St. Augustine's Seminary is the archdiocesan

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

of the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Archdiocese of Toronto The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Toronto () is a Roman Catholic archdiocese that includes part of the province of Ontario. Its archbishop is also the ecclesiastical provincial for the dioceses of Hamilton, London, Saint Catharines, and Thunder Bay ...

, and is located by the shore of

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

. It is a member of the

Toronto School of Theology Affiliated with the University of Toronto, the Toronto School of Theology (TST) is an Ecumenism, ecumenical consortium of seven Seminary, theological colleges. Its seven member schools are Emmanuel College, Toronto, Emmanuel College, Knox College, ...

History

St. Augustine's Seminary was established in 1913 to train

diocesan priests In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. Secular priests (sometimes known as diocesan priests) are priests who commit themselves to a certain geograph ...

. The land on which the Seminary was built was previously that of farmer and Anglican Adna Pherrill (1816–1892). Its construction was funded entirely by

Eugene O'Keefe Eugene O'Keefe (10 December 1827 – 1 October 1913), baptized as Owen Keeffe, was an Irish-born Canadians, Canadian businessman and philanthropist, well-known in the brewing industry for his signature brews. He incorporated the O'Keefe Brewe ...

, a wealthy Toronto brewer and philanthropist who died months before its completion. The

Beaux-Arts architecture Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorporated Renaissance and ...

structure is topped off with a copper clad dome. The architect was Arthur W. Holmes who designed numerous buildings in Toronto, such as

St. Patrick's Church St. Patrick's Church, Saint Patrick's Church, St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church or Saint Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, and similar, may refer to: Australia * St Patrick's Church, Adelaide, a heritage-listed church in Adelaide, South Australia ...

, Holy Name Church as well as St. Michael's College, part of the University of Toronto. He modelled the college chapel on the refectory of

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

. In 1969 the

was created as an independent federation of 7 schools of theology, including the divinity faculties of St. Augustine's Seminary. Within its own federation,

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

granted all but theology or divinity degrees. Since 1978, by virtue of a change made in its charter, the university has granted theology degrees conjointly with St. Augustine's Seminary and other Toronto School of Theology member institutions.">"University of Toronto"
''The Canadian Encyclopedia''.

Mission

St. Augustine's Seminary is the Major Seminary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto. It also welcomes candidates from elsewhere. Although the main goal is the preparation of candidates for ordained priesthood in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

the seminary also prepares men and women aspiring to other ministries in the Church.

Programs

St. Augustine Seminary and Institute of Theology offer the following programs which combine spiritual formation, theological education and field training: * Pontifical Baccalaureate of Sacred Theology (STB) and Master of Divinity (M.Div.) * Master of Theological Studies (MTS) * Master of Religious Education (MRE) * Diploma programs in Theological Studies and Diploma in Lay Ministry * Philosophy program

Residence

St. Augustine Seminary provides residence for candidates to the priesthood. Other students live in off-campus housing.

Burial grounds

A list of notables buried at St. Augustine: * Fergus Patrick McEvay,

Archbishop of Toronto The archbishop of Toronto is the head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto, responsible for looking after its spiritual and administrative needs. As the archdiocese is the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province that encompasse ...

Neil McNeil Neil McNeil (November 23, 1851 – May 25, 1934) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver from 1910 to 1912 and Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto from 1912 to 1934. Early life McNeil was born in Hillsborough, Inverness County, No ...

James Charles McGuigan James Charles McGuigan (November 26, 1894 – April 8, 1974) was a Canadian prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the longest-serving Archbishop of Toronto, serving for almost 37 years from 1934 to 1971. He became the first English-speaking ...

Notable Alumni

* Fr. Robert Joseph Bedard, founder of the

Companions of the Cross The Companions of the Cross, abbreviated CC, is a Catholic society of apostolic life of diocesan right for men based in Ottawa, Ontario. It is a community of Catholic priests that is Eucharistic, Charismatic, Marian and magisterial. It was ...

(Class of 1955)

References

External links

St. Augustine's Seminary
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Augustine's Seminary Educational institutions established in 1913 Catholic seminaries Catholic Church in Ontario Seminaries and theological colleges in Canada Universities and colleges in Toronto Education in Scarborough, Ontario Burials at St. Augustine's Seminary Beaux-Arts architecture in Canada 1913 establishments in Ontario