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Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton

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The Archdiocese of Edmonton (Latin: Archidioecesis Edmontonensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese in the Canadian civil province of Alberta. The archbishop's cathedral see is located in St. Joseph Cathedral, a minor basilica in Edmonton. The Archdiocese of Edmonton is the metropolitan see of its ecclesiastical province, which also contains two suffragan dioceses: the Dioceses of Calgary and Saint Paul in Alberta.

Archdiocese of Edmonton

Archidioecesis Edmontonensis
Location
Country Canada
Ecclesiastical provinceEdmonton
Statistics
Area81,151 km2 (31,333 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics
1,557,922
368,545 (23.7%)
Parishes129
Schools10
Information
DenominationCatholic
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
Established1912-11-30
CathedralSt. Joseph's Basilica
Secular priests96
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
ArchbishopRichard William Smith
Map
Website
caedm.ca

On March 22, 2007, Vatican Information Services announced that a Halifax native, Bishop Richard William Smith of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pembroke, Canada, had been appointed as Archbishop of Edmonton by Pope Benedict XVI. On Saturday, July 14, 2012, an official news release from Vatican Information Service (VIS), an arm of the Holy See Press Office, stated that Pope Benedict XVI had appointed Gregory Bittman, who until then had been serving as the Judicial Vicar and as Archdiocesan Chancellor, as an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Edmonton and Titular Bishop of Caltadria.[1] On February 6, 2018, Pope Francis appointed him the seventh Bishop of the Diocese of Nelson in southeastern British Columbia.[2] He left the Archdiocese of Edmonton and took possession of the Diocese of Nelson on April 25, 2018.

Ecclesiastical province

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Its suffragan sees are :

History

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Established on 22 September 1871 as the Diocese of St Albert (Latin Sancti Alberti), on territory split off from the then Diocese of Saint-Boniface, to which it lost territory again in 1889 (meanwhile Metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint-Boniface)

Promoted on 1912.11.30 as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Edmonton / Edmontonen(sis) (Latin), having lost territory to establish the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary as its first suffragan.

Lost territory again on 1948.07.17 to establish the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Paul, Alberta, which became its second suffragan.

It enjoyed a Papal visit from Pope John Paul II in September 1984.

The Archdiocese of Edmonton was later criticized for its handling of sex abuse allegations against Rev. Patrick O'Neill and was sued by one of O'Neil's alleged victims in 2012.[3]

From March 28 to April 1, 2022, a delegation of 32 Indigenous Elders, knowledge keepers, residential school survivors, and youth – as well as support staff – journeyed together from across the country to meet with Pope Francis, accompanied by a small group of Canadian Bishops. Metis, Inuit and First Nations delegations met with the Pope over three days. The delegation was supported by Archbishop Richard Smith on the Archdiocese of Edmonton's behalf.

Their visit to Rome concluded in a final audience with Pope Francis on April 1 with all three Indigenous groups. At that time, the Pope made an historic apology for the Church's role in the residential school system, and promised to come to Canada to apologize on Canadian soil. During that encounter, Pope Francis said he was very sorry during his Final Audience with all the Indigenous delegates:[4]

"I also feel shame … sorrow and shame for the role that a number of Catholics, particularly those with educational responsibilities, have had in all these things that wounded you, and the abuses you suffered and the lack of respect shown for your identity, your culture and even your spiritual values. For the deplorable conduct of these members of the Catholic Church, I ask for God's forgiveness and I want to say to you with all my heart, I am very sorry. And I join my brothers, the Canadian bishops, in asking your pardon."[5]

His Holiness said it was his hope to visit Canada “soon” and possibly “in the days” around the Feast of St. Anne, which is on July 26. This date was chosen by Pope Francis because the Lac Ste Anne Pilgrimage [6] has been a traditional place of gathering for Indigenous peoples, and is also the largest annual Catholic gathering in Western Canada. First called Wakamne or God's Lake by the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation who live on the west end of the Lake, and Manito Sahkahigan or Spirit Lake by the Cree, Lac Ste Anne, about 75 km northwest of Edmonton, is the site of the annual pilgrimage, one of the most unique and memorable spiritual gatherings in North America. This choice thus demonstrated Pope Francis' intent to help reconcile indigenous and settler populations, respecting both cultures simultaneously.

Pope Francis then visited sites across the Archdiocese of Edmonton:

  • Sunday, 24 July 2022: Arrival and welcome at Edmonton International Airport
  • Monday, 25 July 2022: Meeting with indigenous peoples: First nations, Métis and Inuit at Maskwacis,[7] and meeting with indigenous peoples and members of the Parish Community of Sacred Heart at Edmonton [8]
  • Tuesday, 26 July 2022: Holy Papal Mass at "Commonwealth Stadium" in Edmonton [9] and participation in the Lac Ste. Anne Pilgrimage and Liturgy of the Word at the Lac Ste. Anne [10]

In August 2023, a former student of St. Mary's Salesian Junior High School, Stephen Bounds, filed a lawsuit claiming he was groomed and sexually assaulted as a 12-year-old by a teacher, Marc Desjardins, in the 1980s. Bounds says he asked for "protection" from the school's acting principal, Father Stephen Whelan, who instead "chastised" Bounds for making the allegation of assault. Whelan himself had previously been accused of sexual abuse when he was vice-principal of a California Salesian high school in the 1970s.[11] A year later, three other men came forward with allegations of sexual abuse at the school.[12]

Diocesan episcopate

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(all Roman rite)

Suffragan Bishops of Edmonton
Metropolitan Archbishops of Edmonton
Coadjutor bishops
Auxiliary bishop
Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

Statistics and extent

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The archdiocese (not including its suffragan dioceses) covers Central Alberta, Edmonton Capital Region and the middle and upper half of the Alberta's Rockies region. The Archdiocese includes the greater Edmonton area but also covers a geographic region stretching from the Rocky Mountains in the west to the Saskatchewan boundary in the east, from Olds in the south to Grande Cache in the north.

It acknowledges that the Archdiocese is situated on traditional lands, parts of which are within Treaty 6, Treaty 7 and Treaty 8 territories of the Alexander First Nation (Cree), Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation (Stoney), Enoch Cree Nation (Cree), Ermineskin Cree Nation (Cree), Louis Bull Tribe (Cree), Montana First Nation (Cree), O’Chiese First Nation (Western Ojibwa), Paul First Nation (Cree/Stoney), Samson Cree Nation (Cree), and Sunchild First Nation (Cree). Mass is celebrated in at least 16 different languages, including Cree, French, Spanish, Polish, Chinese, Croatian, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Italian, Hungarian, Korean, Latin, Sudanese, and American Sign Language.

As of 2020, it pastorally served 436,792 Catholics (26.4% of 1,899,097 total) on 150,000 km² in 122 parishes and missions with 126 priests, 40 permanent deacons, 163 religious sisters, 8 religious brothers, 5 members of lay institutes, 15 lay missionaries and 12 seminarians.[13]

Edmonton parishes

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Rural parishes

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  •  
    Saint Joseph's Basilica, Edmonton
  •  
    Sacred Heart Church, Edmonton

Archdiocesan Media

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The Western Catholic Reporter was a weekly newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada that covered the Catholic religion.

The newspaper was owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton. Its declared mission was to serve its readers by helping them deepen their faith through accurate information and reflective commentary on events and issues of concern to the Church.

The Reporter closed in 2016 and was replaced by the news website Grandin Media. Grandin Media lasted until the website was shut down in early 2024. All stories from the Grandin Media website were then transferred on to the Archdiocesan website, [1].

References

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  1. ^ "Bing Microsoft Translator". www.microsofttranslator.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013.
  2. ^ "Bishop Gregory J. Bittman".
  3. ^ "Ex-altar boy sues Catholic church over sex abuse allegations | Toronto Sun".
  4. ^ https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2022/april/documents/20220401-popoli-indigeni-canada.html [bare URL]
  5. ^ https://caedm.ca/delegation-to-rome-spring-2022/ [bare URL]
  6. ^ https://lacsteannepilgrimage.ca/ [bare URL]
  7. ^ https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/events/event.dir.html/content/vaticanevents/en/2022/7/25/incontroedmonton-canada.html [bare URL]
  8. ^ https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/events/event.dir.html/content/vaticanevents/en/2022/7/25/incontroedmonton-canada.html [bare URL]
  9. ^ https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/events/event.dir.html/content/vaticanevents/en/2022/7/26/messa-edmonton-canada.html [bare URL]
  10. ^ https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/events/event.dir.html/content/vaticanevents/en/2022/7/26/omelia-lacsteanne-canada.html [bare URL]
  11. ^ Wakefield, Jonny (17 August 2023). "Religious order and archdiocese sued for $6.9 million over alleged historic sex abuse at Edmonton's St. Mary's Salesian Junior High". Edmonton Journal.
  12. ^ Wakefield, Jonny (21 August 2024). "'The forgotten boys': Three men file lawsuits claiming sex abuse at former Edmonton Catholic boarding school". Edmonton Journal.
  13. ^ "About the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton".
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