J. Michael Miller


John Michael Miller, is a Canadian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is currently Archbishop of Vancouver and its 475,000 Catholics. Miller succeeded to this post in January 2009, after serving as Coadjutor Archbishop from June 1, 2007. He was previously Secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education, and thus a senior official of the Roman Curia.

Early life

Miller was born on July 9, 1946, in Ottawa, Ontario, the capital city of Canada. He studied at St. Joseph’s High School in his hometown, where he was classmates with Mary Lou Finlay. Since childhood, he has had polio, which affects him to this day. He became a naturalized American citizen on March 28, 2003.

Presbyteral ministry

Miller joined the Congregation of St. Basil in 1966 and was ordained a priest by Pope Paul VI on June 29, 1975. He received the degree of bachelor of arts from the University of Toronto in 1969, a bachelor's degree in theology from University of St. Michael's College in the University of Toronto in 1974, a licentiate in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1976, and a doctoral degree from the Gregorian in 1979. In 1972, Miller spent a year teaching a political science course to grade 13 students at St. Joseph's High School in Ottawa's west end. From there he spent eight years at the University of Saint Thomas in Houston, Texas. From 1992 to 1997, Miller served in the Secretariat of State of the Holy See. In 1997, Miller returned to the University of Saint Thomas, where he served as President until November 25, 2003 when he was appointed by the Pope to preside as Secretary of the Congregation of Catholic Education.

Episcopal ministry

On November 25, 2003, Pope John Paul II appointed him Titular Archbishop of Vertara, in addition to his aforementioned work with the Congregation for Catholic Education. Miller received his episcopal consecration on January 12, 2004 from Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski, with Bishops Joseph Fiorenza and Ronald Peter Fabbro serving as co-consecrators.

Legacy

His book The Holy See’s Teaching on Catholic Schools is currently in use in the 45 schools of the Catholic Independent Schools Vancouver Archdiocese.