Holy Spirit Ukrainian Catholic 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 source of renewal, a place 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 priestly and diaconal service in the Ukrainian Greek-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 the Clergy, the Apostolic Constitution Sapientia Christiana of Pope John Paul II, Pastores Dabo Vobis, the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of Pope John Paul II, Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis – The Gift of the Priestly Vocation of the Congregation for the Clergy, the Directives for the Preparation of Candidates to the Priesthood in the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Synod of Bishops, 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.
A priest is a man called and empowered to image Christ as Head and Shepherd. The candidates for priesthood at Holy Spirit Seminary are prepared for this vocation to be ministers of God’s Word, ministers of the Sacraments, and servant-leaders of God’s people.
The formation program is a six-year course of study encompassing academics, field education, communal life and spiritual formation. Any introduction to what Holy Spirit Seminary is and seeks to be for its students is best undertaken by considering the seminary as, at one and the same time, a house of prayer, a house of study, and a house of community living.
Our complete Formation Program is available in PDF here.
