By Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News
On the Feast of the Holy Family Dec. 28, St. Paul Co-Cathedral welcomed and blessed members of a recently-arrived family, which the parish sponsored through a refugee sponsorship agreement with the federal government coordinated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon’s Office of Migration.
It was a joyful conclusion to years of preparation, process, and waiting which began nearly five years earlier when a Saskatoon couple approached the Migration Office seeking to co-sponsor a friend named Alem, and her family, who were living in dire conditions in refugee camps in the Sudan desert after fleeing the deadly civil war in the Tigray region of Ethiopia .
The newly-arrived family was welcomed at both Sunday Masses at St. Paul Co-Cathedral Dec. 28. Fr. Stefano Penna (left) noted that the Feast Day which recalls the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt is an appropriate time to welcome another family that has also been displaced by violence and persecution. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)
Sponsorship history
Newly-arrived in Saskatoon, the sponsoring couple Roko and her husband Negasi had been helped by Alem years before when they themselves were refugees in Tigray.
In June 2021, after the diocesan Migration Office shared the story of Roko’s desire to help her friend Alem, sponsorship partners and donations were found to enable the co-sponsorship of both Alem’s family by Christ Church Anglican, Saskatoon, and a related family – Alem’s brother Goitom, his wife, and four children by St. Paul Co-Cathedral.
“They are models of – and united with – the Holy Family, who were displaced persons, who also had to journey to another country because of the politics in their home, like so many of our brothers and sisters today,” said St. Paul Co-Cathedral Pastor Fr. Stefano Penna at the beginning of Holy Eucharist on the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
Members of the recently-arrived Eritrean Orthodox Christian family were introduced at the end of Mass by Clement Ng of the parish’s recently formed refugee and resettlement committee, before the congregation sang a blessing over the newcomers.
Arrival in November
A welcoming group met the two families at the Saskatoon airport Nov. 4 – including representatives of both sponsoring congregations (St. Paul Co-Cathedral and Christ Church Anglican) as well as Roko and Rev. Dr. Jan Bigland-Pritchard, who facilitated the sponsorships as then-coordinator of the diocesan Office of Migration.
Alem and her brother Goitom and their two families were welcomed to Saskatoon Nov. 4. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)
Jan BIgland-Pritchard and Roko were at the airport to welcome the families Nov. 4. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)
“It has been a long time coming, and these families have been through so much. I was beyond delighted to see them striding into arrivals at the airport,” said Bigland-Pritchard, now retired from the diocesan position. “They remind me of the verse in the hymn Amazing Grace: ‘Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come,‘tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.’”
Two days after the families arrived, Bigland-Pritchard was a guest at the first traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony to be held at Alem’s new home and was also on hand for the sharing of a welcome cake at Goitom’s new home.
A coffee ceremony was held at Alem’s new home. (Photo by Rev. Dr. Jan Bigland-Pritchard)
Cutting a welcome-to-Canada cake. (Photo by Rev. Dr. Jan Bigland-Pritchard)
A welcome and blessing for family members was also held at Christ Church Anglican in November. (Submitted photo)
“The two families will continue to face many challenges in the days ahead, and continue to need our prayers,” she noted.
“I want to say a big thank you to everyone in the Catholic Pastoral Centre and the diocese who has helped make this new start possible with your vision, gifts and prayers, and to the two settlement teams from St. Paul’s Co-Cathedral and Christ Church Anglican who will continue to walk with the families during their settlement year,” said Bigland-Pritchard.
Need for support continues
“When we put out the call in 2021, the response was overwhelming. We had hoped to bring one family, but the response was such that we were able to bring two.”
At the same time, the need for support continues. “The budget that we asked for and raised back in 2021 is now less than enough to cover all the costs in 2025-26, due to a changing in housing availability and big increases in rent and food costs. Some top-up may be needed.”
Contact the individual parishes (St. Paul Co-Catheral at parish@stpaulcocathedral.ca or Christ Church Anglican at carlamburke@gmail.com) to donate or help with this sponsorship (if giving to help a named family, no tax receipt is possible).
For more information about refugee sponsorship and other ways to help, contact the diocesan Office of Migration at migration@rcdos.ca.
Donations in support of the Office of Migration in general can also be made through the Diocese of Saskatoon Catholic Foundation https://dscf.ca/designated-ministry-support/ and use the drop-down box to select “Refugee Aid – Office of Migration.”
Another recent arrival
Mebrehit (Mira), a single Tirayan woman who also fled the civil war in Ethiopia, was welcomed to Saskatoon Dec. 10, sponsored through St. Francis Xavier Parish and the diocese of Saskatoon’s role as Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH).
Waiting to welcome Mebrehit (Mira) at the Saskatoon airport Dec. 10. (Photo by Rev. Dr. Jan Bigland-Pritchard)
Mebrehit (Mira) was sponsored through St. Francis Xavier Parish in Saskatoon. (Photo by Rev. Dr. Jan Bigland-Pritchard)
About the Office of Migration
As a Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) with Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon helps parishes and other groups to privately sponsor refugees, offering training and coordination.
In previous years, the diocesan SAH was allocated approximately 50 spaces per year by the government (some years slightly more or less depending on the overall national allocation). The diocese always receives many more requests for sponsorships than it has allocated spaces. With the overall government reduction to private sponsorship spaces, the diocese had 30 spaces to use in 2025. Each year, all spaces are used – with the work of welcoming and supporting new arrivals carried out by the sponsoring parishes (constituent groups) in the diocese and community.
The intake for 2026 sponsorship requests is open from Jan. 5 to Jan. 19, with applications accepted online at: LINK to FORM.
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Kiply Lukan Yaworski is the communications coordinator for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon: rcdos.ca.
Migration, Communications and Catholic Saskatoon News are supported by gifts to the Bishop’s Annual Appeal: dscf.ca/baa