Fairbanks - Immaculate Conception Catholic Church
Fairbanks' first Catholic community at Immaculate Conception is historically juxtaposed with the frenetic gold discovery on the nearby creeks in 1902 and the arrival of indefatigable pioneer, Fr. Francis Monroe, S.J., in 1904. Almost immediately after his arrival from Eagle, he began building the first Catholic church in the Fairbanks area followed by a much needed hospital. While accomplishing his building projects and ministering to miners and their families, Fr. Monroe managed to recruit Sisters to staff the hospital.
Fr. Monroe's church was originally built on the corner of First Avenue and Dunkel Street located on the south bank of the Chena River. After a few years, he decided that it was best to have the church situated closer to newly opened Saint Joseph hospital. In the winter of 1911, when freeze-up had arrived and the river ice was thick enough, Fr. Monroe hired a team of horses and men to move the church building. The crew, using skids, slid the church building across the ice to its new location on north bank of the Chena River where Immaculate Conception Church now stands.
In 1951, three years after Francis Gleeson, S.J., became Bishop, Alaska was divided into separate church administrative entities. In 1962, the Mission areas of the North was raised to the status of Diocese. Immaculate Conception Church became the Cathedral of the North and remained so until 1966 when Sacred Heart Cathedral was built to accommodate a growing congregation.
Immaculate Conception Church grew as a vibrant Catholic community and has continued under the direction of the Society of Jesus who still serve at the "Little Church," as it is unofficially known. A few Jesuits mentioned here are representative of those who served during Immaculate Conception's almost one century existence.
Fr. Filiberto Tornielli, a contemporary of Fr. Monroe, was pastor from 1927 to 1932. He was related to both a Saint and a Pope, that is, Blessed Bonaventura Tornielli and Pope Gregory XVI. Another was Fr. Patrick O'Reilly who served during the late 1930's. It is to his credit that Immaculate Conception Church has its beautiful stained glass windows. Of interest, the first diocesan priest of the diocese was ordained at Immaculate Conception in 1965. He was Fr. Angus McDonald who was ordained by Bishop Gleeson. At Fr. McDonald's ordination, Bishop Gleeson used English for the Rite of Holy Orders instead of Latin, a first in the history of the church in the United States.
On April 3, 1976, Immaculate Conception Church was listed on the National Registry of Historical Sites.