​Everything changed in the winter of 1883, when the Canadian Pacific Railway pushed its way through the wilderness. Woodcutters, surveyors, and labourers arrived in the deep cold, building a camp on the shores of Lake Bitimagamasing. Log cabins sheltered them from the black flies and the northern winds.  CP manager James Worthington, perhaps longing for home, renamed the lake Ramsey and the camp Sudbury, after his wife’s birthplace in England.  Among the workers (one third of them French Canadians) came merchants, professionals, and clergy who offered spiritual and practical support to the growing settlement.

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First Catholic Mission - Sainte-Anne-des-Pins 

It was here, amid the pines and granite, that the Jesuits found inspiration.  They named their first Catholic mission Sainte‑Anne‑des‑Pins (Saint Anne of the Pines) a name that captured both the landscape and the devotion of the people.

 

On March 30, 1883, Father Jean‑Baptiste Nolin celebrated the first Mass in the area.  A wedding and baptism followed that autumn, and by Christmas a presbytery and chapel stood ready to serve the fifty families who had gathered around the new railway town.  As more French‑Canadian families arrived - often travelling in extended groups, as was their custom - the Catholic population grew quickly.  By 1887, more than 376 Catholics were registered at Sainte‑Anne‑des‑Pins.

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From this mother parish, the Jesuits travelled tirelessly across the region.  Father Nolin ministered to Sudbury and the northern rail line, Father Côté journeyed eastward, and Father Santerre travelled west along the Algoma Mills branch.  Their missionary routes laid the foundations for every Catholic community that would later emerge in the Sudbury Basin. 

 

As mining expanded and new settlements formed, the Catholic population spread westward into Copper Cliff, Creighton Mine, Lively, and Whitefish.  The distances were long, the winters harsh, and the need for local churches became increasingly urgent.  From Sainte‑Anne‑des‑Pins - the spiritual wellspring - grew three daughter parishes that would shape the faith life of the western Sudbury Basin for more than a century.

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St. Stanislaus

The first of these was St. Stanislaus Kostka in Copper Cliff, founded between 1900 and 1908.  Even before its formal establishment, Copper Cliff residents appeared in Sainte‑Anne’s sacramental registers as early as 1887.  The booming mines attracted a large Polish population, along with Italian, Croatian, and other European immigrants who longed for a church of their own. 

 

St. Stanislaus became their spiritual anchor - a place where Mass was celebrated in familiar languages, where cultural traditions were preserved, and where families found comfort and community in a new land.  In 1908, its pastor, Father Louis Ragaru, extended the parish’s reach by founding the Saint‑Michel‑Archange Mission in Creighton Mine, further strengthening the network of Catholic life west of Sudbury.  St. Stanislaus remains the oldest of our three churches and the first to grow from the mother parish of Sainte‑Anne‑des‑Pins.

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St. Pius X

Half a century later, as the post‑war era reshaped the region, a second daughter parish emerged.  St. Pius X in Lively, established in 1953, grew alongside the development of a new mining town built to house young families.  The church quickly became a lively centre of worship and community life.

 

Its history is marked by resilience: after a tornado in the early 1970s, the church hall became a community dining centre; in 1987, a devastating fire forced parishioners to gather in a high school cafeteria until repairs were completed.  That same year, the closure of Creighton Mine brought the people of St. Michael’s into the St. Pius X community, along with their bell and treasured artifacts.  In the 2010s, when mould temporarily forced the closure of the original church building, the parish once again adapted, celebrating Mass at St. James Catholic School while planning for a new worship space.  Through every challenge, St. Pius X remained a place of welcome, strength, and community spirit.

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St. Christopher

To the west, in the quiet rural landscape of Whitefish, a third daughter parish took shape.  St. Christopher Catholic Church, established in the 1950s–60s, was built to serve families living beyond the main mining centres.  Modest in size and simple in design, the church became a peaceful gathering place for rural households who had long travelled to Copper Cliff or Lively for Mass.  Over time, the parish embraced a deep devotion to the Divine Mercy, and the church became widely known as Divine Mercy Church - a name that reflects the gentle, prayerful character of the community it serves.

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Though each church grew from different circumstances - immigration in Copper Cliff, post‑war expansion in Lively, and rural settlement in Whitefish - all three share a common origin in the missionary work of the Jesuits and the mother parish of Sainte‑Anne‑des‑Pins.  Their histories are intertwined, shaped by the same forces: the growth of the mining industry, the arrival of new families, the challenges of northern life, and the enduring desire for a place to worship, celebrate, and belong.

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Dr. Fr. John Suresh

Today, these three churches stand united as one parish family within the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie.  Their stories, once separate, now form a single narrative of faith and community.  And guiding this parish family is a pastor whose own story adds a new and vibrant chapter to this long heritage.

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Dr. Fr. John Suresh brings to our parish a remarkable blend of scholarship, pastoral experience, and global perspective.  With advanced degrees in theology, psychology, sociology, and human development, he has served as a professor, counsellor, parish priest, and advocate for vulnerable children.  His ministry has taken him across continents, from bustling cities to rural villages, from university classrooms to prison chapels.  His pastoral style - warm, attentive, and gently humorous - fits beautifully with the character of our three churches.  He often describes our parish with the phrase:

“Una parochia, tria corda (templa) ut unum” — One parish, three hearts (churches) as one.

It is more than a motto.  It is his vision for a community where every person is welcomed, every story matters, and every church contributes its own unique heartbeat to the life of the parish.

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Together, St. Stanislaus, St. Pius X, and St. Christopher/Divine Mercy continue the mission begun in 1883: to proclaim the Gospel, to welcome all who seek a spiritual home, and to carry forward the legacy of the people who built these communities with courage, devotion, and hope.

 

Their story is our story - a living heritage that continues to grow with every person who walks through our doors.