Through the knowing of our true relationships with one another may we find that though we all walk separate paths, we are all on one sacred Journey.
-Patrick Twohy, SJ, “Beginnings”
Jesuits answer the call to be “at the frontiers” through their sustained commitment to the Rocky Mountain Mission, a collection of parishes and missions that serve Native American communities both on the reservation and off. Jesuits minister in companionship with Natives to respond to the Gospel’s call for love, hope and justice. The Rocky Mountain Mission serves three distinct cultural regions in the Pacific Northwest: Plains, Plateau and Coastal cultures.
In 1839, a delegation of Salish Flatheads from the Bitterroot Valley in Montana journeyed East to petition for Jesuit priests. They encountered Fr. Peter DeSmet, S.J. in St. Louis and convinced him to come to the Flatheads. Upon arriving West in 1840, Fr. DeSmet was so impressed with the eagerness of the Flatheads, and their background in Christianity, that he returned shortly to St. Louis to recruit other priests and financial support for the founding of Catholic missions in the Rocky Mountain West.
When DeSmet returned in 1841, he found many of the Western tribes desiring to have their own missions, and to gain the spiritual benefits of the priests’ religion. In rapid succession, Fr. DeSmet and his fellow Jesuit missionaries founded large mission establishments – “mother missions” – among the Flatheads in 1841, the Coeur d’Alenes in 1842, the Kalispels in 1844 and the Colvilles in 1845.
In later years, permanent mission churches and schools were also developed with other tribes as part of the Jesuits’ Rocky Mountain Mission: the Blackfeet in 1862, Spokanes in 1866, Yakimas Assiniboines in 1885, and the Crows and the Okanogans in 1887.
Following are the missions still active today.
| Parish | City, State | Diocese | Jesuit Priest | Native Community Served |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacred Heart Mission | DeSmet, ID | Diocese of Boise | Peter Byrne, SJ | Coeur d’Alene Reservation |
| Our Lady of Perpetual Help | Plummer, ID | Diocese of Boise | Peter Byrne, SJ | Coeur d’Alene Reservation |
| St. Michael the Archangel | Worley, ID | Diocese of Boise | Peter Byrne, SJ | Coeur d’Alene Reservation |
| St. Ignatius Parish/Mission | St. Ignatius, MT | Diocese of Helena | Craig Hightower, SJ, Pastor Victor Cancino, SJ, Parochial Vicar Thomas Lankenau, SJ, Parochial Vicar |
Flathead Reservation, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes |
| Sacred Heart Mission | Arlee, MT | Diocese of Helena | Craig Hightower, SJ, Pastor Victor Cancino, SJ, Parochial Vicar Thomas Lankenau, SJ, Parochial Vicar |
Flathead Reservation, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes |
| St. John Berchman’s Mission | Jocko, MT | Diocese of Helena | Craig Hightower, SJ, Pastor Victor Cancino, SJ, Parochial Vicar Thomas Lankenau, SJ, Parochial Vicar |
Flathead Reservation, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes |
| St. Joseph Parish | Omak, WA | Diocese of Spokane | Jake Morton, SJ Joe Fortier, SJ |
Colville Reservation |
| St. Michael’s Parish | Inchelium, WA | Diocese of Spokane | Jake Morton, SJ Joe Fortier, SJ |
Colville Reservation |
| St. Rose of Lima | Keller, WA | Diocese of Spokane | Jake Morton, SJ Joe Fortier, SJ |
Colville Reservation |
| Sacred Heart | Nespelem, WA | Diocese of Spokane | Jake Morton, SJ Joe Fortier, SJ |
Colville Reservation |
| St. Andrews Mission | Pendleton, OR | Diocese of Baker | Mike Fitzgerald, SJ | Umatilla Reservation, Confederated Tribes of the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla People |
| St. Leo’s | Tacoma, WA | Diocese of Tacoma | Fr. Patrick Twohy, SJ | |
| Various parishes and organizations | Seattle, WA | Diocese of Seattle | Fr. Patrick Twohy, SJ | Archdiocese of Seattle’s Chaplain for Urban Native Americans |
| Ministry | City, State | Institution | Jesuit Priest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian Law Clinic | Spokane, WA | Gonzaga University School of Law | Bryan Pham, SJ |
