St-Loyola Parish / St. Ignace
Established aroound 1810
First Church 1873
First pastor 1887
Although the Deportation of the Acadians in 1755 carried a hard blow to the Acadian population, it nurtured a renewed ardour and fervour in the great settler Msgr. Marcel François Richard. Aware that there were several small colonies burgeoning around St-Louis, he submitted to Bishop Rodgers, in 1873, a request to establish a new parish named Saint-Ignace-de-Loyola. Bishop Rodgers accepted the request of the pastor of Saint-Louis on August 8, 1873.
As soon as permission was granted by Bishop Rodgers, construction started and on August 31, Bishop Rodgers himself celebrated the first Mass and blessed the corner stone of the church St-Ignace-de-Loyola. All religious services were presided by the pastors of St-Louis parish.
It is only on September 29, 1887, that Saint-Ignace welcomed its first pastor, Reverend A. Bérubé. The parish of St-Ignace flourished with vitality. In 1891, the first rectory was built and on July 16, 1910, a new grotto, in honour of Ste-Ann, was built near the river. On October 22, 1910, Rev. Father Antoine, Trappist, blessed the first bell. It was on June 1, 1921, that the Bishop of Chatham, Patrice Alexandre Chiasson, proceeded to the blessing of the Cavalry.
In 1947, the parish of St-Ignace purchased a church chime with three bells blessed by Msgr. Norbert Robichaud during a religious ceremony. They were named: Ignace, Marie, Anne. A couple of years later, the school of St-Ignace will also be blessed.
The parish of St-Ignace largely contributed to the faith and Christian development of the Moncton Diocese. It produced many priests and religious of whom: Father Camille Johnson and our current Bishop André Richard. Numerous families gave either a daughter or a son to the Church. In total, we can count 7 priests, 4 brothers, 15 religious women and 3 oblates.
In 1958 arrived the Oblate Sisters who took the administration of the school. Education played an important role in this small community. Unfortunately, the church that was the pride of the faithful, was hit by lightning and destroyed on July 21, 1961. While waiting for the construction of a new church, the parishioners held their religious services in the basement of the village school. Rev. Father Irois Després supervised the construction of the new church which finally welcomed its parishioners as early as 1964.
Although a certain religious vitality seems to have declined, the pride of the parish remains. Countless volunteers maintain services to the community and many lay persons help the pastors in their numerous tasks.