Formation at HSS

1. INTRODUCTION

Holy Spirit Seminary was established in 1981 as the first major Ukrainian Catholic seminary in Canada for the training of eparchial priests. For the past number of years, the seminary has been a renewing source of study and reflection enabling men of faith to mature both in knowledge and commitment.

The specific apostolate of Holy Spirit Seminary is the preparation of candidates for ordained priesthood in the Catholic Church. The program of priestly formation is guided by the official documents of the Catholic Church, particularly by the Second Vatican Council's Decree on Priestly Formation, the Basic Norms for Priestly Formation of the Congregation for Catholic Education, the Program of Priestly Formation of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, as well as the pertinent norms of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches and the various guidelines of the ecclesiastical authorities of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada.

2. MISSION STATEMENT

Holy Spirit Seminary is the Major Seminary of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada. It also welcomes candidates from elsewhere. Its primary purpose is the preparation of candidates for ordained priesthood in the Catholic Church. This preparation for eparchial ministerial leadership embraces and promotes spiritual formation, theological education and field training.

The Seminary pursues its calling to form candidates as responsible and apostolic persons for the service of the Church and world by fostering:

faithful love for Jesus Christ, his Church and all people;
commitment to hand on faithfully the tradition, teachings and history of the Church;
commitment to the exploration of the mysteries of faith through sustained scriptural and theological inquiry; and
communal life through faith, prayer and wisdom.

3. HISTORICAL SKETCH

The need for a seminary in Canada had long been discussed by the Ukrainian Catholic Hierarchy of Canada. Before the establishment of Holy Spirit Seminary, candidates attended various Roman Catholic seminaries in Canada including Saint Paul Seminary (Ottawa), Saint Basil's College (Toronto), Saint Augustine's Seminary (Toronto), Saint Peter's Seminary (Toronto), and Saint Joseph's Seminary (Edmonton) while others attended Saint Josaphat's Seminary and Saint Sofia College in Rome. Whereas the Basilian and Redemptorist Orders had their own scholasticates, there was no place of preparation for eparchial priests.

Holy Spirit Seminary was established in 1980. The former Basilian scholasticate at 520 Queen Elizabeth Driveway served as its first location. Very Rev. Joseph Andrijisyn was appointed Rector and in September 1981 the Seminary began receiving its first students. Seminarians studied philosophy at Ottawa University and theology at Saint Paul University. By 1983 the Seminary building became too small to accommodate all the students and an additional house at 72 Craig Street was purchased. When the Basilian Fathers made it known that they intended to sell the scholasticate building, the Seminary was relocated to its present location at 1030 Baseline Road, the former Augustinian Monastery.

In 1993, with his appointment as Moderator of the Patriarchal Tribunal in Lviv, Ukraine, Rev. Joseph Andrijisyn was succeeded as Rector by Rev. Andrew Wach of the Archeparchy of Winnipeg (1993-1996) and Rev. David Motiuk of the Eparchy of Edmonton (1996- ).

Since the erection of Holy Spirit Seminary in 1981 over 100 candidates have received all or part of their priestly formation in Ottawa; more than 30 have been ordained to the priesthood and now serve in various parishes across Canada.

5. GOVERNANCE

The government, conduct, management and control of the Seminary are vested in the Board of Directors of Holy Spirit Seminary, namely, the Ukrainian Catholic Bishops of Canada. The day-to-day operating authority of the Holy Spirit Seminary is the Rector who conducts the business of the Seminary with the cooperation of the Formation Team.

6. PARTNERSHIP

Holy Spirit Seminary carries out its mission for the Church in an on-going partnership with Saint Paul University and the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies by offering human, spiritual and pastoral formation of future priests while the University and the Sheptytsky Institute offer intellectual formation.

1030 Baseline Road - Ottawa, Ontario - K2C 0A6
Telephone: (613) 727-1255 - Facsimile: (613) 727-1573 - E-mail: admin@hsseminary.org