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Catholic Churches in South Central Saskatchewan
26 October 2005

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Catholic Churches in South Central Saskatchewan

In 1906, His Grace Most Reverend A. Langevin OMI, Archbishop of Saint Boniface, whose diocese extended west to the Alberta border, sent out missionaries to serve the faithful.

Early key pastors that evangelized in the northwest corner of South Central Saskatchewan of this 80k (50 mile) radius of Assiniboia :

Fr. Pierre Gravel, easterner, formerly stationed in New York USA worked from Regina to Gravelbourg circa 1906.

In the east of this area was Father Lestanc of Quimper, Brittany, who worked in the Willow Bunch area circa 1870.

In the west was Father Bois of Poitiers, France. He was a priest/homesteader who worked from Meyronne circa 1909.

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Assiniboia St. George Roman Catholic Church First Building
1913
Assiniboia,Saskatchewan

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Assiniboia St. George Roman Catholic Church First Building

Willow Bunch Roman Catholics had been well established before many of the area settlements and priests traveled from this centre. Assiniboia was the first parish to be detached from Willow Bunch.

Fr. Lemieux traveled to visit the faithful in the mission of Leeville (forerunner of Assiniboia) in 1909. The services were held in local homes.

In 1912, due to the CPR rail line running south of Leeville and the establishment of the roundhouse at Assiniboia, the Town of Leeville moved to become part of Assiniboia. The first wedding took place on the groom's farm in a granary.

The first church and rectory were built in April of 1913. Fr. Sammut, a native of Malta, helped with the construction. Maxstone and Limerick became mission points. Later there were renovations, which included the addition of the bell tower.

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Assiniboia St George Roman Catholic Present Day
1963
Assiniboia,Saskatchewan

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Assiniboia St. George Roman Catholic Church Present Day

A new church was built in 1963; a beautiful and modern parish centre was added in 1996. A fresh renovation was done in 2000.

They currently have a resident priest.

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Bengough St Michael's Roman Catholic
1919
Bengough, Saskatchewan

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Bengough St. Michael's Roman Catholic

The parish records show the first baptism to be Thomas John Adams, son of Joe and Eva Adams, by Rev. G. Mulligan on August 5th, 1917.

Bengough had been a mission until Rev. L. Sullivan established a residence in Bengough, thus a parish was established. He then purchased a large unused church in Verwood in 1956 and despite great difficulties had it moved to the present site. The debt was soon liquidated largely through a generous bequest by the late Mr. Hugo Allgayer. A new rectory was subsequently built.

Services continue at the present.

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Coderre St. Charles Roman Catholic
1913
Coderre, Saskatchewan

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Coderre St. Charles Roman Catholic

In 1910, the settlers from North Dakota were organized in the area. Church services were held in Messers. L de Courval and Philias Desnoyer's home, which served as a chapel. In August 1913 a rectory was built and served as a chapel until the church was completed that December. And as with many of the settled sites, CPR dictates a move of buildings with the hauling of the church and rectory in 1925. The lots for building were donated by the CPR and a gift offering in the amount of $500.00. Since 1950 the Coderre parish priest has Courval as a mission.

Up until 1925 Coderre was one parish with Courval. It is presently a mission point from Hodgeville.

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Courval St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church
1928
Courval, Saskatchewan

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Courval St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church

This area was settled in 1908. Church services were held in Mr. L. de Courval's home. The first traveling priest was Fr. Pierre Gravel.

Courval was one parish with Coderre until 1925. With the moving of the St. Charles Church closer to Coderre due to the rail line, Courval wanted to have their own parish. On August 27, they had their own first service held in the Separate School. On September 11 of the same year a new cemetery site was chosen.

The planning of the church building concluded with the hauling of lumber from Mortlach, free of charge by parishioners. Much the same story for most of the church building. The first service in the new church was held August 12, 1928 by Fr. Giguere. Last resident priest left in 1950, and the church became a mission point of Coderre until 1981.

The building became a teacherage in 1956 to 1967, and then was dismantled for lumber.

COURVAL OLD WIVES ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSION

Italian families settled in this area.

Before 1930 it was part of the Regina Diocese until the founding of the Gravelbourg Diocese. It then became a mission point out of St. Joseph's in Moose Jaw.

Later the resident clergy from Courval held the services, which had been held at Old Wives School, then at Bay Island School.

With the departure of the Courval resident priest in 1950 this parish dissolved and parishioners attended services at other points.

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Coronach Roman Catholic Our Lady of Perpetual Help Early Years
1933
Coronach, Saskatchewan

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Coronach Roman Catholic Our Lady of Perpetual Help

The few Catholics in that area usually waited for the missionary priest to visit them, but those of deeper faith traveled to Willow Bunch at least for their Easter Duties and to have their children baptized.

The second pastor at Fife Lake, Fr. A.L. Roy, began to visit the town once or twice a month and held services in the school or above the pool hall.

Rev. Villeneuve, first Bishop of Gravelbourg, who became Archbishop of Quebec, asked the CWL of his city to make a collection for the building of a chapel in Coronach. The construction of the first church was finished by July 1936.

The money collected by the Quebec CWL gave this congregation money on the condition that the church be named after their patron saint and that a CWL be organized. The Coronach ladies received their charter in 1938 making them the oldest sub-division of the CWL in the diocese.