Archdiocese of Edmonton


The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Edmonton is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese in the Canadian civil province of Alberta and the seat of its metropolitan archbishop is at St. Joseph Cathedral, a minor basilica in Edmonton. The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Edmonton is the metropolitan see of its ecclesiastical province, which also contains two suffragan dioceses: the Dioceses of Calgary and Saint Paul, Alberta|Saint Paul in Alberta].
From 2007 to 2025, Bishop Richard W. Smith served as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Edmonton, having been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI. On Saturday, July 14, 2012, an official news release from Vatican Information Service, an arm of the Holy See Press Office, stated that Pope Benedict XVI had appointed Gregory Bittman, who until then had been serving as the Judicial Vicar and as Archdiocesan Chancellor, as an Auxiliary Bishop of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Edmonton and Titular Bishop of Caltadria. On February 6, 2018, Pope Francis appointed him the seventh Bishop of the Diocese of Nelson in southeastern British Columbia. He left the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Edmonton and took possession of the Diocese of Nelson on April 25 that same year. Archbishop Smith was appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Vancouver on February 25, 2025. On November 21, 2025, Pope Leo XIV announced the appointment of Stephen A. Hero as the eighth Metropolitan Archbishop of Edmonton. Hero will be installed as metropolitan archbishop on January 23, 2026 at St. Joseph's Basilica.

Ecclesiastical province

The Ecclesiastical province has the following suffragan sees:

History

Established on 22 September 1871 as the Diocese of St Albert, on territory split off from the then Diocese of Saint-Boniface, to which it lost territory again in 1889
Promoted on 1912.11.30 as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Edmonton / Edmontonen, having lost territory to establish the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary as its first suffragan.
Lost territory again on 1948.07.17 to establish the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Paul, Alberta, which became its second suffragan.
It enjoyed a Papal visit from Pope John Paul II in September 1984.
The Archdiocese of Edmonton was later criticized for its handling of sex abuse allegations against Rev. Patrick O'Neill and was sued by one of O'Neil's alleged victims in 2012.
From March 28 to April 1, 2022, a delegation of 32 Indigenous Elders, knowledge keepers, residential school survivors, and youth – as well as support staff – journeyed together from across the country to meet with Pope Francis, accompanied by a small group of Canadian Bishops. Metis, Inuit and First Nations delegations met with the Pope over three days. The delegation was supported by Archbishop Richard Smith on the Archdiocese of Edmonton's behalf.
Their visit to Rome concluded in a final audience with Pope Francis on April 1 with all three Indigenous groups. At that time, the Pope made an historic apology for the Church's role in the residential school system, and promised to come to Canada to apologize on Canadian soil. During that encounter, Pope Francis said he was very sorry during his Final Audience with all the Indigenous delegates:
"I also feel shame … sorrow and shame for the role that a number of Catholics, particularly those with educational responsibilities, have had in all these things that wounded you, and the abuses you suffered and the lack of respect shown for your identity, your culture and even your spiritual values. For the deplorable conduct of these members of the Catholic Church, I ask for God's forgiveness and I want to say to you with all my heart, I am very sorry. And I join my brothers, the Canadian bishops, in asking your pardon."
His Holiness said it was his hope to visit Canada “soon” and possibly “in the days” around the Feast of St. Anne, which is on July 26. This date was chosen by Pope Francis because the Lac Ste Anne Pilgrimage has been a traditional place of gathering for Indigenous peoples, and is also the largest annual Catholic gathering in Western Canada. First called Wakamne or God's Lake by the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation who live on the west end of the Lake, and Manito Sahkahigan or Spirit Lake by the Cree, Lac Ste Anne, about 75 km northwest of Edmonton, is the site of the annual pilgrimage, one of the most unique and memorable spiritual gatherings in North America. This choice thus demonstrated Pope Francis' intent to help reconcile indigenous and settler populations, respecting both cultures simultaneously.
Pope Francis then visited sites across the Archdiocese of Edmonton:
  • Sunday, 24 July 2022: Arrival and welcome at Edmonton International Airport
  • Monday, 25 July 2022: Meeting with indigenous peoples: First nations, Métis and Inuit at Maskwacis, and meeting with indigenous peoples and members of the Parish Community of Sacred Heart at Edmonton
  • Tuesday, 26 July 2022: Holy Papal Mass at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton and participation in the Lac Ste. Anne Pilgrimage and Liturgy of the Word at the Lac Ste. Anne
In August 2023, a former student of St. Mary's Salesian Junior High School, Stephen Bounds, filed a lawsuit claiming he was groomed and sexually assaulted as a 12-year-old by a teacher, Marc Desjardins, in the 1980s. Bounds says he asked for "protection" from the school's acting principal, Father Stephen Whelan, who instead "chastised" Bounds for making the allegation of assault. Whelan himself had previously been accused of sexual abuse when he was vice-principal of a California Salesian high school in the 1970s. A year later, three other men came forward with allegations of sexual abuse at the school.

Diocesan episcopate

;Suffragan Bishops of Edmonton
;Metropolitan Archbishops of Edmonton
;Coadjutor bishops
;Auxiliary bishop
;Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

Statistics and extent

The archdiocese covers Central Alberta, Edmonton Capital Region and the middle and upper half of the Alberta's Rockies region. The Archdiocese includes the greater Edmonton area but also covers a geographic region stretching from the Rocky Mountains in the west to the Saskatchewan boundary in the east, from Olds in the south to Grande Cache in the north.
It acknowledges that the Archdiocese is situated on traditional lands, parts of which are within Treaty 6, Treaty 7 and Treaty 8 territories of the Alexander First Nation, Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, Enoch Cree Nation, Ermineskin Cree Nation, Louis Bull Tribe, Montana First Nation, O’Chiese First Nation, Paul First Nation, Samson Cree Nation, and Sunchild First Nation. Mass is celebrated in at least 16 different languages, including Cree, French, Spanish, Polish, Chinese, Croatian, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Italian, Hungarian, Korean, Latin, Sudanese, and American Sign Language.
As of 2020, it pastorally served 436,792 Catholics on 150,000 km² in 122 parishes and missions with 126 priests, 40 permanent deacons, 163 religious sisters, 8 religious brothers, 5 members of lay institutes, 15 lay missionaries and 12 seminarians.

Edmonton parishes

  • Annunciation
  • Assumption
  • Corpus Christi
*
*
  • Mary Help of Christians
  • Nativity of Mary
*
  • Our Lady of Good Help, Maronite Catholic Community
  • Our Lady of Guadalupe
  • Our Lady of Loretto
*
*
*
  • St. Dominic Savio
  • St. Edmund
  • St. Emeric
  • St. Joachim
  • St. John Bosco
*
*
  • St. Joseph's College Chapel
  • St. Jung Ha Sang
  • Santa Maria Goretti
  • St. Mark's Catholic Community of the Deaf
  • St. Matthew
*
  • St. Thomas d'Aquin
*
  • Vital Grandin Chaplaincy

Rural parishes

  • Lac Ste. Anne
Bashaw
Beaumont
  • St. Vital
Camrose
  • St. Francis Xavier
Devon
  • St. Maria Goretti
Drayton Valley
  • St. Anthony
Edson
  • Sacred Heart
Enoch
  • Our Lady of Mercy
  • St. Alexander Mission
Evansburg
  • St. Elizabeth
Fort Saskatchewan
  • Our Lady of the Angels
Gibbons
  • Sacred Heart
Grande Cache
  • Holy Cross
Hinton
  • Our Lady of the Foothills
Innisfail
  • Our Lady of Peace
Jasper
Killam
  • Killiam-Daysland-Heisler
Lacombe
  • St. Stephen
Leduc
*
Lloydminster
  • St. Anthony
Ma-Me-O-Beach
  • St. Theresa
Maskwacis
  • Our Lady of Seven Sorrows
Mayerthorpe
  • St. Agnes
Onoway
  • St. Rose of Lima
Olds
*
Ponoka
  • St. Augustine
Provost
  • St. Mary
Red Deer
  • Sacred Heart
  • St. Mary's
Rocky Mountain House
  • St. Matthew
Rimbey
  • St. Margaret
St. Albert
  • Holy Family
  • St. Albert Francophone Community
  • St. Albert
  • St. Peter, Villeneuve
Stettler
  • Christ - King
Spruce Grove
*
Sherwood Park
  • Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Sylvan Lake
  • Our Lady of the Assumption
Thorsby
Trochu
  • St. Anne of the Prairies
Wetaskiwin
  • Sacred Heart
Wainwright
*
Vermilion
Vegreville
  • St. Martin of Tours

Education

The following school districts operate Catholic schools within the boundaries of the Archdiocese:
  • Conseil scolaire Centre-Nord
  • East Central Alberta Catholic Schools
  • Edmonton Catholic Schools
  • Evergreen Catholic Schools
  • Elk Island Catholic Schools
  • Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools
  • Living Waters Catholic Schools
  • Lloydminster Catholic Schools
  • Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools
  • St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Schools

Archdiocesan Media

The Western Catholic Reporter was a weekly newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada that covered the Catholic religion.
The newspaper was owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton. Its declared mission was to serve its readers by helping them deepen their faith through accurate information and reflective commentary on events and issues of concern to the Church.
The Reporter closed in 2016 and was replaced by the news website . Grandin Media lasted until the website was shut down in early 2024. All stories from the Grandin Media website were then transferred on to the Archdiocesan website, .