St Ignatius Church

Story

St Ignatius Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was founded in 1908 by the Society of Jesus and went on to found St. Ignatius School. It is situated on the corner of Stafford Street and Croydon Avenue on the south side of the Assiniboine River.HistoryIn 1908, the Archbishop of Saint-Boniface, Adélard Langevin created St. Ignatius Parish and Fr Lewis Drummon SJ was appointed as the first parish priest. On 16 February 1908, the first Mass was celebrated in a rented store at 109 Osborne Street with a congregation of 140 people. Two months later, a site was bought on the corner of McMillan and Nassau streets as well as a Baptist church in the area. In November 1908, Fr John C. Coffee SJ replaced Fr Drummon.In 1909, the site of the present church was bought. Work on laying the foundations of the church and school started in September 1910. On 9 January 1912, the school opened and on 17 March 1912, Mass was first celebrated in the church basement, while the rest of the church was being completed.In 1928, the school was extended to accommodate eight rooms. In February 1929, the church was consecrated by the Archbishop of Winnipeg, Arthur Sinnott. In 1946, the population within the parish had grown to such an extent, that Our Lady of Victory Memorial parish was created from St Ignatius'. In 1957, another parish, St John Brebeuf was also created from St Ignatius'. Masses were originally held in the gymnasium of St John Brebeuf School until the church was built in 1968.