WINNIPEG, ARCHDIOCESE OF. - Winnipeg is a city in the province of Manitoba (Canada). The archdiocese covers a territory located southwest of Manitoba.
In 1951, Winnipeg had 70,815 Catholics, 67 diocesan priests, 62 religious (7 different Congregations), 68 parishes, and 80 mission chapels.
The first priest to visit the region briefly was Fr. Clodius Godfrey Coquart, S.J. Then in 1818, priests from Québec, Joseph Norbert Provencher and Severe Dumoulin, settled in St. Boniface, on the opposite bank of the Red River (Rivière Rouge).
The development of Winnipeg began with colonization in 1862. The first Mass celebrated on the territory of the city was said by Abp. Alexandre Taché on 15 June 1869, on the occasion of the opening of a Catholic convent, where Fr. J. McCarthy began to exercise public ministry. In 1874, the parish church-residence Sainte-Marie was blessed and entrusted to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate on 3 May 1875. On 8 December 1882, Abp. Taché inaugurated a second church, the Church of the Immaculate Conception, entrusted to Abp. Cherrier. The Archdiocese of Winnipeg was created by Pope Benedict XV, without suffragan sees, on 4 December 1915. The first bishop was Abp. Alfred Arthur Sinnott.