One parish in the Archdiocese of Toronto is taking step to relight the torch for Venerable Bishop Frederic Baraga.

Perhaps best known as “the Snowshoe Priest" for braving blizzards to serve Ojibwe communities in the mid-1800s, his identity as a venerable is once again being amplified to make his legacy of compassion and advocacy a living inspiration for Indigenous reconciliation in our time. 

With the hopes of reminding the faithful of a largely forgotten Catholic missionary, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church is hosting the first of its Ontario Baraga Day events on Jan. 25. Marking the anniversary weekend of Baraga's death and burial in 1868, parishioners are being invited to celebrate Mass to honour the missionary, followed by a fellowship lunch and screenings of two documentaries about the bishop’s life and work with the Ojibwe and Ottawa nations on LakesSuperior and Michigan.

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Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, a Slovenian parish, has long held a deep respect for the Slovenian missionary hero. As recalled by Fr. Leopold Valant, buses packed full of parishioners on annual pilgrimages to the bishop’s missionary sites were once commonplace. 

“Unfortunately, many believe that those beautiful times are gone. It is true that in recent years, only a handful of people still attend Baraga Days in September. Perhaps because we are convinced that we all already know Baraga, or perhaps because we have given up, because we feel that nothing is moving forward in the beatification process,” he wrote in a recent parish bulletin. 

It’s a reality felt too by Rose Nesich, a parish office coordinator. She shared with The Catholic Register that the dwindling interest in pilgrimages to Baraga Days across the American Midwest, and in Baraga’s story in general, among young people, were a direct influence on bringing commemorations back to their local parish. 

“ Naturally we're proud of his Slovenian heritage, but the awareness of this missionary and his work is not realized by so many. We just want to continue to bring awareness about him and his works, and they are immense,” she said. 

Through his extensive work alongside the Ojibwe nation, Baraga has been notable for creating a positive-leaning counter-narrative amid negativity so often seen in more recent Church-Indigenous relations. To many, he exemplifies compassionate evangelism, advocacy and respect, and remains increasingly relevant to modern reconciliation efforts by modelling bridge-building with Indigenous communities, comparable to that of the Canadian Martyrs in missionary zeal despite different outcomes.  

As Valant mentions in his note to parishioners, distinct differences exist between the many missionaries who worked with Indigenous communities, in contrast to how Baraga did. Baraga learned the Ojibwe language fluently through immersion and urged other missionaries to do the same, while authoring the first Ojibwe dictionary and grammar in addition to prayer books and catechisms initially titled in Ojibwe and Ottawa dialects. He was also a notable proponent of land advocacy, urging Ojibwe families to stay together and integrating cultures, such as continuing to permit traditional grave houses for Ojibwe converts with an added cross on top rather than forbidding the practice altogether. 

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It’s the compassionate aspect of the Indigenous people through his missionary work that remains unforgettable even more than a century later to communities that have come to honour him. 

“ I'm constantly learning about him, and even when I think I have heard it all, I hear something new.  All the records are amazing — he would travel for days for the Anointing of the Sick.  I do not want to downplay some of the horrible things that happened (through Indigenous missionary work), but some good came from it too, and we need to share and remember that as well,” Nesich said.

The Jan. 25 event is also part of a renewed push for Baraga’s canonization, having been declared venerable by Pope Benedict XVI in May 2012, after a cause was opened in 1952 by Bishop Thomas Lawrence Noa. With his canonization process beginning in 1973, Valant hopes this month's event will act as a new, further push for beatification while Rome investigates his attributed miracles.

“Why has Baraga not yet been declared a saint? Perhaps because we have abandoned him. Perhaps because we do not believe enough,” he wrote in the parish bulletin. “Let us persevere and spread devotion to Baraga. (He) is a candidate for sainthood for the universal Church, not just for our parish or for Slovenians.” 

Even then, the love for Baraga and his storied mission work is sure to continue. 

“ A lot of our people are caught by the thought of how it may be taking so long for him to become a saint, but it doesn't stop once he is. We still need to talk about him and share his good works that still need to be told for his memory to go on. It doesn’t stop once it becomes a saint,” Nesich said. 

For further event details, visit archtoronto.org.

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