Visit the Largest and most Elaborate Roman Catholic Cathedral in Western Canada

About Saint Boniface Cathedral

Cathedral of Saint Boniface In the centre of the neighbourhood, Saint Boniface Cathedral is an architectural treasure. After a catastrophic fire destroyed the old church, the present church was constructed in 1971. In front of the new structure, the original 1894 façade still stands tall. The architectural mix of modern and old is unique and reflects an essential element of the church’s and Saint Boniface’s history. In the centre of the neighbourhood, Saint Boniface Cathedral is an architectural treasure. After a catastrophic fire destroyed the old church, the present church was constructed in 1971. In front of the new structure, the original 1894 façade still stands tall. The architectural mix of modern and old is unique and reflects an essential element of the church’s and Saint Boniface’s history.

History

Six churches have existed in Saint-Boniface, Manitoba, in succession since 1818, attesting to the long-standing French and Catholic presence in western Canada. From the modest Saint-Boniface Mission to the seat of a large archdiocese encompassing much of western Canada, the Red River settlement that is now a borough of Winnipeg expanded by leaps and bounds in its first fifty years. As a result of this expansion, five cathedrals were built in quick succession. The most famous and biggest, built in 1908 under second Archbishop Adélard Langevin, was destroyed by fire in 1968, much to the dismay of the francophone people for whom it was a symbol of strength. The cathedral that remains today, dedicated in 1972, is built inside the ruins of the old structure, maintaining the historical significance of a location that powerfully represents the francophone presence in western Canada. 

Saint-Boniface Cathedral, a Franco-Manitoban monument, commemorates the location of the Prairies’ first French Catholic colony and the beginning of francophone growth in the west. This magnificent Romanesque Revival cathedral, built at considerable cost in the early twentieth century, quickly became a source of pride for francophones, a testament to their survival as a cultural minority. When it was dedicated as a minor basilica in 1949, the cathedral gained even more significance, and for many years it was also Western Canada’s highest religious building. The town was stunned when the cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1968. When it came time to build a new cathedral in the early 1970s, architect Étienne Gaboury chose to build it inside the remains of the previous one because of the symbolic significance of the location. 

The historical significance of the site, which had formerly been home to two churches and four cathedrals, was maintained in this manner. The cathedral, which was designated as a Manitoba Provincial Heritage Site in February 1994, now draws thousands of tourists each year. The tale starts in 1817, when 22 Red River residents petitioned for a permanent priest during the peak of the fur trade. The Archbishop of Quebec City, Monsignor Joseph-Octave Plessis, sent Joseph-Norbert Provencher, a unilingual francophone, to lead a small mission the next year. Provencher supervised the construction of a modest structure that served as both his home and the Red River Mission’s first church when he arrived. The location was dedicated as Saint-Boniface on November 1, 1818.

Lord Selkirk, who had previously given the mission land and established a Scottish Catholic congregation in the region, sent a freshly cast bell from England. The new church was not completed until 1825 due to a shortage of finances.) or the English-speaking Irish and Scottish Catholics, who already outnumbered the local francophone Catholics. Plessis even sought approval from London and the Vatican to appoint Provencher as an auxiliary Bishop of the Quebec City Archdiocese and vicar general. Plessis ultimately secured the position on May 12, 1882, following three years of work and early reluctance from Provencher. It was decided to construct a bigger and larger cathedral in light of the mission’s new status as an auxiliary diocese and the increasing francophone population. Between 1832 to 1839, the grandiose edifice known as “Provencher’s cathedral” was built. Its towering size drew the attention of visiting artists, who left a number of sketches and paintings behind. With his poem “The Red River Voyageur,” published with a picture of the cathedral, American poet John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892) contributed to the structure’s fame. Joseph-Norbert Provencher persuaded Archbishop Joseph Signay to establish Red River as an autonomous ecclesiastical district during a visit to Quebec City in 1843. 

On April 16, 1844, the Vatican accepted the proposal, and Provencher was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Hudson Bay and James Bay. Signay proposed making the Red River District an archdiocese two years later, after the creation of an ecclesiastical province on the Pacific coast. Signay decided to establish a diocese on June 4, 1847, after Provencher refused. The North-West Diocese was renamed the Diocese of Saint-Boniface three years later. Louis Riel got his first communion at Provencher’s church on March 25, 1857. The structure burnt down three years later, on December 14, 1860. Bishop Alexandre-Antonin Taché, who had been Bishop of Saint-Boniface since 1853, travelled to Quebec City to seek funds for the rebuilding. The cathedral at Taché was started in 1862 and finished in 1863. It was smaller than its predecessor because to a lower budget, and ideas for façade towers and frontal decoration were scrapped. It took until 1870 for the bell tower to be finished. On September 22, 1871, Bishop Taché agreed to the Archbishop of Quebec’s desires, and the cathedral became the seat of the Archdiocese of Saint-Boniface. In 1885, the funeral of Louis Riel, who was executed for treason in Regina, was held there.

Heritage Value

St. Boniface Cathedral was Western Canada’s biggest and most ornate Roman Catholic cathedral, as well as Manitoba’s finest example of French Romanesque architecture. Despite being destroyed by fire in 1968, the remains of the cathedral remain an outstanding example of the architecture, which is characterised by round-arched entrances and classical ornamentation. The third cathedral (and fifth church) constructed on the site where Father Joseph-Norbert Provencher founded the first permanent Roman Catholic mission west of the Great Lakes in 1818 was designed by Montreal architects Marchand and Haskell. Provencher’s facility, located across the Red River from the Hudson’s Bay Company’s trading station, became the heart of francophone St. Boniface and Roman Catholic missionary activity in the Red River Settlement and beyond, all the way to the Pacific and Arctic coastlines. Within the ruins of the 1908 basilica, a church built by Franco-Manitoban architect Etienne Gaboury was inaugurated in 1972. The basilica’s massive limestone front, sacristy, and walls serve as a foundation for the contemporary structure, which is made of wood, glass, and weathering brown steel. One of Western Canada’s oldest and most historically important Roman Catholic cemeteries is also located on this location.

Cultural Life

After a devastating fire in 1968, the St. Boniface Cathedral was restored. The Grey Nuns’ convent, which was constructed between 1846 and 1851, is now a museum. The former Union Stockyards site, as well as older parts of St. Boniface, have been the focus of urban rehabilitation projects (more commonly known as the Public Markets). A French-language radio station, La Liberté, a weekly newspaper, the Centre culturel franco-manitobain and Centre du patrimoine, an arts centre, the annual winter Festival du Voyageur, and performing arts groups like Le Cercle Moilère and Ensemble Folklorique de la Rivière Rouge are among the community’s cultural institutions. Manitoba is a Francophone province.

Character-Defining Elements

The location on the east bank of the Red River, at the intersection of avenues Tache and de la Cathedrale in St. Boniface, amongst related sites such as the Archbishop’s Palace, Grey Nuns’ Convent, and St. Boniface College, are key elements that define the heritage character of the St. Boniface Cathedral site.