Catholic Oblate missionaries say goodbye to the Yukon

They were the first Catholic missionaries to arrive in the Yukon. They built churches and rectories in the most remote corners of the territory, but as of this week, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate are gone from the Yukon.

Their last building — the Oblate Centre in downtown Whitehorse — is sold.

"It does represent, in a literal way, the end of an era," says Michael Dougherty, the last resident to vacate the Oblate Centre.

"This is the end of [the Oblates’] formal presence in the Yukon… It’s a history that stretches back to the gold rush era,… so 117 years of Oblate history."

The building was once a retirement home for Yukon’s Oblate priests, but as their numbers dwindled, other non-Oblates were invited to rent the small apartments. Dougherty has been there for more than a decade and he has fond memories of his former housemates.

"The stories that were told around the common room, over a glass of wine and hors d'oeuvres on a Friday night were pretty impressive," he says.

"Stories of being stuck, leaving too late to get back down the Pelly River, and being stuck in floe ice… the adventures and very, very rich history."    

The Oblates were pioneers. Many of them arrived in the Yukon with little or no back-country skills or experience. They had to quickly learn to drive dog teams, hunt, trap, and build log churches and rectories. They packed their sacred vessels to some of Yukon’s most remote settlements and outposts, saying mass before anyone who would listen.

"At one time, the number of priests in the Yukon was 28, when I came in ‘74. There were priests in every place, and in some places, two priests," says Father Jim Bleackley of the Oblates.

He served in Yukon for more than 30 years, before moving to Ottawa last year.

"It’s not as it once was, that’s for sure."

Bleackley agrees that the sale of the Oblate Centre in Whitehorse closes a chapter in the territory’s — and the Oblates’ — history. But he says it’s no surprise; the writing’s been on the wall for a while.

"We knew that there would come a time when we would no longer use the building," says Bleackley.

"Then we would put it up on the market and sell it. We just got to a point where our older guys,… most had died. So we no longer needed it," says Bleackley.

The Oblates say the building has been sold to the Yukon government. It’s not clear how it will be used. The government has not responded to calls.

'We’re into a renewal process'

The sale comes at a time when the Oblates are struggling to redefine their role in Canada. Historically, their mission work has focused on the frontiers of settlement and development. A century ago, that frontier was Canada’s North. Today, the frontier is gone. There’s nowhere left to go in Canada.

"Right now we’re into a renewal process," says Bleackley.

"Our financial resources and personnel resources are dwindling. We’re looking at, as Oblates across Canada, what ministry can we do well for the next six to nine years? The foundation work is​ done. Building a church, gathering a community, that’s done. The harder part now for most Northern bishops is to find personnel, priests to serve in those areas."

The Yukon has no resident Oblates any more. There are still two in the Northwest Territories and a few in Nunavut. Have stories of abuse at residential schools, and in First Nations communities, made it harder to recruit?  

"I think most likely it has," says Bleackley.

"There’s sad tales, no question," says Dougherty. "One doesn’t want to gloss over those very ignominious chapters in church history in the Yukon.  But at the same time, we don’t want to minimize at all the real contribution that the majority of these people made."

"A lot of the Oblates who were here accompanied people in that massive transition between a traditional way of life and the way of life now, in the more settled communities."

Father Bleackley says even though the Oblates are effectively gone from the Yukon, it’s clear they’ve left a permanent mark and he says the Yukon has left its mark on the Oblates.

"As we like to say to people, we’re missionaries. Our task is to come and build the church and eventually move on. We’ve been there a long time and it will always have a special place in our hearts," he says.