History

The centre’s beginning goes back to the founding of the Santa Maria Goretti Parish in 1957.

In December 1957, two priests, Father Rino Ziliotto and Father John Bonelli, missionaries of St. Charles (Scalabrinians) arrived from Chicago to take charge of the pastoral care of the Italian community of Edmonton. They had no place of their own, so they were guests at the archbishop’s residence. It did not take them long to get into the action and brave the cold winter of Edmonton, at times on foot, at other times chauffeured by kind paesani who could afford an automobile. The two priests began to visit families, preach the Word, administer the sacraments, visit the sick in hospital, find jobs for the newly arrived and help them with immigration papers and language problems, and serve as peacemakers. It was an endless mission and not always rewarding.

Up until that time, a group of Italians had been gathering at the General Hospital’s chapel for Sunday mass, celebrated by Father Luigi of the Salesian Fathers, but the number of congregants was increasing rapidly and a new place was needed. They were offered the basement of Sacred Heart Church, but soon even that space appeared inadequate for the spiritual needs of the Italian people. The community needed its own church.

So the two priests, with a committee of laymen, set out in search of a building. All seemed to have drawbacks until, finally, the Christopher Columbus Society offered a piece of land it had in trust from the city for possible future construction. The society did not foresee development in the near future, so they decided to turn over the land on 110th Avenue and 90th Street to the fathers of the new church.

But this was only the first step. Once the land was found, money for construction was needed. So the committee and a number of volunteers set about the difficult task of obtaining pledges, which was more easily said than done. Most people were recent immigrants with small incomes and were striving to build up their own financial stability and their own homes. But with faith, courage, and hard work, construction soon got underway.

There was no stopping the enthusiasm of so many people and on Dec. 21, 1958, the new church was dedicated to Santa Maria Goretti. At that time, when the bishop asked if the people would be able to pay for the church, the members replied: “Your Grace, if our people were able to pay for hundreds of bigger and more beautiful churches all over Italy, they will be able to pay for this one also.” In less than 15 years, the church and the original hall were paid for in full.

In 1966, a new, larger rectory was built on the same location as the old one to house the parish priests. Twenty years later, in celebration of its 25th anniversary, the SMG parish built a new rectory and parish hall—the present Santa Maria Goretti Centre, which opened its doors in 1987. For the first few years, it was run almost entirely by volunteer members of the Italian community.