Starting 1988 general reporting began related to the future of parishes in the Archdiocese. In October of 1988 Rev. Jack Hamilton prepared "Options Available" a report which presented the options that could be chose if circumstances forces amalgamation of parishes due to the shortage of priests. In November 1988 a sub-committee of the Priests personal committee formed to devise strategies regarding the closing or amlagamation of parishes and the redistribution of personnel. Their report titled "Models of Ministry that will shape the Church in the Archdiocese of Edmonton" was submitted for review shortly after.
In March 1989 Rev. Mike McCaffery presented the report titled "A Aging of the Diocesan Priest" which provided an overview of the Archdiocese for a 30 year period with regard to diminishing personnel. Later in April 1989 the Diocesan Pastoral Council (DPC) preapted a questionnair package including dicussion questions whcih was sent to all parishes in the Archdiocese.
Two more years of reporting followed and finally in 1991 the DPC formed a sub-committee to develop guidelines for the Archdiocese which would assist parishe communities faced with the possibility of amalgamation or closure. The committee set out to evaluate the state of parishes in the Archdiocese of Edmonton and propose necessary changes to the phyiscal boundaries so that all Catholics within the Archdiocese would have access to mass in a desirable location. The committee then presented its final report to the APC in June 1992.
In 1992 a letter and questionnair was sent to all parishes. A year later, in 1993 the APC published the Parishes in Transition Survey. The Parishes in Transition Committee offered its first preliminary report of the Ad Hoc Committee of the Archdiocese Pastoral Council (APC) in December of 1991 and in 1994 results of the responses to the recommendation were prepared and presented to the Ad Hoc Committee for review.
In 1995 planning began to establish another committee which would continue to address the work done by the Parishes in Transition committee. A year later, in 1996 Archbishop MacNeil under the guidance of the APC established the Transformation of Parishes Task Group (ToPs) and the task group was given two years to complete its mandate. In May of 1996 the task group released its work plan and immediately set to work.
The Task Group conducted a survey in order to gather a varity of statistics regarding the size of each parishe, its ministerial activities, its finacial activities and its location. In May 1997 an Interm report was completed and in Feb. 1998 a final report was submitted to the APC. The final report provides recommendations for the future management of each parish based on the survey results taking into account the other parishes its group.
In 1998 the report "Faithfully into the Future" was published and circulated to all the parishes in the Archdiocese. This pastoral plan provided information about the context for parish transformation, the transformation and implementation process, the considerations made by the committee, as well as a variety of restructuring recommendation.
In 1998 the Archbishop's Coordinating Committee was established to oversee the implementation of the Pastoral Plan (Faithful into the Future). The committee was responsible for advising the Archbishop on issues arrising from the Pastoral Plan, functionig as a communication and coordinating body between the various decision making organization in the Archdiocese, serving as a centre for receive reactions to the plan from parishes and pastors, and to make necessary adjustments to the plan as required.
Finally between 2000 and 2003 several parishes were restructured based on the previously mentioned reports.
In 2008 a review committee was established to relfect on the ToPs project ten years after the Faithful into the Future report was published.
Time Line
1988-1994 - Parishes in Transition
1993 - Parishes in Transition Survey
1995 - Planning year
1996-1998 - Transformation of Parishes Task Group
1997 - ToPs Survey
1997 - ToPs Interm Report
1998 - ToPs Final Report
1998 - Faithfully into the Future Report is published and circulated
1998-1999 - Archbishop's Coordinating Committee
2001-2003 - Restructuring of several parishes in the Archdiocese
2008 - ToPs Review
With the Archbishop’s favour and blessing, plans got underway to organize “The Friars” with the first meeting of the “founding five” in December, 1969. The format for “The Friars” evolved through subsequent meetings. The need, the purpose, and the objectives of the “Friars 70” were explained at their first meeting on January 19, 1970. The attendance and enthusiasm shown indicated to those present that “The Friars” of Edmonton would be successful. (Friars’ leaflet, in ARCAE 84-2-3)
Archbishop Jordan outlined the need for funds: for the post-graduate education of priests, to assist with the operating costs of Newman Theological Institute (as it was then known), to help pay the salaries of certain hospital chaplains, and generally to provide for priests in need of financial aid. An additional goal was to encourage friendships in the community and to show the support of the community for its priests and seminarians.
The name “Friars” was chosen to indicate the purpose of the group – to beg for money from the affluent to help the less fortunate. The founding five were Dr. Rupert Clare, Hal Spelliscy, Stan Melton, John Barry and Bernie Stanton. They gathered like-minded men and established an executive of 12 who would organize a single annual fund-raising event. The officers used the titles of members of religious communities – the president was called the Provincial General; the treasurer, the Bursar; the secretary the Amanuensis, and so on. The Pantryman organized the meal, the Almoner presented the “Friars’ Bag” (representing the financial gift) to the Archbishop. Every year, the Provincial General would become a trustee, and each officer of the executive would rise one position, eventually taking his place at the top.
The executive set the organization up as a pyramid. Each of the 12 would get 5 other men, and each would sell 5 tickets (1 ticket/couple). The goal was 300 people in order to get 200 attendees at the event.
The event was aimed at Catholic professional men, and a black-tie evening was planned with a reception, a meal, a guest speaker, entertainment, games and a dance. The most notable speaker was Chief Dan George, who spoke in 1971, the year he was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in Little Big Man. Over the years, the event has included reverse draws, raffles, a Treasure Chest game, and live and silent auctions. Every year the Friars have had favours or souvenirs for those who attended the Friars’ Night. In the early years, a glass mug bearing the group’s logo was delivered to the home of every Friar. More recently, the souvenir glassware, which in any given year might be a mug, a wineglass, a snifter or an Irish coffee mug, is set at each Friars’ place for the gala dinner.
In 1975, the Ukrainian Catholic community began active participation in the event and the Bag was divided between the Archbishop and the Eparchy, pro rata. In 1975, International Women’s Year, some attempt was made to find a woman to speak at Friars, but to no avail. The first woman to sit on the executive was Cecilia Johnstone, in 1985, and she rose to the position of Provincial General in 1993.
The first Friars’ Night was held at the Chateau Lacombe in 16 April, 1970. Eighty-three couples and 19 religious were in attendance, and many who did not attend the event made financial donations, resulting in a Bag of $7500.00. The speaker was the Most Rev. M.C. O’Neill, former Archbishop of Regina.
At the time of writing (2013), the Friars’ Ball is held at the Westin Hotel, usually on the first Friday in May. The Friars regularly host upwards of 450 guests, and the ticket sales, raffle, and live & silent auctions usually raise between $80,000 and $100,000 to share between Newman Theological College and the Ukrainian Eparchy (75%-25%). There is no longer a speaker, and the games (including the Treasure Chest) have been eliminated in order to leave more time for dancing following the meal.
Friars would not have succeeded without dedicated administrative assistance provided by the Archdiocese. Therese Cameron worked with the group for the first few years and was succeeded by Mitzi Crowe, who helped organize the event from the early 1970s until the early 1990s. She was followed by Theresa Demkow, Suzanne Binassi, and Anna Jaremko. As of 2012/2013 Joan Harrison of the Archdiocesan Development Office is the present Friars’ assistant.
The Foundation for Newman Theological College and St. Joseph Seminary was originally incorporated on the 27th of January, 1984 under the name of Newman Theological College Foundation.
In June of 1993 the name of the Foundation was changed to The Foundation of Newman Theological College and St. Joseph Seminary, at the same time the mandate of the Foundation was expanded to include include fundraising for St. Joseph Seminary.
The goals of the foundation are to raise and distribute funds for the purpose of carrying out the missions of Newman Theological College and St. Joseph Seminary in conformity with the policies established by the Board of Governors of Newman Theological College and the Board of Regents of St. Joseph Seminary.
The Foundation organizes a number of fundraising events annually including the annual parish campaign, the Faith, Fitness, and Fun walk/run, and the Newman Challenge Golf Tournement. For more information visit: http://www.caedm.ca/foundation.aspx
In late 2010 the Development Office was created which currently oversees the responsibilities of the Foundation. Today, the Development Office provides leadership, co-ordination and strategic initiatives for a variety of projects that help the Archdiocese achieve its financial goals, including parish and capital campaigns, planned giving, endowments, and special fundraising events and campaigns.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton traces its roots to the 19th century, when what is now Western Canada was a vast territory controlled by the powerful Hudson Bay Company. The inhabitants were mostly aboriginal peoples who made their livelihood through hunting, fishing and trapping. Fort Edmonton was the most important of the Hudson Bay Company’s trading posts, and its employees were generally French-speaking Catholics, many of whom transmitted the rudiments of their faith to their Métis children.
In 1822, Abbe Norbert Provencher, missionary of the Red River Settlement, became auxiliary to the Bishop of Quebec and was put in charge of this “District of the North,” an immense area spreading west from the Great Lakes to the Pacific coast and north to the Arctic Ocean.
In 1838, two priests on their way to the West Coast – Abbes Blanchet and Demers – stopped at Fort Edmonton, where they celebrated the first Mass, baptized children and blessed marriages. Their good report to Bishop Provencher led to the foundation of the first Roman Catholic mission at Lac Ste. Anne in 1843 and the building of the first chapel, a small log cabin within Fort Edmonton, in 1859.
In 1861, Father Albert Lacombe, one of the earliest missionaries in the West, founded the St. Albert mission settlement and built a log chapel for ministering to the Cree and Metis. Father Lacombe Chapel, the oldest building in Alberta, is now a Provincial Heritage Site.
In 1871 the Diocese of St. Albert was created. Several factors necessitated this move: the confederation of provinces in Canada with the promise of a transcontinental railway; the rapid disappearance of the buffalo with the resulting starvation of First Nations and Métis people, the heavy influx of white settlers of different ethnic origins and faiths, the problem of land and schools for the natives, the shortage of missionaries, schools and churches for the newcomers.
By 1889 the Saskatchewan portion was separated from the huge diocese. In the subsequent years the herds of buffalo totally disappeared, and the First Nations who signed treaties were given tracts of land and became wards of the government. Women and men religious congregations arrived to open schools for native and white children, hospitals and asylums for the elderly. They visited families scattered over the land, encouraging newcomers to group in parishes. It is estimated that St. Albert’s first bishop, Bishop Vital Grandin, walked 25,000 miles by snowshoe as he ministered to the huge diocese. When he died in 1902, the diocese had a population of some 18,000 Catholics in 30 organized parishes served by 42 Oblate Fathers and 10 secular priests.
On Nov. 30, 1912, the Episcopal See of St. Albert was raised to the status of Archdiocese of Edmonton, and its southern portion removed to form the Diocese of Calgary. Archbishop Emile Legal became the first Archbishop of Edmonton: When he died in 1920, the Catholic population of the Archdiocese numbered 38,400; there were 92 religious priests and 28 diocesan priests serving in 55 parishes and 58 missions with churches.
The Archdiocese continued to grow rapidly after the end of the First World War. The basement of St. Joseph Cathedral was built (1925); a diocesan Catholic newspaper was published (1921); St. Joseph College was incorporated (1926); the diocesan seminary opened its doors (1927). Once again, a portion of the Archdiocese was carved out; this time, it was the northern section that became the Diocese of St. Paul in 1948.
Today the Archdiocese of Edmonton includes the greater Edmonton area but also covers a geographic region stretching from the Rocky Mountains in the west to the Saskatchewan boundary in the east, from Olds in the south to Villeneuve in the north. In total the Archdiocese covers 81,151 square kilometres. It includes 65 parishes with resident priests in cities, towns, rural areas and native communities, and another 66 parishes and missions without resident priests. Within its boundaries are nine Catholic school districts and 10 Catholic health facilities including hospitals, continuing care centres and seniors residences.
Every Sunday, Mass is celebrated in 15 different languages, including French, Spanish, Polish, Chinese, Croatian, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Italian, German, Hungarian, Korean, Eritrean, Latin and American Sign Language. Every July, thousands of First Nations Catholics gather on the shores of Lac Ste. Anne for an annual pilgrimage that began more than a hundred years ago. The pilgrimage, a time of reunion, renewal and healing, has become one of the largest annual gatherings of First Nations people in Canada. Every August, another focal point for the faithful is the pilgrimage to Skaro, where Polish settlers in 1919 built a replica of the grotto at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France.
The Alberta Papal Visit Secretariat (hereafter The Secretariat) was formally established in the fall of 1983 after the announcement of Pope John Paul’s II Canadian visit in September 1984. The goal of the Secretariat was to organize, coordinate and implement Pope John Paul’s II Alberta Visit. It was incorporated under the Companies Act of the Province of Alberta as a limited company on November 17th, 1983. W. Paul Lefaivre, Jack Chesney, Ivan Radostits, and W. Roy Watson each purchased a share in the corporation, and were appointed its first directors, with Roy Watson as President.
From September, 1983, until just after the Papal Visit, in September, 1984, the Secretariat operated out of space at 10123 - 99 Street in Edmonton. From September, until the closure of the Secretariat, what business that remained was conducted out of the chancery offices adjacent to St. Joseph Basilica, 10013 – 113 Street.
The Secretariat submitted its incorporation papers to terminate its formal existence on February 12th, 1985.