St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Calgary

Identity area

Type of entity

Parish

Authorized form of name

St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Calgary

Parallel form(s) of name

  • St. Francis Parish

Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules

    Other form(s) of name

      Identifiers for corporate bodies

      Description area

      Dates of existence

      est. 1934

      History

      St. Francis of Assisi parish began when Bishop Kidd purchased the former Jewish Community Centre at 6 Ave S.E. in 1931. The building was renovated to serve as a chapel primarily to serve Hungarian immigrants with the first pastor being Rev. Joseph Racz from Montreal. It also served as a chapel of ease for St. Mary's cathedral. Due to a lack of Hungarian-speaking priests, the church was closed. It was reopened in Dec 1934 by Bishop Monahan and St. Francis of Assisi parish was created. The first pastor of the new parish was Rev. Patrick Beaton. In 1957, the original building was replaced by a church designed and built by J. Stevenson & Associates. It was opened on 28 Aug 1957.

      In 1959, the parish was entrusted to the Franciscans. The first Franciscan pastor was Fr. Dunstan McLellan and the assistant priest was Fr. Michael Sieferling. The Franciscans were involved in Diocesan Social Action in the downtown area, giving spiritual and other assistance to people in the inner city area. In 1988, Bishop Paul O'Byrne entrusted the parish to the Dominicans.

      Places

      Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

      Legal status

      Functions, occupations and activities

      Mandates/sources of authority

      Internal structures/genealogy

      Franciscans who have served in the parish include:
      1959, Fr. Dunstan McLellan, with assistant pastor Fr. Michael Sieferling
      1961, Fr. Juniper Kuefler, with assistant pastor Fr. C. Williams
      1962, Fr. John Kelly, with assistant pastor Fr. Paul Stack (1962-1964)
      1963, Fr. Dunstan McLellan, with assistant pastor Fr. Louis Geelan (1964-1966)
      1965, Fr. Adam Sebastian, with assistant pastors Fr. Gregory Hildebrand (1969-1975), Fr. Timothy Gilker (1969-1975)
      1973, Fr. Gregory Hildebrand
      1979, Fr. Stephen Gattafoni
      1984, Fr. R. Zbieranski
      1985, Fr. David Crosbie, with assistant pastor Fr. R. Zbieranski
      1986, Fr. Oswald Fuchs

      General context

      Christ the King Province.

      Relationships area

      Related entity

      St. Francis of Assisi Friary, Calgary (1959 - 1989)

      Identifier of related entity

      CTK

      Category of relationship

      associative

      Dates of relationship

      Description of relationship

      Access points area

      Subject access points

      Place access points

      Occupations

      Control area

      Authority record identifier

      CTK

      Institution identifier

      Rules and/or conventions used

      Status

      Level of detail

      Dates of creation, revision and deletion

      Language(s)

        Script(s)

          Sources

          • 04.07.04, Pastoral appointments
          • 04.07.11, 65th anniversary program

          Maintenance notes