INNISFAIL – The town’s Catholic community was graced with a two-day pastoral visit by the Archbishop of Edmonton Richard Smith who saluted the congregation as a model for others by bravely persevering through a devastating church fire before facing pandemic challenges head-on.
The two-day visit on Nov. 25 and 26 by the archbishop to meet with parishioners at Innisfail’s Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church was the first time the community was able to celebrate the rebuilding of the church following a fire on Dec. 22, 2018 that caused irreparable damage.
Less then two years later the church was completely rebuilt; through the COVID-19 pandemic years and in large part from the more than $150,000 collected by the church through fundraising.
During his pastoral visit Smith celebrated two masses with Father Curtis Berube for the parishioners at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church, with the first on Saturday and the second for Sunday morning.
It was a weekend to celebrate the Feast of Christ, the King on the last Sunday of the liturgical year. It was also the right time for the archbishop to note in his homily the strength and commitment of the Innisfail Catholic community.
“It is clear that the world needs to see what yielding the right of way to Christ looks like. I must say that, because of what I have witnessed this weekend. This parish can serve as such a model,” said Smith in his homily at the Innisfail Catholic church on Nov. 26. “Think of what you have been through in recent years.
“Your church was so damaged that it needed to be replaced. Just as you began to fundraise, COVID hit. Yet, undaunted you continued to give of yourselves for your church, and now have this beautiful structure.
“Think also of your pastoral care of the homebound, your desire to work with the town to address homelessness, your reverse collections in support of the food bank and needy children. And your decision to contribute a portion of the funds raised for the church to other charitable needs, even though you could have used every dollar collected.”
He later mingled with parishioners, including Dianne Bennett who came with her six-week-old twins Audrey and Jacob, as well as with her parents John and Corry Buyks.
“I would say we felt very blessed to have met him (archbishop) with the babies. It was a very special privilege,” said Bennett.
Last week Berube told the Albertan the archbishop last came to Innisfail shortly after the church had been rebuilt.
He wanted to consecrate the church but was not able to gather with Our Lady of Peace Church parishioners due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most importantly, added Berube, the visit was an opportunity for the archbishop to “recognize” the trials and ultimate triumphs parishioners had gone through.
“And to hear from many of the people who had been involved the rebuild,” said Berube. “We had a meeting on Saturday at lunchtime with several members of our parish pastoral council, our finance committee, our fundraising committee, and our school.
“Each member that was present was able to share some things about what they had been involved in during the whole process. We had lunch together, and then we took some time to share and he was able to respond to some of that and recognize all of the good things they had done.”
