INNISFAIL – Still thriving and serving the town’s Catholic community for the past 118 years, the Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church is moving confidently forward with a new young parish priest.
Father Liju Jose, who served the church as pastor since late summer 2018, has moved on to serve the Catholic community at Onoway and surrounding area.
The new Innisfail parish leader is 29-year-old Father Curtis Berube, who grew up just south of Edmonton on an acreage east of Beaumont.
“The people here have been so welcoming to me and open to my collaboration with them,” said Berube. “I think I'm really going to enjoy this community.”
Berube was ordained as a priest on June 29, 2020. That process included many years of dedication and study to get to where he is today.
He spent three years studying philosophy, one year of spiritual formation, three years of theology and one year of parish internship.
His devout commitment to his studies at Edmonton’s Newman Theological College earned him a bachelor's degree in philosophy and a master's degree in theology.
Before arriving in Innisfail for his first shift as parish priest on July 13 he first served as an associate pastor at Edmonton’s St. Thomas More Catholic Parish and then Holy Family Catholic Parish in St. Albert.
Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church is the first church he will lead as parish priest.
“That in itself is a kind of an adjustment because now some decisions that I didn't have to make or wasn't faced with as an associate now come to me as the pastor,” said Berube. “As well, the size and the make up of the community is different. We have people attending church here from the town of Innisfail but also surrounding areas. My first goals are just to get to know the people to understand where they're coming from and some of the history of the parish.”
Innisfail’s Catholic church has a long and storied history dating back to 1904 when Father Henri Voisin and Father Paul Chauvin took up residence in the old Innisfail Hotel. Voisin made visits on horseback over an area of about a 40-kilometre radius, which included Red Deer and Olds.
The following year Innisfail’s first Catholic church was built. Today our Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church is still a critically important community institution, as is the bond between it and St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School.
Berube’s arrival in July came when school was out, and with many of his parish members on holidays. Nevertheless, it has still been a busy summer for the young priest.
He has met with Stefan LeBrecque, the new principal at St. Marguerite Bourgeoys.
“I think both of us are in agreement that we want to strengthen the collaboration between the parish and the school,” said Berube. “For example, we want to schedule some school masses where students could come here. I'd like to visit the school for some of their events.”
And by mid-September it’s Berube’s plan to nurture the relationship with St. Marguerite Bourgeoys by hosting a school mass at the church.
He has also made himself available to anyone who has sought spiritual guidance to deal with the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“It's been hard on everyone, just the isolation some have experienced. They are missing the connections they have had with their families,” he said. “Perhaps more so now that they would need spiritual guidance and need for connection to community that they can be a part of.”
And then there was the visit to Alberta by Pope Francis July 24 - 29.
This was a priority for many of the church faithful. Angela Spiller, the church’s administrative assistant, organized the acquisition of the town’s community bus to take up to 40 church members to the papal mass at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium on July 26.
Berube also went to concelebrate with scores of other priests.
“It was a very positive response from those who were able to attend. They were glad to be there. They were glad to see what he was doing and that he came forward for the purpose of reconciliation of healing,” said Berube. “That's a process that begins with what he's done, but will carry forward, and that's through all of us.”
