St. Boniface marks 50 years

German newcomers found their spiritual home in the downtown wooden church

- WCR photo by Ramon Gonzalez St Boniface Church choir has participated in many festivals over the years, including the popular annual Christmas concert at the German-Canadian Culture Association.

By RAMON GONZALEZ
WCR Staff Writer
Edmonton

German Catholics came out in force June 25 to mark the 50th anniversary of their parish, St. Boniface, named after Germany's patron saint.

Some 300 parishioners, more than double the attendance at a regular weekend Mass, filled the small wooden church at 9510-101 Ave. for a mid-morning anniversary Mass concelebrated by Archbishop Thomas Collins and Father Lorenz Maier, the pastor for the past four years.

The archbishop congratulated parishioners and priests "for the beautiful work you have done over the past 50 years" and urged them to continue supporting one another.

About 200 people, Collins included, attended a 50th anniversary banquet at St. Maria Goretti Parish Hall following the Mass.

Father Hans Joachim Winkens, superior of the Pallotine Fathers in Germany and four former Pallotine pastors - Fathers Gottfried Seifert, Winfried Wirtz, George Neumann and Henry Rosembaum - were also present at the Mass.

Partly due to its ethnic character, St. Boniface draws its parishioners not only from all over Edmonton but also from Antler Lake, Lake Eden, Leduc, Onoway, Sherwood Park and St. Albert.

A few dozen attend regular Sunday Mass and about a dozen attend daily Mass. Eight attended the Friday Mass prior to the anniversary.

Newly arrived German families who wanted to worship in their own language started St. Boniface Parish 50 years ago. The parish grew significantly throughout the 1960s, featuring hundreds of registered families, many young people and many programs.

"Today we only have about 120 families, most of them older people, and just a few programs," noted Liesel Moellering, chair of the parish pastoral council. She blames the dwindling numbers on fewer immigrants and on the fact many young Germans have married outside their community and integrated into Canadian society.

"We have some young people, but not as many as we would have liked because they go and marry Canadian and don't speak German at all, so they don't come as much anymore," Moellering lamented.

A home away from home

But she said for those who remain in the parish, St. Boniface means everything. "For me it's like a home away from home. You belong in here."

Liesel Moettering

Moellering, a mother of three, became a member of St. Boniface soon after arriving in Edmonton with her husband Siegfried in 1955. She said a group of ladies from the parish visited after she had her first child and invited her to participate.

"That's how we began attending the German parish," she recalled. "We spoke very little English and so we were very happy to be able to worship in our own language."

St. Boniface parishioners run a small food bank, help the Pallotine Fathers in Africa, support development projects in the Third World, donate money to women's shelters, and visit the sick and elderly in hospitals and nursing homes.

Thea Tucker, a choir member for 35 years, joined the parish in 1961 and thinks the world of it.

"It gave us a spiritual home, it gave us a community of like-minded people, it gave us a place where we feel and think alike," Tucker said. "It gave us back some of our own German culture, our beautiful songs and prayers. It replaced in many ways our own families that we didn't have. We could rely on support when we needed it."

Lieselotte Dobrowolski, a parish member from Millwoods, conducts the choir, does the parish laundry and serves as a reader and Communion leader. "I come every morning for Mass."

She realizes she could attend St. Theresa Parish, but "I come here because this is my home. I have been coming longer to this church than I've ever lived in one house. This is my home."

A spiritual anchor

Dobrowolski, a mother of four, arrived in Canada in 1964 and didn't speak any English. "Right away it was like coming home," she recalled. "We sang the same songs we used to sing in Germany and all the people were friendly. We are like one big family. If somebody is sick, we all suffer as if it was a family member. I would not have stayed in Canada if it weren't for this parish. I would have returned home."

The need for a German parish arose when a flood of German-speaking immigrants arrived in Edmonton following the Second World War. Many didn't speak any English and some found it hard to learn a new language.

"The newcomers were drawn together by religion, language, custom and homesickness," Anita Blyth wrote in her one-page history of St. Boniface.

A Franciscan priest celebrated the first Catholic Mass in German in Edmonton in 1952. "With permission from the Edmonton Archdiocese to form an ethnic parish and the arrival of German priests from the Pallotine order, St. Boniface Parish was established in 1956," Blyth writes. It was named after the patron saint of Germany, whose feast day is June 5.

In order to accommodate the growing number of parishioners, the parish had to move to several locations throughout the city, including the gymnasium of St. Joseph's High School.

A permanent building was found in 1958. Built in 1911, the building housed the city's first Jewish synagogue. Extensive renovations were done to transform it into a Roman Catholic Church. Most of the work was undertaken by the parishioners themselves and many of the materials were donated.

One permanent feature at St. Boniface is its choir, which will celebrate its 49th anniversary this year. It has participated in many festivals, including the popular annual Christmas concert at the German-Canadian Cultural Association.

"Sunday Masses and feast days are enriched with traditional choral singing in German, English or Latin and are accompanied by the 1883 mechanical-action 725-pipe organ, one of only a few such organs in Alberta."

St. Boniface's annual Christmas bazaar and bake sale is held in November. "Guests are invited to sit awhile, eat Bratwurst and enjoy coffee and dessert," Blyth writes.

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