Our Parish

The Croats were happy and proud and grateful to God, the local bishop and the first pastor, Fr. Zvonka Radošević. The original task of the priest is to gather the people for the Sunday Eucharistic celebration and distribute the holy sacraments. The Church was always ready to help its people.

In the beginning, the Croats of Calgary gathered for mass celebration in the chapel of the Sacred Heart Monastery, but after a short time they were looking for a new location. So in May 1968, they bought a small dilapidated church from the Poles, thoroughly renovated it and arranged it for mass celebrations. The church was blessed on October 12, 1968 by Fr. Serafin Zečević, a Croatian priest who was a professor in Regina. The mission was then transformed into a parish.

History

The parish house was first built on the purchased land, into which the priest moved in 1981, and the construction of the church began on July 23, 1979. The construction lasted two full years. The blessing of the new church built in honor of Mother Božja Bistrička was on August 2, 1981, and the celebration of the blessing was led by the Croatian cardinal serving in Rome, Dr. Franjo Šeper, with the presence of the local bishop Paul O’Byrne, numerous priests, and a large number of Catholic Croats and other believers. Croatian priests have taken care of God’s people in Calgary and the surrounding areas since their beginnings.

LIST OF PASTORS

Rev. Domin Vladić, 1996-present.
The parish was managed by the Franciscan priests of the Province of the Holy Redeemer, Split, from 1967-1996. year
The priest of the Archdiocese of Vrhbosnia, Rev. Domin Vladić took over the parish on December 19, 1996.

List of pastors who served the parish in the period from 1967 to 2017. (2024)

Fra Zvonko Radošević, 1967-1971. and 1973-1974, (+1988).
Ivan Rašić, 1971-1973, left the priesthood.
Fra Božo Ančić, 1974, 4 months (+2017).
and Fr. Bernardin Bebić, 1974 (2 months).
Brother Dujo Boban, 1974-1992.
Brother Izidor Grabovac, 1992-1996, (+2006).