Catholic Mission In Canada

What do our missions in Canada look like? Over the past few decades, those who attend the Canadian Catholic mission parishes have become accustomed to welcoming missionaries from all over the world. It is no longer unusual to have a missionary priest from Africa or the Philippines or India sharing the joy of the Christian message in Canada. To answer the question above, our missions look like the people of the globe.

Our Canadian Catholic Church has developed a wonderful breadth of personal backgrounds and educational preparedness and religious societies, which all come together to give vitality to our mission locales. We have paid tribute in our publications in the recent past, to the Oblate priests and Jesuits and Redemptorists and the Grey Sisters and Sisters of Saint Anne, and many other religious orders and congregations giving themselves in service to God.

So it may not have been a surprise, but it was a very pleasant experience, during my May visit to the Archdiocese of Grouard-McLennan in Alberta, to make the acquaintance of four enthusiastic priests from southern India. You can see from the photograph caption that the names of these priests, all working in the same diocese, may be difficult to pronounce for many of the people whom they serve, so they are known usually by their first names. They are all members of the Vincentia Congregation of clergy which has its headquarters in India.

Father Tony, the pastor of High Prairie, is lucky to have Father Sebastian as his associate at St. Paul, since the church is actually the centre of seven missions, fanning out from High River. One of the missions is Grouard, which was once the cathedral town of the diocese, and now serves a First Nations community. In the picture, you will see the interior of that beautiful 19th century structure. (In the mid-20thcentury, the diocesan headquarters moved to McLennan, where St. John the Baptist Cathedral is now.) The two priests, Father Tony and Father Sebastian, also travel regularly to the missions of Peavine, Sucker Creek, East Prairie, Gift Lake and Whitefish.

Father Joseph Jacobsen, chancellor of the archdiocese, reports that “…all four of these Vincentians relate well to the First Nations people in their parishes. And indeed, they are very dedicated to their work for all the faithful.” He explains how the four priests gather often to share spiritually and discuss their ministries. Though not often together, they keep a real sense of community amongst themselves at regular monthly intervals.

Father Sebastian Kunnath ministers literally at a crossroads of western Alberta. Valley view is a place where many cars and large trucks converge and stop before heading west to Grande Prairie and British Columbia, east to Edmonton, and north to the Peace River area and Northwest Territories. His parish of St. Rita is growing and vital, in response to his hard work. He also goes 60km up Highway 43 each week to serve the people of Holy Family Mission in Crooked Creek.