Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Mar 29/02) - Bishop Denis Croteau visited Inuvik last week to discuss new community growth with the parish council, meet the congregation and say Palm Sunday mass.

Croteau was the priest in Inuvik for 10 years and many of the parishioners still call him "Father." He returned to the Igloo Church as part of his annual visit, but also to discuss plans for the growing community.

Inuvik has been without a full-time priest for over four years, but the bishop says that may soon change.

"We are in the process is getting prepared for a new breath of life," the Bishop said. "I came to dream the dream of what this parish should be."

He is recruiting a new priest that will be in residence in Inuvik, but will serve the whole Delta.

"I hope within a year, we will have a priest here," Bishop Croteau said.

He says it's been a difficult task finding the right candidate for the job, because they need a priest who is willing to work with lay people, travel and to delegate the ministries.

"You don't find them very easily."

There is a priest coming to Inuvik from Ontario on June 2, who will stay for the month and perhaps longer.

"He'll come just to have a look to see if he can do the job and if he is agreeable and people like him, he will come back in September for four months," he said.

Bishop Croteau was ordained a Catholic priest in 1960 and in 1986 he was consecrated as a bishop. One of his first decisions was to close Grollier Hall in Inuvik.

"I told the government that I would not renew the contract in 1987," he said. "We no longer had the staff and there was no religion."

"It was my conviction while I was a priest here," he added. "We were not free to operate as a religious institution."

When the Anglican school, Stringer Hall was closed in 1975, the Anglican students were moved in with the Catholics.

"You don't want to impose your views on another group, so we were neutralized that way."

Since then, the church has slowly been rebuilding, with the help of lay people and volunteers the faith has kept the doors of the Lady of Victory open, but Croteau says the long-term plans require more.

"The hope is to get a priest who will come here and stay for 10 years," he said.