St. Andrew's Church is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario. Its population i ...

, Ontario. It was founded by the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

in the 1872 and is a centre for ministry with the

Fort William First Nation Fort William First Nation () is an Ojibwa First Nation reserve in Ontario, Canada. The administrative headquarters for this band government is south of Thunder Bay. , the First Nation had a registered population of 1,798 people, of which thei ...

. It is situated on

Connaught Square Connaught Square in London, England, was the first garden square, square of terraced house, city houses to be built in Bayswater. It is named after a royal, the Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, Earl of Connaught who ...

in the Port Arthur area of the city.

History

In 1872, the Jesuits founded the parish of St. Andrew in Port Arthur.Chronology
from

Jesuits in Canada The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 by ...

, retrieved 27 March 2014 It was not until 1882 that it found a permanent location. In 1924, a new church was built and the parish moved there. The old church became the paris hall, until 1981 the Dew Drop Inn. The inn serves a community centre for homeless people in the area. The church was built in 1924 and was designed by G. Emile Tanguay in a

Romanesque Revival style Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a Architectural style, style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Reviv ...

. The exterior and the 117 feet high tower remains as it was when it was built. The interior was renovated in 1940 and again after the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

in 1969. Originally, the parish was in the Diocese of Sault Sainte Marie. In 1952, the Diocese of Fort William was created and was renamed as the

Diocese of Thunder Bay The Roman Catholic Diocese of Thunder Bay () is a Latin suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Toronto, in Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Loca ...

in 1970. In 1997, the Jesuits handed over administration of the church to the

who continue to serve the parish.

First Nations Parishes

St. Andrew's was not the first Jesuit presence in Thunder Bay. They set up the Immaculate Conception Mission (). In July 1849 by two French Jesuit missionaries, Fr Pierre Choné (1808-1879) and Fr Nicolas Frémiot (1818-1854) came to the area and started the mission. From there St. Andrew's Church was one of many churches that was missioned to the

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on p ...

, particularly

St. Patrick's Church St. Patrick's Church, Saint Patrick's Church, St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church or Saint Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, and similar, may refer to: Australia * St Patrick's Church, Adelaide, a heritage-listed church in Adelaide, South Australia ...

, which in 1952 became the cathedral for the diocese and St. Agnes Church. After St. Patrick's became a cathedral, St. Andrew's became the main centre for the Jesuits from which they would visit other missions. Other various parishes were created, including:

St. Anne's Parish

After St. Andrew's was handed over to diocese St. Anne's became the centre of the Jesuit missions to the Fort Williams First Nation. It covers the original Immaculate Conception Mission that was created in 1849 in Squaw Bay. From the rectory in the parish the Jesuits travel out to the other First Nations parishes.Parishes
from

retrieved 29 March 2014

Kitchitwa Kateri Parish

The parish was created as an offshoot of St. Andrew's Church. The Kateri native group met at St. Andrew's parish hall and hosted one Mass every month at the church. When the parish hall became the Dew Drop Inn, the Kateri group created the Kateri Centre at Red River Road and Fr Brian Tiffin SJ was appointed as the Kateri chaplain. In 1988, the centre moved to Simpson Street and continued to work out of St. Andrew's parish. In the 1990s a search began for a permanent location for a church. On 15 June 1994, a church was purchased that was previously a Community Fellowship Church on Syndicate and Finlayson Street. As well as a place for worship, it had a daycare centre, offices, meetings rooms, a hall, a kitchen and a dining area. In January 1996, it was established as a Native Catholic Church.History
from Kateri Church, retrieved 29 March 2014

Our Lady of the Snows Parish

In the eastern region of the diocese is Our Lady of the Snows Parish. It serves the local First Nation in

Armstrong, Ontario Armstrong ( 2016 Population 1,166) is a township in the Timiskaming District of Ontario. The only population centre in the township is the community of Earlton. The township is named after Samuel Armstrong, an independent member of the Legisla ...

. It also serves the

Gull Bay First Nation Gull Bay First Nation or Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek (''Gayaashki-zaagiing Anishinaabeg'' in the Fiero orthography) is an Anishinaabe (Ojibway) First Nation band government located in Thunder Bay District in northwestern Ontario, Canada. It i ...

through the Sacred Heart of Jesus mission.

References

External links

Diocese of Thunder Bay site

Kitchitwa Kateri Anamewgamik Parish site
{{Jesuits in Canada Roman Catholic churches in Thunder Bay Roman Catholic churches in Ontario Roman Catholic Diocese of Thunder Bay Roman Catholic churches completed in 1924 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Canada