ASSUMPTION PARISH started in the early days of the township itself, when Vanier was still named Eastview and the only Catholic church around was celebrating its holy mass in French. In the 1920s some residents of Eastview petitioned then Archbishop Joseph-Guillaume Forbes to establish an English-speaking Catholic Church in the area. This was granted and Fr. Walter Cavanagh was appointed its founding pastor. The congregation originally met for holy mass at the double living room at the big home of the Archambault family. As years passed, a community where everyone knew everyone else soon grew around this house church.
Times were hard in the 1930s during the time of the Great Depression but the community spirit persisted among parishioners. From everyone’s contributions, the parish was able to purchase a vacant building on Second Avenue (now Savard St), left behind by the Eastview Presbyterian Church, where the parish celebrated its first masses on August 15, 1931. Another simple building on Cody Street served as a temporary rectory. As the date of the first masses coincided with the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the parish was named after it. At this time there were over 200 parishioners attending its Sunday masses.
The parish continued to grow and the religious fervour was clearly evident in their observance of their masses and novenas. Nearly a decade later on May 1, 1940, its pastor Fr. Austin Stanton blessed the ground for a new church and rectory at Olmstead Street. On December 22, 1940 Archbishop Alexander Vachon dedicated the new parish church. Fr. Stanton celebrated its first mass on Christmas eve December 24, 1940.
As the parish grew a succession of pastors followed, notably Canon Edgar Brennan who served for 30 years. The parish became a busy hub for the community with fundraising bazaars and social evenings a common feature in addition to the normal activities. For many years, the Grey Sisters of the Immaculate Conception actively served in the parish where eventually a convent was built for them adjacent to the church building. Members of the Catholic Women’s League also took active part in the affairs of the parish, contributing much to the vibrant nature of parish life. Despite the area’s changing demographics, the strong spirit of community prevailed enriching the lives and fellowship of its parishioners. In March 1994, the parish formally articulated its mission as that of building “a viable Christian Family that all will consider home”.
After the Muslim community that was renting part of the church premises left, the Chinese Catholic community in December 1991 rented the same premises. Over a decade later, in 2006, a large contingent of Filipino parishioners arrived at the parish when the pastor of St. Brigid’s Church was reassigned to Assumption Church after
the closure of St. Brigid. At around this time, many of the original parishioners were still around to reminisce about the early days of the parish. Some of these recollections found their way into the souvenir book issued by the Catholic Women’s League to celebrate Assumption’s 75th Anniversary.
With three Filipino pastors serving in succession, the parish continued to thrive as it attracted more Filipino parishioners even from outside the Vanier area. It incorporated some Filipino customs such as its noontime Sunday mass in Tagalog, including some popular Filipino traditions celebrated annually like the “Pabasa” (chanting the reading of Christ’s Passion during Holy Week), the “Santacruzan” in honor of the Holy Cross during May and the 9-day “Simbang Gabi” novena preceding Christmas Day.
Although many parish activities were curtailed during the pandemic, the parish was still able to maintain and serve its community through its daily 7:00 pm Holy Mass broadcasted live via its Facebook account. The community also rallied to support a vigorous fundraising effort that was able to raise funds, despite lockdown restrictions, for major renovations to the aging church building. To celebrate the 90th Foundation Day of the parish, Archbishop Marcel Damphousse of the Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall concelebrated a special mass on August 15, 2021 with the current and former pastor. Among the seated parishioners who attended this important milestone was Rodolfo Robles, the Philippine Ambassador to Canada.
The Assumption church building is currently the only Franciscan friary in Ottawa. An arrangement with the Archdiocese of Ottawa resulted in the Franciscan friars moving in and taking up residence in the adjacent rectory building. These friars serve as pastors at Assumption’s and at the nearby parishes of St. Ignatius and St. Peter’s.
Today, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish still serves – even after 90 years – a varied mix of the Catholic faithful living around the vicinity of Vanier and beyond, as it continues to nourish and enrich the community life of its parishioners.
PARISH PASTORS:
1931 – 1933 MSGR. WALTER CAVANAGH
1933 – 1934 REV. FR. FRANCIS DAY
1934 – 1934 REV. FR. JOHN O’NEILL
1934 – 1938 REV. FR. JOHN CODY
1938 – 1941 REV. FR. AUSTIN STANTON
1941 – 1942 REV. FR. GERALD GORMAN
1942 – 1972 CANON EDGAR BRENNAN
1972 – 1973 REV. FR. JOHN HEFFERNAN
1973 – 1976 REV. FR. DAVID CORKERY
1976 – 1987 REV. FR. ROBERT MARTINEAU
1987 – 1990 REV. FR. REV. PETER CODY
1991 – 2000 REV. FR. BOSCO WONG
2000 – 2000 REV. FR. ARTHUR AUCKWOOD (interim)
2000 – 2005 REV. FR. JOSE SERAFIN–ANAYA
2005 – 2006 REV. FR. TIMOTHY AMYOT, OSM
2006 – 2017 REV. FR. PEDRO ARANA
2017 – 2021 Friar DOMINIC LIM, OFM CONV.
Jan-June 2022 Friar JOBE ABBASS, OFM CONV. (interim)
Current Pastor Friar. FRANCIS VICTOR MATEO, OFM CONV
Please click here for an extended history of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish.