Sacred Heart Church, Edmonton

The Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples is a landmark Roman Catholic parish in the historic McCauley neighborhood of Edmonton. Originally opened as Sacred Heart Church on December 25, 1913, it was established to help accommodate the city’s booming immigrant population following the rapid influx of settlers to the Canadian West. Designed by architect David Hardie, the church was born from the overcrowded Immaculate Conception Parish, which continued to serve Francophone Catholics, while Sacred Heart served all others.

Over the decades, Sacred Heart became a nurturing ground for many of Edmonton’s emerging immigrant Catholic communities. Several national parishes-Italian (Santa Maria Goretti), Spanish (Our Lady of Guadalupe), Portuguese (Our Lady of Fatima), and Croatian (Nativity of Mary)-first held services here before establishing churches of their own. Today, an Eritrean Catholic community continues to gather at Sacred Heart, alongside a local Cursillo movement.

In 1991, the parish underwent a historic transformation. With a shrinking, aging congregation, the church’s inner-city location was seen as an opportunity to serve Edmonton’s urban Indigenous population. On October 27, 1991, Archbishop Joseph MacNeil moved the Native Pastoral Centre into the church and declared Sacred Heart the first national Indigenous parish in Canada, dedicated to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples.

Sacred Heart’s rebuild was completed in time for a major historic moment: the visit of Pope Francis on July 25, 2022, during his Penitential Pilgrimage of Reconciliation. The Pope's visit reinforced his apology to Indigenous peoples and positioned the church as a symbol of healing, reconciliation, and renewal-a true “house of reconciliation” for both the past and the future.