Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church still stands after wildfires tragically devastated the township of Jasper, Alta., and the adjoining and renowned Jasper National Park of Canada for nearly a week late last month.

Fr. Anthony Narisetty, the parish pastor for over six years, expressed relief at the news. He also recognized the emotional pain the inferno, which desolated over 30 per cent of the town’s structures, is inflicting on Jasper’s population of over 5,000 residents.

“It is so sad to see members of our community losing their homes and for other denominations like (St. Mary and St. George Anglican Parish) who lost their church,” said Narisetty. “We are thankful to God that our church is still standing, but we are heartbroken for others too.”

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Edmonton Archbishop Richard Smith acknowledged the importance of Our Lady of Lourdes in a statement issued July 25. The blaze began razing entire streets and neighbourhoods the previous evening.

“The parish is a place where Catholics have gathered for more than five decades to worship and adore Jesus Christ,” wrote Smith. “It is a place of sanctity not only for the close-knit parish community but for people from around the world who come to visit Jasper and marvel at God’s creation.”

As of The Catholic Register’s press deadline, neither Parks Canada nor Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland’s office had indicated when it might be safe for Jasperites to return. Beginning on Aug. 4, the Alberta Emergency Management Agency organized bus tours to allow evacuees whose homes were damaged or destroyed to see the carnage firsthand.

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Though the exterior of Our Lady of Lourdes dodged harm, the ongoing evacuation order prevents parish officials from entering the house of worship to examine if the interior suffered damage by smoke or other pollutants.

On July 29, the Jasper Emergency Advisory Committee established criteria to guide the municipality in executing a re-entry plan. The two most important provisions are that Parks Canada must declare the wildfire is no longer an imminent threat to the townsite and all hazards must be “secured or mitigated.” Afterwards, emergency services such as fire, police and EMS must be restored to a basic level of operation along with other critical services such as municipal public works and utilities. Vital retail outlets, particularly grocery stores, banks and gas stations, must also function before residents return wholesale.

With liturgical services remaining cancelled indefinitely, affected Catholics have been encouraged to attend Mass at Our Lady of the Foothills Church in Hinton, Holy Cross Parish in Grande Cache or Our Lady of the Rockies Church in Susa Creek. These Catholic communities have stepped up to provide the essential needs of food, shelter, clothing and hygiene products.

Meanwhile, every Edmonton archdiocese member parish continues to offer Mass intentions on behalf of people impacted by the fire, first responders and others who are stepping up to assist the Jasper evacuees.

The wildfire at Jasper National Park remains classified as “out-of-control” by Alberta Wildfire. Nearly 2,000 firefighters — including reinforcement personnel from Mexico, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and New Zealand — have been contending with the fiery menace raging across Alberta in recent weeks.  

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It was announced on Aug. 3 that a falling tree killed a 24-year-old firefighter in Jasper National Park. He was airlifted by the STARS air ambulance, but he did not survive. RCMP revealed that the man was an Alberta Wildland Fire employee from Rocky Mountain House.

Extinguishing the blaze in the national park and restoring its magic park for visiting tourists is considered an essential objective from Our Lady of Lourdes' perspective, considering this parish’s long-standing tradition of attracting out-of-town guests during the summer months.