The Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. Opened as the Sacred Heart Church in 1913 to serve the city's rapidly growing population, Sacred Heart has been a historic "nursery" for many of Edmonton's immigrant Catholic parishes. In 1991, facing an aging congregation and declining weekly attendance, the parish's

inner-city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists sometim ...

location was seen as an opportunity to serve Edmonton's growing urban Indigenous population. On October 27 of that year, the

Archdiocese of Edmonton The Archdiocese of Edmonton ( la, Archidioecesis Edmontonensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese in the Canadian civil province of Alberta. The archbishop's cathedral see is located in St. Joseph Cathedral, a minor basil ...

's Native Pastoral Centre was moved into Sacred Heart as Archbishop Joseph MacNeil declared the church to be a

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

, and

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

national parish National parish is a type of Catholic parish distinguished by liturgical rites or nationality of the congregation; it is found within a diocese or particular Church, which includes other types of parishes in the same geographical area, each parish ...

, the first of its kind in Canada.

History

In the early 1900s, an ongoing immigration rush to the Canadian West caused a rapid expansion of the Catholic Church in the region. Immaculate Conception Parish, the antecedent of Sacred Heart, was established in 1906 to accommodate immigrants to Edmonton. By 1911, Immaculate Conception was also over capacity. The solution was to reserve Immaculate Conception for Francophone Catholics, erecting under the same boundaries a new Sacred Heart Parish for all others. Sacred Heart opened on December 25, 1913, in what is today the historic McCauley neighbourhood. The building was designed by architect David Hardie. A fire destroyed much of the church on November 16, 1966, but was used as an opportunity to remodel the building around the updated liturgy of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

. A number of Edmonton's immigrant Catholic national parishes have operated out of Sacred Heart over the years, while gathering resources to build their own churches. These include Italian (Santa Maria Goretti), Spanish (Our Lady of Guadalupe), Portuguese (Our Lady of Fatima), and Croatian (Nativity of Mary). An Eritrean community is still present in the building today, with approximately 600 attending weekly mass, along with a local branch of the

Cursillo ''Cursillos in Christianity'' ( es, Cursillos de Cristiandad, "Short courses of Christianity") is an apostolic movement of the Catholic Church. It was conceived in Spain between 1940 and 1949 and began with the celebration of the so-called "first c ...

movement. On August 30, 2020, Sacred Heart suffered a fire after smudging materials that had been discarded after a ceremony ignited on the ground floor of the building and spread to the walls and ceiling. The fire started shortly after 2 p.m. inside the church on the rear east side. The church was empty and no one was injured. In spite of the fire, the Archdiocese of Edmonton says it will take the next steps to restore the church, as it did after a devastating prior fire in 1966. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops expressed sympathy to the Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples in Edmonton following the devastating fire. Sacred Heart announced a fundraising effort to rebuild the church, with a $2 million goal.

First Peoples

Because of its proximity to downtown Edmonton and its attendant population of transient and

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

people, many of them Indigenous Canadians, Sacred Heart began to accrue more and more social responsibilities. An annual volunteer-run free Christmas dinner began in 1971, and a food bank started operating out of the church basement in 1980. At the same time, an aging congregation led to declining attendance. The Archdiocese made the decision to merge the faltering parish with its Native Pastoral Centre, then operating out of a converted downtown warehouse. On October 27, 1991, Archbishop Joseph MacNeil declared the church to be a

, and

parish, creating the Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples. The parish was placed under the direction of the

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, ...

, an order historically specializing in Indigenous ministry and mission. As the first Catholic church in Canada so designated, Sacred Heart's interior is adorned with Indigenous symbolism, such as the

medicine wheel To some indigenous peoples of North America, the medicine wheel is a metaphor for a variety of spiritual concepts. A medicine wheel may also be a stone monument that illustrates this metaphor. Historically, most medicine wheels follow the basic ...

, the rainbow as a bridge to the next world, and the eagle as a symbol of God. A number of murals and paintings by Indigenous artists are displayed in the nave. Sunday Mass begins with a

smudging Smudging, or other rites involving the burning of sacred herbs (e.g., white sage) or resins, is a ceremony practiced by some Indigenous peoples of the Americas. While it bears some resemblance to other ceremonies and rituals involving smoke (e. ...

ceremony, and the

tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...

is housed inside a

teepee A tipi , often called a lodge in English, is a conical tent, historically made of animal hides or pelts, and in more recent generations of canvas, stretched on a framework of wooden poles. The word is Siouan, and in use in Dakhótiyapi, Lakȟó ...

. The poorest Catholic parish in Edmonton, Sacred Heart's outreach ministries are an important part of downtown Edmonton's network of social services. Holding free community meals on a monthly basis, the church also serves as the epicenter of a

Christmas hamper A hamper refers to one of several related basket-like items. In primarily British usage, it refers to a wicker basket, usually large, that is used for the transport of items, often food. In North America, the term generally refers to a household ...

charity program, and provides funerals at no cost for those who cannot afford them. Former pastor Jim Holland, who served at Sacred Heart from 1995 to 2017, has been recognized for his leading role in the parish's revitalization. In 2016, the City of Edmonton renamed 108A Avenue "Father Jim Holland Way", and in 2017, Holland was inducted into the

Alberta Order of Excellence The Alberta Order of Excellence (french: Ordre d'excellence de l'Alberta) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Alberta. Instituted in 1979 when Lieutenant Governor Frank C. Lynch-Staunton granted royal assent to the Alberta O ...

. In September 2017, Holland was succeeded by Fr. Susai Jesu, OMI, a Cree-speaking missionary Oblate from originally from India. Susai had learned to speak Cree during his prior Canadian assignments with Indigenous communities in Pelican Narrows and Sandy Bay, Saskatchewan. Within the next year, Susai had "won the hearts of many people since he came in this parish", and was honoured with an eagle feather by seven local elders in November 2018.

References

{{authority control Churches in Edmonton First Nations in Alberta Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton