A venture north into Canada may not be the top of most visitor’s bucket list. But the city of Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba, deserves serious consideration. It is within a day’s drive of Fargo, Grand Forks, and Minneapolis and offers a plethora of unique experiences: seeing the polar bears up close at the Assiniboine Park Zoo, indulging in Native American art and culinary treasures, seeing the spectacular beauty of the two rivers converging in the heart of Winnipeg at the Forks, and experiencing the fullness of the seasons skating along one of the world’s longest frozen river trails. It is even the birthplace of Winnie the Pooh!
Signature Winnipeg experiences include touring the first museum in the world dedicated to human rights – the Canadian Human Rights Museum (which includes an exhibit on the Polish Solidarity movement at the end of the Cold War, as a movement assisted by the courageous efforts of St. John Paul II) – seeing how coins are manufactured while touring the Royal Canadian Mint, taking in a performance of the world-famous Royal Winnipeg Ballet, witnessing the excitement of NHL hockey at a Winnipeg Jets’ game, or touring jets from a bygone era at the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada.
For Catholic travelers, Winnipeg provides a fascinating window into the life of the eastern Catholic Church. Long a haven for Ukrainian Catholics who sought to establish a foothold in the New World, the city boasts several beautiful Ukrainian churches as well as a shrine to a courageous bishop who was persecuted in Soviet Russia, exiled to Winnipeg and has now been beatified. Winnipeg also played a critical role in the evangelization of north western Canada and the U.S., with missionary activity based in Winnipeg reaching all the way out to Oregon and as far as north as the Canadian Arctic.
Ukrainian Catholic Heritage
The majority of the Ukrainians who settled in Winnipeg in the late nineteenth century came from the predominantly Catholic regions of western Ukraine. Although they received pastoral care from the Roman Catholic priests already established in Winnipeg, it was not an idyllic beginning. The Ukrainians longed to preserve the eastern rite liturgy and to have access to secular (married) priests, as they were used to back home. However, the Vatican and the Roman hierarchy in Canada at the time banned married priests. Although the early Ukrainians succeeded after much lobbying to get a Ukrainian bishop named to Winnipeg and a separate eparchy (diocese) created, they had to wait over forty years until after the end of the Second World War until the ban on married eastern rite priests was lifted!
The beautiful treasures of the eastern rite – its liturgy, traditions and sacred artwork – is well preserved today in the Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral of Sts. Vladimir & Olga, named for two Ukrainian royal saints. Here the story of the Ukrainian Catholic church is beautifully portrayed in the stained glass windows that line the nave. They depict 12 distinct events in the history of Catholic Ukraine and the windows in the sanctuary depict two of the martyred princes of the Ukraine as well as the two founders of Ukrainian monasticism.
Another landmark church, in northeast Winnipeg, is the Holy Eucharistic Ukrainian Catholic Church, with its distinctive onion shaped domes filling the neighborhood skyline. This parish gained media attention earlier this year when it set up a perogy hotline and parishioners came together to sell perogies to raise funds for humanitarian relief in Ukraine.
Canada’s Second Martyrs’ Shrine
A short ten minute drive from the cathedral is the Shrine of Blessed Vasyl Velchkovsky, located inside St. Joseph Ukrainian Catholic Church.
Blessed Vasyl was a Ukrainian-born Redemptorist missionary in western Ukrainian town at the time of the Soviet occupation during the Second World War.
Blessed Vasyl was arrested following the war and coerced into converting to Russian orthodoxy. He refused to convert, was ultimately given a death sentence and was on death row in a Soviet prison for some time. While there, he converted many of the other prisoners. Just before his scheduled execution, his sentence was commuted and he was sentenced to ten years in a labor camp, mostly working in coal mines above the Arctic Circle. After serving his sentence, he was secretly ordained a bishop and eventually arrested again. In the early 1970s, he was released from Soviet prison, exiled from Ukraine, and invited to take up residence in Winnipeg.
Blessed Vasyl only lived one year in Canada before dying in Winnipeg in 1973; this was a martyr’s death from the aftereffects of his imprisonment and torture. He was among the Ukrainian martyrs beatified by St. John Paul II in 2001 and he was later named the patron saint of prison ministry by the head of the Greek-Ukrainian Catholic Church.
The shrine is open to pilgrims, where you can pray at the sarcaphagous of the blessed martyr and venerate his relics. There is also a small museum, which tells his story.
St. Boniface
Directly across the Red River from downtown Winnipeg is the french quarter of St. Boniface. This is an incredibly important historic site for Catholics on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border. The Catholic Church in western Canada was born here, with missionaries traveling west across the plains and Rockies all the way to the Pacific and north to the Arctic. The missionaries also traveled south. They were the first Catholic missionaries to reach the Dakota and Oregon Territories, and also served parts of northern Minnesota.
The most potent symbol remaining of this historic center of Catholicism are the ruins of what was once the largest church in the West, the Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Boniface, which burned to the ground in a 1968 fire. The stone facade is preserved and the new modern cathedral was built inside the perimeter of the ruins. It remains a popular attraction for visitors and a quiet place to participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The adjoining St. Boniface Heritage Gardens at the Bishop’s residence is also open to the public, and contains many monuments to the Catholic religious orders that helped settle the West. Further down the street is the Grey Nuns’ convent; operational for more than 100 years, it is now the St. Boniface Museum. Visitors can tour the interior, including the chapel.
The Cathedral Basilica has a special place among one of Canada’s distinct Indigenous communities: the Metis Nation. The Metis Nation was born in this area of the Red River Valley, the result of inter-marriages between the first European fur traders and First Nations who long inhabited the region. The mission that was established in St. Boniface played an important role in deepening the faith of the Metis peoples, providing them with access to sound doctrinal instruction, the sacraments, and a school system administered by the Grey Nuns of Montreal, whom the first bishop brought over from Quebec. The closeness of the Metis to the Catholic Church is eloquently captured inside the Cathedral; the statue of Mary in the sanctuary has her wearing moccasins and clothed in traditional Metis dress.
One of the most famous Metis Catholics to have grown up in the mission was Louis Riel. His faith and preservation of the Catholic school system was so important to him that he agitated and led popular rebellions to have constitutional clauses added when the province of Manitoba was established to protect the language and religious education rights of the people of Manitoba. His role was so critical that he is considered the father of Manitoba. In later years, he ended up on the wrong side of the Canadian Government and was ultimately executed for his role in leading rebellions seeking greater rights for his people. Louis Riel is buried in the cemetery of St. Boniface cathedral and the Riel House National Historic Site is also a popular destination for visitors to St. Boniface.
St. Boniface is well known as an outpost of French culture in an otherwise anglophone city. The neighborhood has retained many of its French charms, as well as restaurants and cafes serving up more traditional French dishes. Also in the neighborhood is Fort Gibraltar, which is a re-creation of a fort originally created by the Northwest Company, one of the two warring fur trading companies that were active in the region at the time the mission was established.
Experience Winter in its full glory
If you are looking for an authentic Canadian winter experience, Winnipeg and its surrounding communities off it all from engaging outdoor festivals to unique winter offerings like one of the world’s longest skateways and a Guiness Book of World Records winning snow maze.
The Festival du Voyageur – western Canada’s largest outdoor winter festival, occurs annually in St. Boniface in February and is dubbed the world’s largest kitchen party. It features everything from snow and ice sculptures and outdoor concerts, to sleigh rides and sampling maple taffy, all while indulging in the region’s unique Francophone culture.
Another popular option is to skate down the Nestawaya River Trail, one of the world’s longest skating trails; the best access point is at the Forks. Winnipeg is also home to the world’s largest snow maze (according to the Guiness Book of Records) at A Maze in Corn.
To get a slightly different take on winter, travel about an hour outside of Winnipeg to the town of Gimli. Settled by Icelandic immigrants, the town is rich in Norse traditions (fun fact: Manitoba is home to the largest Icelandic community outside of Iceland). Most notable is its annual Gimli ice festival, which includes everything from the requisite ice sculptures and frozen fish toss to car races on the ice.
If you really want to experience the authentic Canadian winter, you could also board the Via Train and take the 1,600 kilometer journey north to Churchill, Manitoba, to step out on the tundra and see the polar bears in their natural habitat. Churchill is the polar bear capital of the world, and also a fantastic spot for beluga whale watching and taking in the northern lights. This takes a considerable amount of commitment, as the train ride each way is about 48 hours. For those that invest the time and money, the experience is unforgettable.
What about Winnie the Pooh?
This article would not be complete without a reference to one of the most revered fictional characters of all time: Winnie the Pooh. The bear that inspired the story of Winnie the Pooh was from Winnipeg and brought back to England by the soldier who discovered him, kept on display in the London Zoo. The name “Winnie” was short for Winnipeg. This heritage is commemorated in a special pavilion and small museum that you can visit at the Assiniboine Park, celebrating all things Winnie the Pooh.
CATHOLIC CONCIERGE 
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