Religion

The vast majority of Croats in Canada are Roman Catholic, with Muslims constituting the remainder. Many would in fact declare no religious affiliation and would seldom attend religious services. Building ventures have crossed Muslim-Catholic lines, as in the building of Toronto’s Croatian Muslim Centre and of a Roman Catholic church in east Vancouver. Post-war expansion, principally led by Franciscans, began with creation of a combined Croatian-Slovenian parish, St Francis of Assisi, in Windsor in 1950. Several others followed, notably at Sudbury and Hamilton (1958), Toronto (1961 and 1965), Sault Ste Marie (1962), Montreal (1964), and Thunder Bay (1977). In the west, Nanaimo (1960), Vancouver (1968), Calgary (1970), and Winnipeg (1974) constructed churches. Dominican sisters operated humanitarian institutions at Sherbrooke in Quebec. Ties with the Catholic Church in Croatia reinforced the local clergy, and regular visits by the archbishops of Zagreb in the 1970s and 1980s linked the Canadian community to resurgent Catholicism in Croatia.

Pre-war Croatian Canadians retained their affiliation to English-language parishes even after Croatian parishes were established. In 1995 there were ten to twelve Croatian-language services held daily across Canada. Churches usually house a Croatian-language school and have a church council, folklore groups, a charitable committee, and other cultural-assistance groups. The church has replaced or complements the earlier Croatian halls and newer cultural centres as the focal point of cultural and social activities.