Several days prior to his June 27 Silver Jubilee celebrations, Vancouver's seventh archbishop paused to reflect on his journey from the ivory towers of academia to shepherding one of Canada's largest flocks into the new millennium.

"Until I became a bishop in 1974, I lived in seminaries and was never a parish pastor. I found myself overwhelmed at being responsible for a diocese when Kamloops came along," he said.

Kamloops proved to be a unique, frontier-type experience which he grew to love. For the first time, the new bishop found himself working closely with native Indians as leader of 30,000 Catholics living in 80 communities over a vast territory in the B.C. Interior. He had just 27 priests, many of whom were reaching their senior years.

In meeting this challenge, he decided to "count on the people I served by promoting the role of the laity. I think the message got through and the missions, parishes, and schools benefited more than ever before.

"It is interesting that when they described my years in a history of Kamloops, this is what they picked up on."

Kamloops, he pointed out, came just nine years after the Second Vatican Council, where the role of the laity was given a new and important emphasis.

Winnipeg proved different again as the bishop found himself cast in 1982 as the leader of 150,000 parishioners in communities spread out over a huge area. "My furthest parish was 450 miles away from the city," he noted.

Again, the number of priests was limited, so he focussed on promoting vocations. "When I arrived, I had five seminarians. In nine years, I ordained 15 new priests and left behind 14 seminarians. This was success!"

Thanks to campaigns similar to Project ADVANCE, the archbishop transformed a financially ailing diocese into one which actually had a surplus of funds by the time he departed.

A third area concerned Catholic education. "We had been receiving only 26 per cent of the school operating costs from the government. By the time I left, we were getting more than 53 per cent with a promise to bring us up to 80 per cent!"

In co-operation with the diocese of St. Boniface, Winnipeg built up lay ministry through programs in spirituality and theology.

"We picked those who were already exercising a leadership role in their community. This led to a permanent diaconate formation program." Another success story was the growth of Winnipeg's youth ministry, said the archbishop.

Then there was Vancouver, which he describes as a "flurry of activity."

The appointment of a vicar general and three episcopal vicars to oversee areas such as health, education, and administration has been a big step in keeping up with expansion.

"We have never had less than 14 (building) projects in progress at all times. Just this week, we approved another."

Another challenge has been a diocese where 17 languages are used regularly and another half a dozen periodically.

"Growth has been largely in the Asiatic population. At St. Mary's, Vancouver, for example, people come from 76 different countries; in Port Moody, from 78! The beauty of it is, however, that in spite of all the diversity, there is a unity and a sense of community and solidarity and family that is marvellous to see.

"We can teach the world how to live with people of different ethnic origins, languages, and cultures. It's possible!"

The archbishop fervently believes in this archdiocese's potential, in its schools, parishes, and various ministries, including youth, marriage and family, pro-life, and the many lay ministry movements that have emerged recently.

The ever-increasing number of Catholic converts is also "wonderfully encouraging," and is largely due, said Archbishop Exner, to the RCIA and lay evangelization training programs.

He was inspired to convene a synod, he said, by the Holy Father's letter on the Great Jubilee, which emphasized the need for a new evangelization both for Christians and those who have yet to hear the Good News.

"The Pope has said that the number of people in the world who have never heard of Christ or don't believe in Him has doubled since the Second Vatican Council, so there is a need to reach out with a new energy to the fallen-away and to those who do not yet believe. This is the new mission territory.

"My life as a bishop has been a very challenging, sometimes hard experience, but it has been very uplifting. I look to the future with great, great confidence."
 

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