The Seminary of Christ the King is a Roman Catholic seminary conducted by Westminster Abbey's monks with local diocesan clergy and some very dedicated lay volunteers. In drawing up its coat of arms, the Seminary selected from the wealth of available symbols to show its particular origin, identity, and mission.
The beautiful 80-hectare campus provides residential accommodations along with recreational and community facilities of many kinds. On-Campus, there are two communities of seminarians – The Major Seminary, made up of seminarians from neighboring dioceses. The High School Seminary (Grades 8-12) comprises seminarians across Canada and the United States. The Seminary resides on the same grounds as the Abbey, within the Archdiocese of Vancouver, B.C.
Since 1931, when the Seminary was opened in the Archdiocese, the Seminary has striven to form priests and religious in the image of Christ, the High Priest, and with the mind and heart of the Church. We emphasize liturgical and community formation without neglecting the other pillars of priestly formation and identity, viz. human, intellectual, and spiritual foundations.
The College seminary program'sprogram'sprogram's goal is to form spiritual men who are well prepared for the ministerial priesthood and adjust to the changing needs of the Church while holding fast to the essentials. The Seminary of Christ, the King in its Arts and Theology departments, gives special attention to the character and spiritual formation of each seminarian, which is centered on the LiturgyLiturgyLiturgyLiturgy and builds upon the foundations of faith and reverence learned in the Christian family. The Seminary is convinced of the advantage of maturing within a community of like-minded seminarians and pursuing priesthood studies in a setting where the Church is loved and the Church Seasons and feasts help make real the mysteries of the faith and create a supportive environment for academic life. The Seminary provides experiences of apostolic and pastoral life that aim at actively engaging each seminarian in the diocesan life of the Church.
The purpose of the High School seminary is to provide an atmosphere within which young men can grow in holiness, i.e., grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ and the Seminary community. Only through such growth are we able to discern God'sGod'sGod's will for us, our vocation. The Seminary's fundamental purpose is not merely to provide a good education or to be a safe environment, but to grow in our ability to follow Christ the Redeemer with generous souls and pure hearts. The Seminary follows the British Columbia Ministry of Education'sEducation'sEducation's program for Secondary Education. However, it provides the seminarians with a wholesome spiritual, communal, intellectual, and physical environment where a young man can avail himself of the means to mature in love for the Church and the Christian virtues and responsibilities. Our secondary aim is to prepare a young man to continue his formation toward the priesthood or religious life in the Major Seminary, should he be called.
The Seminary of Christ the King was founded in 1931 by Archbishop William M. Duke of Vancouver. In 1939, with the Holy See'sSee's approval, the Archbishop entrusted the Seminary to Benedictine monks as a training center for diocesan and religious priesthood students. In 1951 the Seminary opened the Faculty of Theology. The Monastery was raised to abbatial status in 1953 under the title Westminster Abbey. In 1966, through its University Charter, the Seminary was empowered to grant the Bachelor of Arts degree and degrees in Theology.
Welcome to the website of the Seminary of Christ the King. The Benedictines of Westminster Abbey have had the responsibility of guiding the discernment and formation of men for the Catholic priesthood at the Seminary of Christ the King since September 1939. Our monastic charisms of community life and daily celebration of the Eucharist and the LiturgyLiturgyLiturgyLiturgy of the Hours typical introduce our seminarians into community life and the LiturgyLiturgyLiturgyLiturgy and form them as men of communion united in the Church'sChurch'sChurch's worship of the Father.
With our strong emphasis on community life and a daily rhythm shaped by the liturgical cycle, seminarians experience, often for the first time in their lives, the richness of the Catholic Faith in all its intensity and beauty. The splendor of our natural surroundings, as we are located on a hilltop above the Fraser Valley, in no small way enhances the sense of wonder that we hope to instill in our seminarians here at SCK.
Committed to the four pillars of priestly formation, human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral, the formators and professors at the Seminary of Christ the King accompany the seminarians throughout their years of formation and assist them to integrate these facets of the whole man into their lives so that our ordained alumni are capable and zealous priests after the heart of Jesus.
Our Seminary offers both a four-year program in Philosophy, a B.A. degree, and a four-year Theology program with B.Th. And M.Div. Degrees for those who meet the graduation requirements. Intellectual formation at SCK draws upon the fonts of Scripture, the Magisterium, Conciliar teaching, and St. Thomas Aquinas. We hope that our seminarians will be men who think with the Church and appreciate and appropriate into their hearts and minds that which is right, fair, and beautiful in classical and contemporary thinking, literature, and art.
Human formation at SCK occurs informal settings such as lectures, conferences, and personal direction and informal ways such as part of life in the community. Students take responsibility for many household chores and share in the work of preparing and celebrating the LiturgyLiturgyLiturgyLiturgy.
We welcome inquiries from Catholic men interested in discerning a possible call to the priesthood or consecrated life. We have three or four weekends each year for men to stay with us and find out something about seminary life and the joys and challenges of following Jesus'Jesus'Jesus' call to come and follow Him and be fishers of men.
