During the Jubilee Year of 2000, Fr. Fred Monk of St. Mary’s, Cochrane, began collecting a loonie a week from parisioners to build an orphanage in La Montaña, a region in the State of Guerroro, Mexico. Upon successful completion of the project, Fr. Fred visited La Montaña and was taken to many poor villages in the diocese by Alejo Castro, Bishop of the Diocese of Tlapa, inspiring a partnership of hope and support that became Mission Mexico. Through donations, it has funded projects such as scholarships, micro-economic endeavors, construction and administration of the Champagnat High School of the Mountain, and many others that help improve quality of life in the poor areas. A major campaign is a school mail out on or around December 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and designated Mission Mexico Day.
Fr. Fred retired from active ministry in 2017, leading to the formation of the Transition Committee in January 2018, a subcommittee to handle transferring control of Mission Mexico to the Mission Council of the Diocese of Calgary.
Other key members of Mission Mexico include Leslie Davies, who began working with the poor in Mexico in 2001 and served in the Diocese of Tlapa as a witness and human rights activist. Michael MacDonald became the on-site project coordinator in September 2013 after living in Southern Mexico and working as Bishop Castro’s assistant for decades.
The Vatican Council’s new understanding of mission was embraced early in the Diocese of Calgary. Mission Council was established in 1970 according to the wishes of Bishop Paul J. O’Byrne, with Fr. Joseph Toole playing a pivotal part. The immediate concern of the Council was to activate the relationship of the people of this Diocese with Fr. Malo in Peru and to take a complete look at the Diocese and its mission commitments as a whole. The first need was to conduct a mission education program and this was started in Fall 1971 with the aid of the Scarboro Foreign Mission Fathers.
In 1972 negotiations started with the Spiritan Fathers to promote joint efforts towards Mission work. Fr. Louis Connelly and Fr. Patrick O’Donoghue volunteered together with Fr. James M. Hagel, a diocesan priest. In March 1983 Fr. Toole was the Director of Mission Council and John Stoeber was Chairman of the Board of Directors. The Council worked with a National Mission Council and a Western Regional Council.
In 1969 the Council sent Fr. Louis Malo to assist in an Alberta-sponsored mission in Lima, Peru. He was the first native Calgary diocesan priest to enter missionary work. A small group of lay people formed a committee, the Alberta Mission Committee, to act as a liaison with Fr. Malo in Peru to assure him of moral and financial support. This major initiative was nurtured and overseen by Fr. Joe Toole. In 1980 Fr. Malo returned to the Diocese but was missioned again to South America in 1982 to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where he remained for the rest of his life.
In 1974 Mission Council established a partnership with the Diocese of Chikwawa in Malawi. It was chosen because it lacked personnel – there were 19 priests for 61,000 people, and it was a young diocese. This was the first time in Canada that a Catholic diocese had joined an overseas missionary community in sending and sponsoring missionaries to the Global south. In the 1970s Spiritan priests served for the Diocese and in the 1980s Fr. Jim Hagel and Fr. Larry Bagnall served there. When the missionaries withdrew from Chikwawa in 1985 it was because the young diocese could now stand on its own.
In 1982 Mission Council gave a grant of $10,000 to CCIS to support the ‘mission’ work being done for refugees and immigrants who were temporarily housed at Cabrini House. In 1983 Mission Council committed itself to supply a counselor for the Calgary Interfaith Welcome and Recreation Centre.
In 1973 Mission Council became involved in fundraising, principally in October (Mission month) and Advent, which concentrated on Diocesan projects.
As mission awareness increased it became clear that home missions particularly the Indian reserves deserved attention. As of May 1976 the Council accepted responsibility of the financial support to the reserves in the Diocese as well as the Drop-In Centre, then known as the Inner City Project under the Council of Social Affairs. Mission Council helped sustain faith on the Tsuut’ina Reserve largely since 1980. In 1996 Sr. Annette John was parish administrator at Our Lady of Peace Parish.
In 1986 the Father Latour Native Pastoral Centre was established at 216 – 18th Ave. SW, Calgary. This was a year of new beginnings. The first lay missionaries, Patricia and Luis Flores were missioned by Bishop Paul in June to the Diocese of Tehuacan, Mexico. The family was involved in parish ministry in the rural area of Los Reyes Mezontla. A lay missionary formation program was created. Funding was also given to some ethnic communities – the Chinese, Spanish and Vietnamese and to a Native Leadership Training Program.
Aims are to assist and advise the bishop on mission matters, to coordinate all missionary efforts outside and inside the Diocese, foster greater lay involvement and raise and distribute the necessary funds for mission work in the Diocese. It differed from all other services in the Diocese as it had to raise its own budget.
As the Mission Council evolved its constitution was revised in 1978 and 1985.
Two missionaries were sent to the North West Territories (the MacKenzie Missionary Project) on July 1, 1989, prospective seminarian Roland and Mount Angel seminarian Hans Englehart.
Funding was obtained by asking groups like the Knights, Church Extension, Teachers’ Association and making general appeals. It also received an allocation from the Annual Bishop’s Appeal, $85,000 in 1993.
Sr. Cecily Graves FMM was working as a Native Catechist in 1993. In 1992 she was listed as being on Mission Council staff, and as Coordinator of Religious Instruction on the Reserves.
Born at Hope River, Prince Edward Island, on June 24, 1871, McNally moved with his parents to Summerside as a young child. Here he completed his high school education in 1886, receiving a scholarship and the Governor-General’s silver medal. He graduated from the Prince of Wales College, Charlottetown in 1889, with an honour’s diploma, a teacher’s certificate and another silver medal. He taught for a year before gaining a Bachelor of the Arts and a Licentiate in Philosophy from the University of Ottawa in 1892. He became one of the first students at the Canadian College in Rome. In 1893 he gained a Doctorate in Philosophy and in 1897, a Doctorate in Theology. He was ordained by Cardinal Cassetta in the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran on April 4, 1896 for the Diocese of Ottawa.
On his return to Canada McNally was curate at St. Patrick’s Church, Ottawa until in February, 1900 he went to Portland, Oregon as secretary to Archbishop Christie. In 1904 McNally returned to Rome for a further two years of study.
In December 1905 he was appointed pastor St. Stephen, Old Chelsea in Quebec and in 1909 he acted as notary to the first Plenary Council held by the Catholic Church in Canada. In May 1911 he was appointed pastor at St. Mary’s, Almonte, Ontario.
McNally was notified on April 4, 1913 of his appointment as Bishop of Calgary. He was consecrated at the Canadian College in Rome by Cardinal Falconio and was installed on Sunday, July 28, 1913 in the Cathedral in Calgary by Archbishop Emil Legal of Edmonton, after which there was a large reception. Bishop McNally was the first Irish bishop appointed in the Prairie Provinces.
On January 18, 1916 McNally sailed from New York to Rome in secret to submit the question of his dismissal of the Oblate Order from Sacred Heart Parish, Calgary to the jurisdiction of the Sacred Consistorial Congregation, which judged his case favourably. He returned on July 18 and proceeded in releasing four French Orders from his Diocese. Although the Oblates remained he had asserted his own authority.
On August 29, 1924 Bishop McNally was transferred to the Diocese of Hamilton as Coadjutor to Bishop Dowling, who died that day. McNally was Bishop of Hamilton for 13 years until 1937 when he was appointed to the Archdiocese of Halifax. McNally died on November 18,1952.
Born in Charlottetown, P.E.I. in 1876, Macdonald studied at St. Dunstan’s College there before receiving a Doctorate in Divinity in Rome. He was ordained in the Basilica of St. John Lateran by Cardinal Respighi in 1904. Difficulties arose when he sought to attach himself to the Diocese of St. Boniface and therefore he offered his services to Bishop McNally, who he knew from his hometown and probably later from Rome. Macdonald became the second secular priest to arrive in the new Diocese of Calgary on Aug 1, 1913. He was the first rector of St. Mary’s, holding the position until Fr. A. Newman arrived in 1914.
Fr. Macdonald was appointed Superintendent and Secretary Treasurer of the Separate School Board in 1915 until 1917. For the remaining time he was at St. Mary’s until his death he was curate and chaplain of the Keith Sanatorium and he contributed to the Catholic Press in Western Canada. He was over six feet tall, of athletic appearance and had a pleasant manner. He spoke four languages in addition to English, and had travelled extensively in Europe.
Macdonald died in Calgary on April 5, 1949 and is buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery.
L'Osservatore Romano, 'The Roman Observer') is the daily newspaper of Vatican City State which reports on the activities of the Holy See and events taking place in the Catholic Church and the world. It is owned by the Holy See but is not an official publication, a role reserved for the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, which acts as a government gazette. The views expressed in the Osservatore are those of individual authors unless they appear under the specific titles "Nostre Informazioni" or "Santa Sede".
Available in nine languages, the paper prints two Latin mottos under the masthead of each edition: Unicuique suum ("To each his own") and Non praevalebunt ("[The gates of Hell] shall not prevail"). The current editor-in-chief is Andrea Monda.
Bishop Legal was born at Nantes, France in 1849 and was ordained in 1874. After he finished his classical studies at Nantes he graduated from the University of France where he studied theology philosophy, canon law and Hebrew under the Sulpicians. After ordination he taught science in the seminary and ecclesiastical colleges until he joined the Oblates six years later. Ha arrived in St. Albert in 1881 and was sent immediately to the Southern Missions as Superior. He worked out of Fort Macleod with Fr. Doucet. For 16 years he was missionary to the Blood and Piegan Indians on their Reserves until he was consecrated Bishop in 1897, coadjutor to Bishop Grandin whom he succeeded in 1902.
Under his leadership Calgary was made a new diocese in 1912 and Legal was appointed administrator until Bishop McNally arrived nearly nine months later. Edmonton was mad a Metropolitan Province in 1912 and Legal was made Archbishop. He died in Edmonton on May 10, 1920.
SEE Dictionary of Canadian Biography: http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/laurier_wilfrid_14E.html?print=1
L’Arche was founded in 1963 by Jean Vanier as ‘homes for the heart’ for mentally and physically challenged people and their loved ones. Many people in Calgary, including Sr. Donna Marie Perry, FCJ, who had spent a summer at the first l’Arche house in Trosly, France, met and prayed for over a year before a board of directors was formed and with the help of Bishop Paul O’Byrne, a home was found in Midnapore. In August 1973, Jo and Patrick Lenon arrived in Calgary to open the home. The first home was vacated in 1975 and others were developed. In 2018 L’Arche Calgary has 5 homes, supporting 29 people with developmental disabilities, and it has both day and supported independent living programs.
Secretary-Treasurer of the Medicine Hat Separate School Board in 1916.
Francis Joseph Klein was born on a farm near Sedley, Saskatchewan, the eldest of 13 children. He was educated at Friedenthal Rural School, Sedley by the Loretto Nuns, St. Anthony’s College, Edmonton, and then Campion College. He entered St. Joseph’s Seminary, Edmonton and completed his theology at Regina Coeli Seminary. In 1934 after entering Laval University he was ordained at Sedley by Archbishop McGuigan of Regina. After completing a year of study at Laval he worked as a parish priest for 18 years, mainly in Mutrie and Quintin. He was appointed Bishop of Saskatoon in 1952 and on February 28, 1967 it was announced that he had been appointed Bishop of Calgary. He was installed by Archbishop Jordan of Edmonton but died February 3, 1968, only nine months later. A man of energy and enthusiasm, determined to implement the reforms of Vatican II, he had shown a strong commitment to education and social service and he encouraged extensive lay participation.
John T. Kidd was born in Athlone, Ontario in 1868. After his studies at St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto he became the manager of a large lumber business. He then went to Rome to study for a doctorate in Theology, after which he was ordained on February 16, 1902 for the Diocese of Toronto. His first appointment was assistant and then pastor of St. Ann’s, Penetanguishene. On the death of Archbishop McEvay he was named Vicar Capitular of the Diocese of Toronto for a year. In 1911-1912 as the new seminary was being developed in Toronto Kidd was involved due to his administrative experience, and deep spirituality. In 1914 he was made a Domestic Prelate and on February 6, 1925 was appointed Bishop of Calgary. He was consecrated on May 6, 1925 in St. Michael’s Cathedral, Toronto by Apostolic Delegate Pietro di Maria and he took possession of his See on May 13, 1925.
On July 3, 1931 Kidd was appointed Bishop of London on the death of Bishop Fallon and he took possession of his See on September 23. Kidd died as Bishop of London on June 2, 1950.
Martin Michael Johnson (March 18, 1899 – January 29, 1975) was the Bishop of Nelson, British Columbia, Canada for 18 years. He then became Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from 1964 to 1969. Martin Johnson was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and ordained a priest in 1924 in the Diocese of Nelson, British Columbia, Canada. He was consecrated Bishop of Nelson in 1936. In 1954 he became Coadjutor Archbishop of Vancouver and then was appointed as Archbishop of Vancouver in 1964 and retired in 1969.
Martin Johnson died on January 29, 1975, as Archbishop Emeritus of Vancouver.
In order to meet the needs of the lonely, alienated, and transient in the inner city a centre called the Inner City Project was established in 1971. The inspiration came from a group of concerned religious and clergy who felt the desire to be a presence among these people, especially the Indigenous population there. This urban mission was officially opened on Sunday, April 30, 1972, with Bishop Paul J. O’Byrne celebrating Mass in the afternoon. Fr. Maurice Goutier was the first director, and it was located at 706 – 1st Street SE for ‘native and transient people’. The staff were Kathy King, Fr. George Latour, and Sr. Patricia Nadorozny.
The Inner City Welcome and Recreation Centre developed from this and was a non-profit drop-in centre in the downtown poorer area of Calgary, available Monday to Friday for anyone unemployed and homeless (vagabond). It was situated at 525 – 6th Ave SE. By 1980 it was reported that around 80-100 people were dropping in each day in the cold weather and Jean Schumacher was kept busy serving soup and sandwiches and so had little time for counsellingIn 1982 the Centre was offered a new home at 417 – 4th Avenue SE with a ten-year lease. Audrey Whitson was the Social Justice Fieldworker.
Established in August 1981 by Bishop Paul O’Byrne to relieve pressure from Holy Trinity Parish, Holy Redeemer was made up of members from Dover, Doverglen, and Erinwoods. It was first served by Fr. Brendan Boland, who delivered mass in the Holy Cross School’s gymnasium, then at St. Luke’s Anglican Church, before a committee was formed in January 1982 and fundraising efforts began that year resulted in a temporary church in 1985. The structure was made up of six pre-fabricated ATCO trailers at 2707 – 28th Street SE, with the first mass held on June 22, 1985. On September 15, 1985, it was declared Holy Redeemer Church by Bishop O’Byrne. Fr. Boland was replaced by Fr. Greg McLellan in 1987, who remained with the parish until resigning in 1997. While the parish hoped to raise funds for a more permanent church, this never came to fruition, and it was recommended in the Diocesan Planning Commission’s 2000 report that Holy Redeemer once again merge with the Holy Trinity Parish, which was made official on July 7, 2001. A closing mass was held in the Holy Redeemer Church on February 11, 2001.
Born in London on August 9, 1879, he was the first secular priest in the Diocese after its formation. He was Vicar General in the Diocese of Calgary for 50 years under 4 bishops. He was pastor at Sacred Heart Church, Calgary for 48 years. He received his Baccalaureate of Arts from the University of London in 1899 and studied Theology and Philosophy at Oscott College, Birmingham. He was ordained on July 22, 1906 in Westminster Cathedral by Cardinal Francis Bourne. He was appointed Master of Ceremonies at the new Cathedral and he supervised the consecration ceremonies in 1910. Because of his duties at the Cathedral for the next 7 years Hetherington became an expert in liturgical matters. He also wrote and compiled liturgical guides, for example, the Ritus Servandi and Ordo Administrandi a well as ‘Notes on the New Rubrics’ [in the Library’s Special Collection] and contributed to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the Encyclopedia Britannica, and Fortescue’s Ceremonial.
He had considered transferring abroad to improve his health, and when Bishop McNally visited Westminster he was able to persuade Hetherington to come to Calgary. He arrived in Calgary on June 30, 1913, and arranged McNally’s installation ceremonies. Hetherington continued to work closely with McNally as secretary, Chancellor, Vicar General, and Diocesan Consultor. Hetherington was Vicar Capitular in 1924-1925, 1931-1932, and 1935-1936 (elected on the death or departure of a bishop by the Diocesan Consultors. In 1924 McNally requested that he be appointed Domestic Prelate and in 1937 he was appointed Protonotary Apostolic. His was a hidden but crucial role in the development of the diocese. For many years Hetherington was the only English priest in the diocese. He declined to be considered as a potential bishop for Victoria, possibly for reasons of health. He was a dedicated pastor, with time for his parishioners, and was a good manager. He was military chaplain in 1914 and again in 1941 when he became Senior Military Chaplain in Military District no. 13 until the end of the war. Throughout the war he was the Diocesan Director of War Work. He was a driving force behind the establishment of a Catholic Soldiers’ Club, the ’first of its kind in the Dominion, and the finest in Western Canada.’ [The Western Catholic, ‘Official Organ of the Diocese of Calgary, vol. XVII, no. 13 ‘History of Popular Spot Recalled as K. of C. Army Hut Closed Here.’ He was urbane and pious. After a year or more of failing health, Monsignor Hetherington died in Calgary on May 30, 1963 and was buried in St. Mary’s Cathedral cemetery.
Early homesteading settlers in the area around Hanna were occasionally served by the Tinchebray Fathers from Castor, forty-five miles north of the town of Hanna. May 3, 1910 marked the first visit by Father Lucien LeConte S.M.T who visited a parishioner in his home, to which many visits were made thereafter. Hanna’s church was begun in 1915 and officially offered Mass for the first time in June, 1916. The building was later blessed by Archbishop Emile Legal on June 29, 1917. Rev. A. Darvell, a Franciscan on temporary leave from England was the very first resident pastor, arriving in July, 1921. In the early years of the church and its Mass, many parishioners traveled great distances by means of horse and carriage. It has been noted that during the years of the Depression when both food and money were scarce, Mass was held in the basement to save heating costs and was only offered during Lent. These struggles among the parishioners during the Depression created a ‘special’ sense of a bonding community.
During the 1940s, the ladies of the Altar Society were often called on to help out in any way they could, particularly with church and community work, which furthered the common themes of working together in order to persevere. In 1946, resident pastor Fr. M.A. Harnett invited the Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception to come to Hanna. The Sisters were a huge part of life in Hanna. They are rooted in the prophetic vision of St. Vincent de Paul who urged the need for a community of women who could reach out in compassion to all communities alike, with a special relationship to the poor and needy. They taught catechism and began directing the parish choirs, along with teaching music for all who wanted to learn, both inside and outside of the church community. The Sisters however, withdrew from Hanna and community in the early 1960s. This was in part due to post-World War II social developments inclusive of a more vigorous feminism and many women wishing to work for better employment opportunities and also in-part due to the declining numbers of religious in the surrounding communities all across the country.
In 1955 a new church had been erected for which Father Harnett managed to collect funds in his travels abroad in both Canada and the United States. The church was dedicated on September 1, 1956, by Archbishop MacDonald. The old church had been moved to Delia in July 1955, 36 kilometres away from Hanna, and has served there ever since.
The 1960s brought change in the form of geographical reconstructions. The Calgary Diocesan boundaries had been established before the Canadian Northern Railway was finished. As a result, Hanna, which is on the “Goose Lake Line” and on the highway from Calgary to Saskatoon, was not in the Calgary Diocese, although all its geographic connections were in that direction and it was only one-mile north of the Diocesan boundary. The railway curved north because of the conformation of the Hand Hills and a divisional point was established which became the town of Hanna in August, 1912. Hanna had no easy road or rail connections with Edmonton, and half of its potential parishioners lived in the Diocese of Calgary. Relocation of the Diocesan boundary was first broached in 1936 by Archbishop O’Leary of Edmonton, but for various reasons was not completed until June 7, 1965, after a delegation of parishioners from Hanna asked for the change. After 1965, when the borders of the Diocese were altered to embrace Hanna, St. George’s own boundaries themselves shifted several times. In 1965 the Calgary Diocese transferred responsibility for St. Timothy’s Mission at Sunnynook from Oyen to Hanna. In 1974, Hanna began serving Youngstown, 56 kilometres to the east. The mission was restored to Oyen in 1975, while St. George’s geographical borders were re-drawn again on 1980. Because of the vastness of the region for which Oyen was responsible, the Diocese was prompted to return Youngstown to the care of Hanna. At the same time, it gave Brooks the portion of St. George’s Parish south of Pockville.
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By 1908 there was a small community of Catholic immigrants in homesteads to the south of Grassy Lake. Priests would occasionally travel there and celebrate Mass at the home of Joseph and Maria Ell or at hotel of John Ell. In 1910 Assumption Church was built 15 miles south of Grassy Lake on land donated by John and Joseph Ell. The land was in the midst of a settlement of Russian Germans who had come from the United States for many years known as Ellsville. It was first visited by Fr. Karl Meyer OMI from Lethbridge, apparently in 1911. In 1921 Fr. Hermes OMI was appointed to care for the mission, as well as others in the south-east. Fr. E.J. McCoy had been caring for Assumption from Bow Island and a petition had been sent to Bishop McNally from the parishioners asking for a German-speaking priest. In 1923 Fr. Hermes was still caring for the mission. After 1927 Fr. Bidault left these missions it was cared for from Bow Island. By 1946 the Grassy Lake mission was in need of repair and the parishioners wanted a new building in town. Fr. Rouleau at Bow Island bought an army hut, moved it from Medicine Hat and used it without much adaptation. In 1952-3 Fr. D.T. Sullivan had the hut renovated and it was blessed by Bishop Carroll on September 24, 1953 under the title of the former mission church which had been built fifteen miles from Grassy Lake. The former church was dismantled and the cemetery surrounding it was improved. In 1944 the Catholic Women’s League of the district of Assumption Church bought a disused school building for use as a parish hall. This was transferred to the Diocese that year. In 1956 this building was moved to the town of Grassy Lake and used there as a parish hall. Grassy Lake had been a mission of Bow Island until 1967 when it was made a mission of Taber. The mission remained a vibrant community until the mid-1990s. The exodus of young peopleIt was closed in 2001.
Vital Justin Grandin was born in 1829 at St. Pierre-la-Cour, Brittany, the ninth child in a family of fourteen. After spending some years in a secular seminary he joined the Oblates in 1851 and was ordained by the founder, Bishop Mazenod in 1854. He arrived in St. Boniface in November 1854 and spent some months learning local Indian languages. In spring 1855 he left with Bishop Tache for Ile-a-la-Crosse by Hudson Bay barge and then on to Trinity Mission on Lake Athabaska.
In 1857 at the age of 28 he was made titular Bishop of Salata and coadjutor to Bishop Tache. In 1871 St. Boniface became a Metropolitan Province and Bishop Grandin was made Bishop of the Diocese of St. Albert. He was Oblate Vicar of the Diocese with 15 priests and Bothers under him. In 1897 Bishop Emil Legal became his coadjutor. In 1929 the Canonical process was begun for his beatification.
Gabriels Sanatorium, opened in 1894 by the Sisters of Mercy, was only the second sanatorium in the area, a very early charitable effort which built on the work of Dr. E. L. Trudeau. Gabriels was the first sanatorium in the Adirondacks to admit black patients. Henry Gabriels served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Ogdensburg from May 5, 1892, to April 23, 1921, when he apparently died in office at age 82.
When it was built, the location was known as Paul Smith's Station, and the sanatorium was not called "Gabriels Sanatorium," a name that does not appear in newspaper archives until 1903. The area acquired the name Gabriels from the sanatorium.
Haakon Engh and Trygve Magnussen were among the Norwegian sailors who came to Saranac Lake; they both died at the Gabriels Sanatorium. Theodora Becker and John McCrank were also patients there. Father Patrick Gallery worked at Gabriels Sanatorium for a time in the early 1920s.
After the sanatorium closed, Paul Smith's College purchased the property in August 1965, as an extension center for their growing Forestry Program. PSC closed the Gabriels campus in 1980, and sold the facility to the State of New York to be used for a minimum security prison.
Camp Gabriels received its first draft of inmates on August 30, 1982. These residents were transferred from the Adirondack Correctional Facility, which had been upgraded from a Camp to a Medium Security Facility. Camp Gabriels operated until 2009, when it was closed by Governor Andrew Cuomo. It has been for sale by the state since then, and was sold in early 2014, according to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.
This volunteer organization was the first one established by the three bishops of the Calgary Covenant, although it later included members from other churches. The earliest minutes extant are from a June 1995 meeting at the Catholic Pastoral Centre when Catholics Marie Cameron, Oswald MacLeod and Karine Rietjens met with Lutherans Sid Haughen and Janet Wagar and Anglicans Terrie Teare and Caitlin Odlozinski. The meeting focused on the publication of the Fire in the Rose program by the Church Council on Justice and Correction. In 1996 the three churches formed the inter-Church Task Force of Family Violence, with Marie Cameron as Chair, and launched the Fire in the Rose program in September 1996. The program aimed at counteracting and preventing physical, emotional, sexual, and spiritual abuse in the family and the community. Social worker Cynthia Wild was hired as the program’s coordinator. In 2005 it was determined, and approved by the three founding bishops, that the Taskforce should become part of Faithlink.