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
Identifier of related entity
Category of relationship
Dates of relationship
Description of relationship
Access points area
Subject access points
Place access points
Occupations
Control area
Authority record identifier
Maintained by
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