Catholics celebrate centennial
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- Published on Sunday, May 10, 2015
By Liliane Dupuis
During 2015 the Archdiocese of Winnipeg is celebrating its centennial anniversary with their theme, Proclaiming Christ Always. Throughout the year there will be various celebrations in the archdiocese. Every parish has been encouraged to celebrate the centennial in their own personal way. For the parish of Immaculate Conception of Rivers, the centennial is being celebrated using the colour and theme at their spring tea, held tomorrow, May 9 from 2-3:30 p.m.
This is a brief history of the archdiocese: The first missionaries were Jesuits who came with La Verendrye in 1730. The first permanent Catholic mission in what is now Manitoba, was established in 1818 at which time Rev. Provencher came and built a church at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. The diocese extended throughout Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta up the Rockies and to the Arctic Circle. The name of the diocese was changed from Northwest to Saint Boniface in 1854.
Prior to 1915, 31 parishes were established in what is now the archdiocese of Winnipeg. The boundary was set to follow the west shore of Lake Winnipeg and Red River southward, into the city of Winnipeg, then turn west along Assiniboine River to a point between Portage la Prairie and Brandon, before turning south again to the American border. The archdiocese extends to the Saskatchewan border on the west.
The first mass celebrated in Brandon was in 1880, and regular masses continued to be said in a tent until the first St. Augustine of Canterbury church was built in 1882.
Winnipeg’s population rose dramatically, due to immigration, in the 1890s. Up until that time, most Catholics were French-speaking or aboriginal people and most clergy were from Quebec or France. The archbishop of St. Boniface, Rev. Langevin, did provide for non-French-speaking Catholics and in 1906 the city had six churches: two English and one each of German, Ruthenian, French and Polish. Irish catholics believed more could be done so they came to Bishop Langevin with three requests: to create more English-speaking parishes, an English-speaking college comparable to St. Boniface College and an English-speaking bishop. Langevin was favourable to two requests but establishing a college was not feasible at that time.
On Dec. 4, 1915 it was announced that a new archdiocese of Winnipeg was to be formed, out of part of St. Boniface. The first bishop installed was Archbishop Alfred Sinnott in 1916. Organizing a new diocese in the middle of the First World War was a formidable task for the young bishop. Sinnott oversaw the building of 100 churches and chapels, and invited congregations of religious women (nurses or sisters) to open shools and administer hospitals in Birtle, Russell, Gimli and Winnipegosis. Sinnott remained archbishop until 1952.
Today, the archdiocese has six deaneries (divisions within the diocese), 67 parishes, 22 missions, 10 reduced services, 82 priests (19 retired), 106 sisters, one brother, four seminarians and 20 deacons.
On May 3, 2015 nine parishioners of Rivers bused to Winnipeg to celebrate mass at the MTS Centre, along with 14,000 others; 821 young people were confirmed. We left Rivers at 8 a.m. and were back by 8:30 p.m., all tired but so happy to have participated at the celebration. Thanks be to God!
