St. Joseph Seminary is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

located in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

History

The

opened 1927 under the episcopacy of Archbishop

Henry Joseph O'Leary Henry Joseph O'Leary (March 13, 1879 – March 5, 1938) was a Canadian cleric, the fifth Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlottetown, and later the second Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Edmonton. Born in Richibucto, New Brunswick t ...

for the training and formation of

diocesan priest In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. A secular priest (sometimes known as a diocesan priest) is a priest who commits themselves to a certain geogr ...

s in what had previously been a Seminary in Downtown Edmonton run by the

Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, ...

.St. Joseph Seminary has undergone many transitions
/ref> The Seminary moved from downtown Edmonton to St. Albert Trail near St. Albert in 1957. In light of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

Newman Theological College Newman Theological College (NTC) is a Roman Catholic school of theology founded in 1969 by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. Founding NTC was founded in 1969 in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. NTC grew out ...

was set up in 1969 as a degree-granting institution within the same building and began accepting lay students and students from other denominations, while the seminary continued to be used for the formation of Catholic clergy.Catholics rejoice as college, seminary ready to open doors
/ref> Since its inception, Newman Theological College has granted all degrees for St. Joseph Seminary students; the seminary itself does not grant any degrees. In 2007, the province bought the seminary's land in order to build

Anthony Henday Drive Anthony Henday Drive (Highway 216) is a freeway that encircles Edmonton, Alberta. It is a heavily travelled commuter and truck bypass route with the southwest quadrant serving as a portion of the CANAMEX Corridor that links C ...

, requiring the seminary to vacate in June 2009.Seminary History
In the 2010, the seminary, along with Newman, moved to new and separate facilities at the intersection of 98 Avenue and 84 Street near the edge of the

North Saskatchewan River The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows event ...

valley.Moving takes its toll
/ref> In 1990, Archbishop Joseph McNeil invited the

Society of Saint-Sulpice The Society of Priests of Saint-Sulpice (french: Compagnie des Prêtres de Saint-Sulpice), abbreviated PSS also known as the Sulpicians is a society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men, named after the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris ...

to take charge of the formation of seminarians.

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

resided in St. Joseph Seminary during his visit to Canada in July 2022.

Recent Rectors of St. Joseph Seminary

* Rev. Lionel Gendron (1990–94) (Currently

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

of Saint-Jean-Longueuil, Quebec) * Rev.

Marc Ouellet Marc Armand Ouellet (born 8 June 1944) is a Canadian prelate of the Catholic Church. He has been the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI ...

(1994–97) (Currently Cardinal Prefect of Congregation for Bishops,

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

) * Rev. Jean Papen (1997–2000) (Deceased) * Rev. Luc Bouchard (2000–01) (Currently

of Trois-Rivières, Quebec) * Rev. Lionel Gendron (2002) * Rev. Louis-Paul Gauvreau (2002–04) (Deceased) * Rev. Kevin Beach (2004–05) (Currently

Monsignor Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

Beach is

Vicar General A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop' ...

of Ottawa) * Rev. Shayne Craig (2005–12) * Rev.

Stephen Hero ''Stephen Hero'' is a posthumously published autobiographical novel by Irish author James Joyce. Its published form reflects only a portion of an original manuscript, part of which was lost. Many of its ideas were used in composing ''A Portrait ...

(2012–2021) (Currently Bishop of

Prince Albert, Saskatchewan Prince Albert is the third-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada, after Saskatoon and Regina. It is situated near the centre of the province on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River. The city is known as the "Gateway to the North" because ...

) * Rev. Sylvain Casavant (2021-Present)

Current Formation Team at the Seminary

* Rev. Sylvain Casavant, pss (

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

) * Rev. Shayne Craig, pss * Rev. Augusto Garcia, pss * Rev. Michael Schumacher * Rev. John Kohler * Rev. Andrew Schoenberger

References

External links

St. Joseph Seminary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph Seminary (Edmonton) Universities and colleges in Edmonton Seminaries and theological colleges in Canada Educational institutions established in 1927 1927 establishments in Alberta