His father, Albert Miller, was a Catholic who first worked for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and later as a salesman; his mother, Katharine Rob, was a descendant of Scottish Loyalists and was a lifelong member of the United Church of Canada.
[4][5] Miller attended St. Joseph's High School in his hometown, where he was chosen as student body president and was classmates with Mary Lou Finlay.
[9][10] He went back to St. Michael's as a seminarian,[11] obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto in 1969,[9] and was awarded the Governor General's Academic Medal for graduating first in his class.
[4][12] After his ordination, Miller continued his studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, obtaining a licentiate in dogmatic theology in 1976 before being awarded a doctorate three years later (graduating summa cum laude in both instances).
[18] Miller was appointed as the Secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education on November 23, 2003, as well as vice president of the Pontifical Work of Priestly Vocations.
[5] Zenon Grocholewski, the prefect of the aforementioned congregation, serving as the principal consecrator,[6] with nearly 400 of Miller's friends and family travelling to Rome to be in attendance.
[11][20] During his term of office, Miller drafted and co-signed a document titled "Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with Regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies".
[22] However, Miller was reportedly "very uncomfortable" with the extreme reading of the instruction by Tony Anatrella – who contended that gay men should be excluded from the priesthood altogether – on account of it "lacking balance".
[16] He succeeded Roussin as Archbishop of Vancouver on January 2, 2009,[23] after the latter's resignation was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI five years before the mandatory retirement age of 75.
[9][26] He acted as principal consecrator at the episcopal ordination of Stephen Jensen, held in Prince George, British Columbia, on April 2, 2013.
[29] Miller served as the principal consecrator at the episcopal ordination of Joseph Phuong Nguyen at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops on August 25, 2016.
[33][34] The committee published its report of its findings in November of the following year, determining that there were 36 such cases – of which 26 involved children – and five priests convicted on criminal charges.
[36] In a letter announcing the report, Miller apologized for the past failings of the church, writing: "I realize that no expression of regret can repair the horror of what happened.
For those occasions when we failed to protect you or when we were more concerned with the Church's reputation than with your suffering, I am truly sorry and ask for your forgiveness as I strive to make amends and bind your wounds.
[29] He later hosted a climate change symposium at the aforementioned headquarters in October 2015 to highlight Laudato si', the encyclical published by Pope Francis earlier that year.
[37] When asked about his opinion of homosexual relationships during a 2014 interview with the Vancouver Sun, Miller stated that the faithful can follow the approach of Pope Francis regarding the matter.
[38] He conveyed his discontent after the Supreme Court of Canada held in June 2018 that it was "proportionate and reasonable" to restrict the religious rights of TWU because of its admission policies.