A Brief History of Our Parish

 The formation of Our Lady of Loretto parish took place over an extended period. In the mid 1930's a Jesuit missionary, Fr. Alexander MacDonald s.j. based at St. Andrews had a vision of creating a small church and a separate school in the Current River area. The area was largely comprised of an ethnic Roman Catholic community of Ukrainians, Greek Catholics, Croatians, French and Polish. St. Theresa's School was first used in 1932-1933, prior to that families walked to St. Andrew's Church. On behalf of the Sault St. Marie Diocese Father MacDonald purchased a Croatian Hall in 1937, turning it into a chapel. It eventually burned down and a bakery was built on the property and masses were celebrated in the basement. By 1950 the population of Current River grew significantly as major industries such as the Port Arthur Shipbuilding Company, Abitibi Provincial paper mills and the grain elevators drew families to the area. In 1950 Fr. Montag, became the first diocesan priest to serve the parish. In 1952 with the help of local parishioners, Father Montag began construction of the current day church, completing it in 1954.