Séminaire de Québec
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Séminaire de Québec
is a Roman Catholic community of priests in Quebec City founded by Bishop
François de Laval, the first bishop of New France in 1663.
The Séminaire de Québec is a Society of diocesan priests founded on March 26, 1663 by Bishop François de Laval, first bishop of New France, in order to sustain the mission of the Church in North America. In 1665, he joined this community to that of the Seminary of Foreign Missions of Paris under the name of the Seminary of Foreign Missions of Quebec, from which is derived the acronym SME, still in use today. The first role of the Séminaire de Québec was to prepare young men for ordination and ministry in parishes and missions as far away as Louisiana. The Seminary was thus founded together with the Major Seminary, where future priests received their training. In 1668, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV's top minister, initiated an attempt to impose French language and culture on local aboriginal people. Bishop de Laval therefore opened the Seminary to local aboriginal people as well as children of settlers with studious dispositions and a desire to enter the priesthood. This was the beginning of the Petit Séminaire de Québec (the Minor Seminary). |
Until the English conquest in 1760, the Minor Seminary was a boarding
school for students. Classes were held at the Jesuit College on the site of
the present City Hall. When the Jesuits were suppressed after the Conquest,
the directors of the Seminary took over. The Minor Seminary became a full
fledged teaching institution, a college, open to all boys interested in
studying. In 1852, the high quality of teaching was recognized in a Royal
Charter from Queen Victoria, leading to the founding of Université Laval,
the first Catholic French-language university in North America. Université
Laval and the Minor Seminary no longer have any legal ties with the Quebec
Seminary. The Seminary spun off Université Laval into its own corporation
in 1970 and the same was done with the Minor Seminary in 1987.
The services of the Séminaire de Québec currently include the Major Seminary, a vocations centre, a new diocesan Minor Seminary, the Catholic centre at Université Laval, the training of priests and other pastoral leaders, parish service, and theology studies. François de Laval's vision is at the root of the Séminaire de Québec's influence and success in education. His bequest of a large tract of lakes and forests northeast of the city known today as the Beaupré Seigneury, purchased from the Compagnie des 100 Associés (Compagnie de la Nouvelle-France), has funded the work of the institution ever since. |
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Séminaire de Québec Photo seminary, stock |
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Audaciter, Between earth and sky, Monument inaugurating the 350th anniversary of the founding of the Séminaire de Québec, 2013 Photo 312, Quebec City June 2014 |
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Séminaire de Québec, interior courtyard
Photo 316, Quebec City June 2014 |
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Séminaire de Québec interior courtyard Photo 317, June 2014 |
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Séminaire de Québec interior courtyard Photo 318, June 2014 |
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