:

 

"The Church of Vancouver has a unique perspective and gift, for we are enriched by the ever-growing presence of people from every nation and culture. Our call to enflesh the Gospel provides a particularly diverse context in which to flourish and builds on the strong traditions of many peoples.

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St. John Paul II has called us “to commit all of the Church's energies to a new evangelization and to the mission to all peoples” (Redemptoris Missio, 3). In a special way he challenged candidates for the priesthood to be aware “of the Church as ‘a missionary communion’ ... to love and live the essential missionary dimension of the Church and her different pastoral activities ... and be open to all possibilities offered today for the proclamation of the Gospel” (Pastores Dabo Vobis, 59).

 

Conscious both of our unique situation and needs as a welcoming community for many different peoples of the world and of the call to serve the wider mission of the Church, I have decided, after prayer and reflection, to welcome the Neocatechumenal Way to the Archdiocese and accept their offer to found a Missionary Seminary here. It will provide, in conformity with their charism, a formation for future clergy which will be attentive and open to the missionary needs of the Church of Vancouver and of the Universal Church.

 

"The aim of the seminary and the subsequent ministry of the priests to be ordained from it is defined in paragraph 2 of the Statute of the seminary, “the aim of the Seminary is to form men for the Archdiocesan presbyterate who will be missionaries, particularly dedicated to evangelization in all three of the pastoral settings described in Pope Francis’s Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 14: ordinary pastoral ministry for the faithful; ministry to the baptized whose lives do not reflect the demands of their Baptism and who lack a meaningful relationship to the Church; and, first and foremost, ministry to those who do not yet know Jesus Christ”[1].

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Although the students receive the same theological formation as the other seminarians of the diocese, they go in mission for about two years during formation. After ordination, the Archbishop may appoint them to a parish or for any other service in the diocese; he may also send them to serve in other dioceses of the world where bishops have asked for help. In the latter case, the ordinary and the requesting bishop would formalize their agreement according to canon law.

 

These seminaries are a fruit of the Neocatechumenal Way, which sees its formation as fostering an "adult faith": the Neocatechumenal Way, by creating small Cristian communities, prepares and awakens the vocations in many young people. It accompanies them during their time of formation; once ordained as priests the Way continues to sustain them in their permanent formation, which then becomes a means of evangelization for the "far away".

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[1] Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, Decree of Erection for the Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary Redemptoris Mater of Vancouver, 2 February 2015.