Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver

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The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver is a Roman Catholic archdiocese that includes part of the Province of British Columbia and includes the suffragan dioceses of Kamloops, Nelson, Prince George, and Victoria. It is currently led by Archbishop Raymond Roussin.

As of 2004, the archdiocese contains 77 parishes, 93 active diocesan priests, 92 religious priests, and 395,000 Catholics. It also has 130 Women Religious, 115 Religious Brothers, and 1 permanent deacon.

[edit] Archdiocesan synod

The archdiocese concluded a nine-year synod in December 2006.

A synod is a gathering of priests, religious, and lay faithful who assist the bishop in his ministry by helping him to discern where and how his diocese can improve. The only limit placed on the scope of the synod is that it can only deal with matters capable of being decided or changed at the diocesan level.

In the case of the Vancouver synod, lay and religious representatives of every parish, Catholic schools, religious communities, the local seminary, and Catholic organizations took part, as well as non-Catholic observers who were invited to the process.

Although it formally ran from October 2002 to October 2003, extensive preparation went into the synod as far back as 1998 during the period leading up to the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. The synod’s aim was to bring the Church of Vancouver into the 21st century, from the “maintenance” mode it was in to more of a mission-driven model, as former Archbishop Emeritus Adam Exner, OMI, put it.

On Dec. 3, 2006, at Holy Rosary Cathedral, Archbishop Raymond Roussin, SM, officially declared the synod closed, and with that, officially set the initiatives from the synod into motion.

According to the archdiocesan newspaper The B.C. Catholic, the first 20 declarations from the synod were to come into effect almost immediately. "Among the highlights are initiatives to encourage pastors to delegate more duties to the laity, to promote the faith formation of teachers, to initiate an adult faith formation strategy, to establish an office and vicar for evangelization, and to initiate a support group for priests."

More information about the synod can be found at http://www.rcav.bc.ca/synod.

The B.C. Catholic's coverage of the synod can be found at: http://bcc.rcav.org/06-12-11.