Fraternal Visitation of the Province of Canada

The Fraternal Visitation of the Province of Canada was carried out by Fr. Joseph Ivel Mendanha, C.SsR, and Fr. Paul Vinh, C.Ss.R., Consultors General from the 25^{th of} June to the 4^{th of} August 2026.

The Visitation began with an online meeting with the entire Provincial Council which enabled the visitors to get a sense of the Province, the country, social and ecclesial realities as well as the confreres and the mission of the Redemptorists in Canada.

The Province is bilingual with English and French the two languages used and at the same time is also biritual with the Latin Rite and the Ukrainian Catholic rite used in the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

The visitors travelled across Canada from coast to coast covering a vast geographical area over 5 time zones.

The First community was the St. Patrick’s Community in downtown Toronto along with the shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help and the Mother of Perpetual Help parish. Here, the visitors were able to meet with the Provincial staff and collaborators, the Communications and Media Team, the Ignite youth and young adult mission team, the Finance office team, and other lay collaborators of the Province and community.

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The next community was the St. Germain Street Community in Toronto where the visitors spent a day with the confreres and also met with a couple of confreres who reside in a seniors home in the city.

The visitors then left for Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories and were able to appreciate the mission to the Indigenous or First Nations peoples of the Country where our two confreres work along with our Redemptorist Bishop Jon Hansen, C.Ss.R. in his diocese.

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The visitors then visited Winnipeg in Manitoba, a community of the Ukrainian Catholic Church along with the shrine of Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky. The visitors concelebrated with the community in the Ukrainian Catholic Rite and met with the lay associates, parish community, visiting the seniors home where one of the confreres lives and is a chaplain as well. They spent time with the Shrine team to understand the strong devotion to Blessed Velychkovsky in the shrine. The visitors also spent a day visiting the Welcome Community which reaches out with a food bank, food, meals and assistance to street people and people in need, a social ministry that is over 34 years old of Redemptorist care for the poor and abandoned.

The next community of the Ukrainian Catholic Church was in Saskatoon where the visitors met with the confreres, the parish community and lay associates and also visited two Redemptorist retired emeritus Bishops, Bishop John Pazak, C.Ss.R. and Bishop Michael Wiwchar, C.Ss.R. and the Cathedral of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Saskatoon where our Redemptorist Bishop Michael Smolinsky, C.Ss.R, is the Bishop of the Eparchy.

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The visitors then visited Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Vancouver  in British Colombia on the west coast of Canada with the opportunity to interact with the Redemptorist lay associates, School Board and other parish groups and parishioners.

The next community to be visited was St. Joseph’s Grande Prairie in Alberta where the visitors met the community, Lay associates, parish groups, and parish staff and celebrated the feast of the Most Holy Redeemer in the Community.

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Then visitors then went right across the country to the East Coast to Monckton in New Brunswick to the Frech speaking Canada and visited the community at St Louis de Kent. The visitors were able to visit the parishes that the community takes care of at Baie St Anne and Pointe Sapin along with St Lawrence which are French Speaking and then also visit the parishes of Rexton, English speaking, and the two First Nations Indigenous peoples parishes of Elsiboktog and Indian Island. The visitors got a sense of the mission of the Redemptorists to the First Nations peoples.

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The next community was the community and shrine at St. Anne de Beaupre near Quebec City in Quebec. The visitors were present for the final days of the novena and feast of St Anne and had meetings with all the lay collaborators of the shrine of St. Anne, participated in the services and the evening candlelight processions, met with the community, the confreres residing in different nursing homes and also visited the Fraternité de Sante Alphonse which takes care of 27 resident men who are struggling with Alcohol and Drug addiction and going through therapy and rehabilitation. The Fraternité has about 60 Lay Associates who assist in various ways in the ministry of the Redemptorists in care for the poor and abandoned.

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The final community to be visited was the community at St. Teresa’s in St John’s Newfoundland. The visitors met with the community, the parish staff, the different parish organisations and groups, the RAFFT (Redemptorist Adult Faith Formation Team), and the Redemptorist Lay Missionaries and Associates and celebrated the feast of St. Alphonsus with the entire parish community at Saturday evening mass in the church.

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The visitation concluded with two meetings, one with Fr. General and the two visitors and the entire Provincial Council in person and some attending online on the 3^rd of August and then on the 4^th of August an online Gathering of all the confreres of the province along with the Lay missionaries at which Fr General addressed the confreres and answered questions along with the two General Consultors. A couple of the Redemptorist Bishops were also present at the online meeting. Fr. Santo, the Provincial thanked Fr. General and the two consultors for the Fraternal Visitation conducted in the province and for the warmth and celebration of fraternal life and mission the Province.

Fr. Joseph Ivel Mendanha, C.Ss.R.
General Consultor