VANCOUVER, B.C. (Catholic Online) - Many Catholics in North America are aware of the new (or renewed) “orthodox” Catholic institutions of higher education that have sprung to life on this continent over the past two decades. Franciscan University in Steubenville, Christendom College in Virginia, and Ave Maria University in Florida head the list of those institutions seeking to be fully faithful to the Church’s magisterium. Now the west coast of Canada can boast its own addition to this line-up: Redeemer Pacific College, in Langley, just outside the city of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Redeemer Pacific College (RPC) opened its doors in the fall of 1999 with the blessing and support of Archbishop Adam Exner of the Archdiocese of Vancouver. In addition, right from its inception, the RPC program was nurtured by Franciscan University in Steubenville. For example, two of the members of the College Board of Governors, Dr. Stephen Militec and Dr. Andrew Minto are distinguished FUS faculty; in addition, the renowned Catholic author and Bible scholar Dr. Scott Hahn, Professor of Theology at FUS, serves on the RPC Board of Advisors. This living link with Franciscan university remains vital to the identity of the College. RPC founder and President Tom Hamel explains:

The mission of Redeemer Pacific College is ‘to develop dynamic Catholic leaders through higher education: men and women committed to lifelong Christian growth and intellectual formation who strive to bring all whom their lives touch into vital relationship with Jesus and his Church.’

The word “dynamic” is key here: it involves our commitment to nurture in our students not only “head-knowledge” of authentic Catholic doctrine, but also “heart-knowledge” of the personal love of Jesus Christ for each and every individual.

Back in 1997, Hamel took this vision of what Catholic higher education should be to Fr. Michael Scanlan, President of Franciscan University in Steubenville, and found there a kindred spirit. Scanlan has said of the famous renewal that he pioneered at FUS:

"A campus may be said to be Catholic to the degree that it creates an environment that fosters [adult] conversion to Christ and his Church. Students must be convinced of the need to own their own faith, and not just rent their parents’. Through hearing the Word of God proclaimed, and celebrating the sacraments, the students are encouraged to encounter the Lord in a personal way, firsthand."

Alongside this commitment to “dynamic” Catholic orthodoxy, RPC has a second –and altogether unique –feature: the College is located just outside the front gates of the largest Protestant Evangelical University in Canada: Trinity Western University. Hamel himself is a graduate of TWU, and he notes: “although not a Catholic institution, God is an integral part of the TWU experience. TWU provides a welcoming environment to all Christians, where Catholics and Evangelicals can share with each other their faith-perspectives, remaining true to their own traditions while discovering common ground –and even, on some issues, a common cause.”

Hamel claims that, in general, Catholics and Evangelicals have been forced to drop some of their prejudices about each other in recent years, given the way all mainstream Christians have been under assault in Canada by the rapid advance of secularization and “political correctness.” He cites the fact that Catholics and Evangelicals today stand shoulder to shoulder on Pro-life and Pro-Family social issues, and work together to protect of freedom of religion. “The same dynamic is at work between Catholics and Evangelicals at RPC and TWU;” says Hamel., “we do not wash over our differences, but we have learned the truth of what Bl. Pope John XXIII once said: ‘There is more that unites us than divides us.’”

Students at RPC take courses at both TWU and RPC, ultimately receiving a TWU undergraduate degree. This enables Catholic students to have access to the full range of Trinity Western’s university programs (TWU presently has over 2,500 students and 39 academic majors). It should also be noted that Trinity Western is a top-notch Canadian university: for example, it recently received an “A+” grade for academic excellence from one of Canada’s national newspapers, The Globe and Mail.

The courses students take at RPC automatically count toward their TWU degree, and RPC has an array of course offerings, especially in Theology and Philosophy, all taught from a Catholic perspective. Senior theologian at RPC, Dr. Robert Stackpole, explains:

The goal of our academic program is to enrich the Catholic students that come here with a deeper appreciation of the Catholic heritage, and to help them attain a deeper commitment to the Catholic Faith. At RPC, students can take courses in everything from Sacred Art and the Metaphysics of St. Thomas Aquinas to Catholic Spirituality and the ...