Reflections on Archbishop Exner.

"Without Archbishop Exner's leadership, there would simply be no Catholic Liberal Arts education available to post-secondary students in the Vancouver archdiocese," said Dr. David Sylvester, president of Corpus Christi College at UBC.

Corpus Christi College

Dr. Sylvester was one among many who were eager to talk about their experiences with Archbishop Adam Exner, OMI, after learning that he was retiring after 13 years shepherding the Vancouver archdiocese.

Catholic education, said Dr. Sylvester, took a very big step forward because of the archbishop's commitment.

"We are grateful for his support in providing the resources which made it possible for us to open this college. Catholic education for our young people is something he values, not only for those able to receive it personally, but for the entire Catholic community and all of society. His support has been unwavering.

"Until we opened this college, students who wanted a Catholic higher education were forced to go abroad. Now they can come here to UBC.

"What has made collaborating with Archbishop Exner such a gratifying experience was that he made himself personally available to us as different issues and concerns arose."

Dr. Sylvester said that the archbishop opened the door to local Catholic educators being given the opportunity to teach at a Catholic post-secondary institution.

"I have seen many members of our faculty blossom as they marry their love of teaching with their love of the faith," he said.

"We're certainly sorry to see him go as our archbishop, but you can be sure that he'll be getting a call from us soon about teaching theology!"

Redeemer Pacific

Dr. Sylvester's comments were echoed by Tom Hamel, executive director of Redeemer Pacific College in Langley, which also was founded under Archbishop Exner's direction.

"I was one of a group of parents who met with Archbishop Exner in the mid-1990s to ask him for his blessing and support in establishing a Catholic college that would give our children an education similar to that available at the Franciscan University of Steubenville," said Hamel.

"We wanted our young people to have the opportunity to attend a university like FUS that would encourage them to develop a relationship with Jesus and His Church while earning a degree.

"To be honest, we were a bit apprehensive about the outcome of the meeting with him because it would also involve an academic partnership with Trinity Western University, and it would be the first time that local Catholics and Evangelical Christians would be co-operating at this level in higher education."

Hamel said now, as he looks back, he knows he need not have been concerned. It soon became apparent that Archbishop Exner "was a man willing to take what others might see as a risk in order to advance God's kingdom.

"I believe he demonstrates this kind of boldness because he listens to the Holy Spirit," Hamel noted. The archbishop's spiritual boldness, he added, emerged many times during his term of office.

"I can speak from experience at RPC in saying that Archbishop Exner's ability to listen to Our Lord and his willingness to act on what he has heard has had a positive impact on all of our lives. I believe it will continue to do so far into the future, wherever his service to the Church takes him."

Health care and Catholic teaching

The archbishop's support for Catholic health care led to associations with groups in the community with similar concerns, such as B.C.'s Denominational Health Association.

Derek Morton, DHA president for the past two years, said that the archbishop's support for faith-based care was evident each time he attended the organization's AGM.

"We certainly appreciate him speaking out publicly on behalf of religious-based care. As I understand it, he spearheaded the beginnings of the DHA and was a signatory to the Denominational Health Care Master Agreement with the provincial government."

Claudette Savard, president of the Catholic Health Association of B.C., noted. "With his leadership and courage in defending Church teachings he has played a pivotal role in how much we have been able to accomplish in Catholic health care today. I also applaud his leadership role in the synod, as well as his vision which made it possible."

Michele Smillie of the Vancouver Office of Life and Family said that Archbishop Exner's "great support" of life and family issues was evident when he became the first Canadian bishop to establish a Respect Life diocesan office.

"We just celebrated the 11th Archbishop's Mass for Life on the Feast of the Holy Innocents Last Dec. 27. This was something he implemented to draw attention to the tragedy of abortion in our society."

The archbishop, said Smillie, was a wonderful speaker at the annual Focus on Life dinners and he supported the pro-life TV advertising campaign which the dinners make possible.

"He tried to attend the monthly pro-life prayer vigils at different parishes as often as possible," she said. "He spoke at all our family conferences and attended the high school pro-life youth conferences and the annual Life Chains. "He spoke publicly on many issues which threaten the family, including, most recently, the re-definition of marriage and reproductive technologies."

Laureen McMahon is a journalist for B.C. Catholic, She writes from Richmond, British Columbia.