Visit to Montreal

During the week of July 9-13, 2012, six candidates for the U.S. Province of the Society of Saint Sulpice came to Montreal for a visit to the Canadian Province in order to get better acquainted with their “northern neighbor.” They were led by the Director of Formation for the U.S. Province, Father Gerald D. McBREARITY, S.S., who has been in this position for many years.

By good fortune this visit coincided with an international symposium on the priesthood being sponsored by the Generalate. It afforded an occasion for a social evening together to give the more than thirty delegates of the symposium a chance to meet the new candidates for the U.S. Province, and vice versa.


Although one candidate from Zambia was unable to attend the program because of a visa problem, the six others also represented an international perspective. Apart from the United States, they come from such diverse countries as Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and India. All six candidates do priestly ministry in the United States.

The U.S. Province’s program of Sulpician formation differs somewhat from the other two Provinces (France and Canada) in that it consists of three summers of extensive training in Sulpician spirituality, history, and pedagogy, rather than a five-month intensive introduction to Sulpician ministry. All new Sulpician candidates, however, attend a month-long program in Paris called the “mois sulpicien,” which takes place every three or four years.

 
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