Going to mass, Gibbons, ca. 1940.
Archdiocese Archives Photograph Collection ARCAE-P-851.

The seeds of faith are always nurtured in the life of the parish. In the Archdiocese of Edmonton, the greatest period of growth occurred from 1910 to 1929, when 78 new parishes and missions were created, but the building of parishes continued briskly throughout the century. The diocesan boundaries shrunk once more in 1948, when the northern section was carved out to become the Diocese of St. Paul.

In the 1970s, the Archdiocese began establishing “national parishes” to serve specific language or cultural groups.

Today Mass is celebrated in 15 different languages, including French, Spanish, Polish, Chinese, Croatian, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Italian, German, Hungarian, Korean, Eritrean, Latin and American Sign Language.

There have also been parish closures, prompted by shifting demographics and a decreasing supply of priests. In 1996 Archbishop Joseph MacNeil recognized the need for a restructuring of the Archdiocese. He established the Transformation of Parishes Task Group (ToPs) to recommend a way forward that would streamline the number of parishes while ensuring that no-one would be denied access to Sunday Mass and the sacraments. After two years of extensive and sometimes painful consultations, a pastoral plan titled Faithful into the Future was released. As of November 30, 2012, the Archdiocese included 126 parishes and missions, serving a Catholic population of over 375,000.