Learn about Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples
“Welcome the stranger then, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” – Deut. 10:19
From its earliest days, Sacred Heart Parish has been a place of welcome, receiving strangers and caring for them with open arms. Born out of Immaculate Conception Parish in 1906, Sacred Heart came into being in 1911 when the growing Catholic community in Edmonton needed more space. While francophone Catholics remained at Immaculate Conception, Sacred Heart was created for all others, holding its first services across the street until its own French Gothic Revival church was completed in 1913. Spacious and lofty, yet warm and filled with light, it quickly became one of Edmonton’s most beautiful and enduring churches.
Sacred Heart soon became a gathering place for newcomers of many backgrounds. Italian (Santa Maria Goretti), Spanish (Our Lady of Guadalupe), Portuguese (Our Lady of Fatima), and Croatian (Nativity of Mary) all found their first parish home here before building churches of their own. Beyond the Catholic community, Sacred Heart’s doors were open to all in need: food was handed out informally at the doors for decades, later through a food bank, and since 1971, the beloved Christmas dinner has drawn volunteers from across the city eager to serve.
The parish has also endured hardship and renewal. A devastating fire in 1966 destroyed much of the building, but the rebuilding aligned with changes from Vatican II, allowing the church to embrace a new style of communal worship. In 1991, Archbishop Joseph MacNeil designated it as Edmonton’s First Nations, Métis, and Inuit parish, transforming the interior with the vibrant colours and symbols of Indigenous culture while retaining its timeless exterior. Today, that spirit of welcome continues—every Sunday, people of all backgrounds are invited to worship at the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Mass, and Sacred Heart still serves as a “nursery” for new communities, most recently hosting the Ethiopian Orthodox as they prepare their own church.
Tragedy struck again in August 2020 when a second fire gutted the church, sparked by smouldering sage from a smudge. Yet once more, the community rebuilt. At a cost of $3.5 million, the restoration was completed in 2022, incorporating powerful Indigenous elements: teepee poles rising above the altar, a tree-trunk base, natural live-edged furnishings, a stained-glass medicine wheel, and new sacred spaces for worship.
On July 25, 2022, Pope Francis himself visited the renewed Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples, meeting with Indigenous leaders and parishioners in a moment of healing and dialogue. The Pope’s visit provided a unique opportunity for him, once again, to listen and dialogue with Indigenous Peoples, to express his heartfelt closeness and to address the impact of colonization and the participation of the Catholic Church in the operation of residential schools throughout Canada.
“…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.” – Pope Francis – April 1,
2022
Through every chapter—birth, fire, rebuilding, and renewal—Sacred Heart has remained true to its identity: a place of welcome, a home for many peoples, and a witness of reconciliation in the heart of Edmonton.