History

About St. Patrick's

 

Our parish was born in 1909 – the same year, incidentally, that 9th Avenue in Vancouver was officially renamed Broadway.

 

The Oblates were tasked with establishing the new church, which opened in February of 1910 – on the site of the old Vancouver Tannery. Brewery Creek used to run through the church property but during the First World War, it, along with parts of False Creek, were filled. The church itself was situated along East 12th Avenue, next to the elementary school.

 

By one account, the parish got off to an “unpromising” start. In its first seven years, it went through seven different pastors! Parishioners felt so disheartened, they petitioned the bishop to close it down.

 

Then came Fr. Louis Forget in 1917 (after whom the parish’s Forget Memorial Tower, was named.) He would be an agent of change and of many successes.

 

First, he tackled the parish debt. Then he raised money, through excursions as far away as California, to build an elementary school.

 

By 1922, the school was built and the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Toronto accepted Fr. Forget’s invitation to staff the school. A convent was built for them in 1927, on the north side of 12th Avenue – a house that’s still standing but now empty.

 

A secondary school would soon follow, in 1938, built with money from Fr. Forget’s inheritance.

 

Fr. Forget  remained pastor at St. Patrick’s until 1960 – an amazing 43 years! In that time, he was elevated to ‘Monsignor,’ paved the way for the establishment of Mount Saint Joseph Hospital and saw to it the high school got its auditorium (another place that now bears his name).

 

Through those years, the congregation was predominantly Irish. Parishioners’ names reflected that reality – Flanagan, O’Flynn, McAreavey, McGuiness.  But in the 70s, the composition began to change –with Filipino immigrants.

 

The ‘70s brought a wave of fundraising, to address the now-deteriorating church and to keep the schools afloat. And it was a time of great challenge for the greater church, as it grappled with the fallout from Vatican II and  declining church attendance.

 

That’s when the parish welcomed another great leader – Fr. William Sommerville,  who would be at the helm for 16 years. Back then, parishioners were responsible for keeping the schools financially viable – which was a huge burden. Under his guidance, the secondary school became a regional school and it also capitalized on changing government policies, allowing independent schools to apply for funding.

 

The church itself was in poor shape. The fact that it had been built basically on top of Brewery Creek was beginning to show. The southeast corner of the building began to sag. Fundraising took on a high priority.

 

Fr. Sommerville suffered a sudden illness in 1995, and he was replaced by Fr. Don Larson. Fr. Larson made a brand new church his goal – but the plans were plagued by delays and setbacks (some related to the fact that the new church was to occupy a spot where a gas station once sat). A new church was finally completed in 2002, but by that time Fr. had set his sights on another project – a parish recreation centre, which was opened two years later.

 

In 2005, the parish welcomed Fr. Vincent Hawkswell, who started JJ’s Kitchen – to provide Saturday morning meals to the less fortunate. He brought back religious sisters to the congregation (who had left in 1995), he saw that the parish debts were paid off, and he began another construction project – a multi-storey rectory, that is now attached to the south side of the church.

 

With facilities built, the next, and latest era, led by Fr. James Hughes could be considered one of “community building” and evangelization. He is our current pastor, having joined us in 2013.  Under his leadership, he has introduced annual tennis tournaments, makes sure we have a lively presence at Main Street Car Free Days, and has launched ‘Dinner with 12’ –  get-togethers meant for families to host clergy for meals. He has established leadership summit meetings, and put a focus on young adult ministry and adult faith formation.

 

His style of evangelization even made news headlines, when he invited the community to a boxing extravaganza! The gym was packed in 2015 for a live viewing of a boxing championship, featuring  Filipino athlete, Manny ‘PacMan’ Pacquiao.

 

With a parish this size, there are always things to oversee – like the installation of the large pipe organ that you see on the church loft, in 2013. Father initiated the naming of all of the parish spaces and is updating our sound system.

 

And last, but not least, he’s steering the parish in the new digital era. He is responsible for the look of this website and is an enthusiastic user of Instagram!