St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Calgary

Parish

St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Calgary

• St. Francis Parish

est. 1934

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.

Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

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

Christ the King Province.

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