44. Vancouver College Alumni in Religious Life

When Vancouver College was first founded, the Christian Brothers had the intention of nurturing and developing each student as a whole person, something that continues to this day. As a Catholic school, one important aspect of the whole person is that of faith, something that is reflected in the number of Vancouver College alumni who have gone on to live in religious life.

From Rev. Francis J. Nash (VC 1926), the first alumnus ordained to the priesthood in 1934, to Paul Vo (VC 2012), a seminarian attending Christ the King in Mission, more than 80 VC alumni have been ordained to the priesthood, deaconship, or as Christian Brothers.

According to Rev. Mark Dumont (VC 1962), “in the first 40 years of its existence, 42 VC alumni were ordained or made profession: 33 priests and 9 religious brothers. In the last 60 years, in a time of falling numbers of vocations, another 29 priests and 7 religious brothers have made life commitments.” He notes that two VC alumni went on to become Bishops: James F. Carney (VC 1933), Archbishop of Vancouver from 1969 to 1990, and Mark Hagemoen (VC 1979). In 2013, Pope Francis named Most Rev. Mark Hagemoen as the sixth Bishop of the Diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith and in 2017, he was installed as the eighth Bishop of the Diocese of Saskatoon.

Each student’s faith journey at VC will look different. Each student will choose his own path. Even in the case of alumni who have chosen religious life, this calling may or may not always be apparent to them during their time at the school.

Rev. Richard Conlin (VC 2006), ordained in December 2020, recounts, “Although I never once thought about becoming a priest during my time at VC but was rather fully convinced I’d play professional golf for the rest of my life, I am confident that God was planting seeds all along the way that eventually sprouted forth in my true vocation and life-calling to the priesthood.”

Bishop Hagemoen once stated that “Vancouver College encourages young men to discover and apply their abilities and talents, and put them at the service of others. It is a distinctively ‘Catholic-Christian’ community: one’s talents and gifts are given to them by God to be shared, to serve others, and make the world a better place.” For those who choose to make the world a better place by choosing religious life, they are a living testament to the importance of faith in our faith and learning community.

By: Karen Teufel

A list of Vancouver College Alumni in Religious Life:

VC Grad Year	Names	Year of Ordination/Vows
1925	Rev. James S. McGivern, S.J. +	1937
1926	Rev. Francis J. Nash +	1934
1926	Br. Herman Sprechen O.F.M. +	1942
1927	Rev. Peter W. Nash, S.J. +	1944
1928	Rev. Clifford E. Tedlock C.SS.R. +	1937
1928	Rev. Leonard Wale, C.SS.R. +	1937
1928	Br. Garland P. Lyons F.S.C.H. +	1938
1929	Rev. John J. Evoy S.J. +	1943
1930	Rev. James M. Barry +	1939
1930	Rev. Peter Smeets +	1938
1930	Br. Paul. B. Whalen F.S.C.H. +	1937
1931	Rev. Peter E. McGuire +	1940
1933	Most Rev. James F. Carney +	1942
1934	Rev. Patrick O'Sullivan +	1943
1935	Rev. J. Brooks Costello S.J. +	1954
1935	Rev. Francis J. Rayner O.M.I. +	1945
1936	Rev. Barry W. Connolly S.J. +	1952
1937	Rev. Dominic Langi C.SS.R. +	1945
1937	Br. Henry Curran, C.S.C. +	1952
1939	Rev. James E. Fagan +	1950
1939	Rev. Richard H. Trame, S.J. +	1952
1940	Rev. H.I. Bader +	1947
1940	Rev. John E. MacKinnon C.SS.R. +	1949
1941	Rev. John M. Burns OM.I. +	1950
1941	Rev. Roland Joncas +	1957
1942	Rev. J. Alexander Macrae, O.M.I.	1955*
1942	Br. Wayne G. McIntyre CFC +	1950
1944	Rev. William M. O'Malley, S.J. +	1962
1944	Rt. Rev. Maurus Macrae, O.S.B. +	1963
1945	Rev. H.T. Swift, C.SS.R.	1955*
1945	Rev. William M. Sweeney, O.M.I. +	1959*
1945	Br. Joseph G. Fairleigh, F.S.C.H.	1956*
1945	Rev. J.A. Mulronery, S.J. +	1963*
1946	Rev. Wallace R. Chisholm, S.F.M. +	1954
1947	Rev. Neil Kelly, C.S.B. +	1962
1947	Rev. Paul Foran +	1955
1948	Rev. Lawrence Bileski, O.S.B. +	1957
1948	Rev. Leroy Neil Kelly, C.B.S. +	1962
1948	Rev. Joseph P. Carney +	1957*
1948	Rev. Charles B. Paris	1957*
1948	Rev. D. Anthony Varrall +	1959
1948	Rev. Henri Boyer de la Giroday, S.J.	TBC*
1949	Rev. Basil Foote, O.S.B. +	1957
1950	Br. Ronald H. Mackenzie, CFC +	1958
1950	Rev. Leo Sweeney, O.M.I. +	1965*
1950	Deacon Harold J. Graham	1976
1953	Br. J. P. Rowland, CFC +	1961
1955	Rev. Neil Macaulay, O.M.I.	1963
1956	Rev. William Somerville +	1969
1957	Br. Philip McClenaghan, O.S.A.	1961
1959	Rev. Bill Fletcher	1967*
1959	Rev. James Dukowski, O.M.I. +	1968
1959	Rev. George LaGrange, O.M.I.	1968
1960	Br. James T. McInnis, CFC +	1967*
1961	Rev. Maynard A. Boomars, OMI +	1979
1961	Br. James Wright, CFC	1968*
1962	Rev. Mark Richard Dumont, O.S.B	1971
1962	Br. William Carrothers, CFC	1972
1962	Br. Jean-Louis Brusset, OFM	1985
1964	Rev. H. Lawrence Holland	1991
1964	Rev. Francis (Frank) Salmon, OMI	1973
1965	Br. Francis Duff, CFC	1975
1965	Rev. Michael Storey	1973
1966	Rev. John (Jack) Walmesley	1974
1966	Rev. David Norman, OFM	1980
1967	Rev. Phillip Steigerwald +	1978
1967	Br. Charles Hancock CFC	1977
1968	Rev. Fabian MacDonald	1977
1970	Rev. Christopher Bernard, OSB	1989*
1970	Deacon Mike Boreham	2105
1970	Rev. Ian Stuart	1987
1973	Deacon Henk Luyten	2015
1975	Rev. Mark Bachmann, OSB	1991
1975	Rev. Michael Favero	1992
1979	Most Rev. Mark Hagemoen	1990
1979	Br. Gregory Hansler	2002
1983	Rev. Keith Roscoe	*
1988	Rev. James Hughes	1998
2001	Richard Aldaba	*
2003	Rev. Pablo Santa Maria	2012
2004	Rev. Joachim (Anthony) Aldaba	2017
2009	Rev. Juan Lucca	2017
2006	Rev. Richard Conlin	2020
2012	Paul Vo

Note: a * denotes alumni who have since left the vocation.

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44. Vancouver College Alumni in Religious Life