The Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples is a Roman Catholic church in Edmonton, Alberta. 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 location was seen as an opportunity to serve Edmonton's growing urban Indigenous population. On October 27 of that year, the Archdiocese of Edmonton's Native Pastoral Centre was moved into Sacred Heart as Archbishop Joseph MacNeil declared the church to be a First Nations, Métis, and Inuitnational 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. 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. 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, Spanish, Portuguese, and Croatian. An Eritrean community is still present in the building today, with approximately 600 attending weekly mass, along with a local branch of the Cursillo movement.
First Peoples
Because of its proximity to downtown Edmonton and its attendant population of transient and homeless 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 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit parish, creating the Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples. The parish was placed under the direction of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, 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, 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 ceremony, and the tabernacle is housed inside a teepee. 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 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.
