Holy Name of Jesus Parish
Holy Name of Jesus is a medium sized parish located on the boundary between downtown North Bay and the community of West Ferris.

In April 1947, Holy Name of Jesus Parish was created by Bishop Ralph Hubert Dignan, D.D., the second bishop of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie.  Father John Daly was named the founding pastor and he set about to build the present church out of stone quarried from Manitou Island on Lake Nipissing.  When the basement was finished, Masses were held there and construction continued to finish the main body of the worship area.  Fr. Daly lived in the Sacristy for his first year while construction of the rectory took place in 1948.

Fr. Francis Lawless served as the second pastor from 1958-1974.  Under his leadership, the debt of the parish was retired.  Under Fr. James Hutton's pastorate the group for Refugee Aid at Holy Name was formed to sponsor a refugee family from Vietnam in 1979.  During the years following 1983, the Resurrectionist Community of priests was responsible for ministering to the parish.  During this time the Holy Name Community Non-Profit Housing Corporation was born.

In 2011, Holy Name of Jesus parish absorbed the parish territory of St. Alphonsus Liguori in Callander.


St. Alphonsus Liguori, Callander
In the late 1880's, Fr. E. Bloem, who was then pastor of Our Lady of the Lake parish in North Bay, travelled monthly to Callander in order to provide for the spiritual needs of the Catholic faithful in Callander.

Fr. Bloem celebrated Sunday Mass in the home of Mr. J. Hicks as well as in the J.R. Boothe Lumber Co. boarding house at Wasi Falls.  On December 10, 1893, Bishop R.A. O'Connor consecrated a new church in Callander named St. Alphonsus Liguori.  Sadly, Fr. Bloem was killed in a tragic train accident.  Fr. David Joseph Scollard was appointed the new pastor of Our Lady of the Lake parish in North Bay along with continued ministry to St. Alphonsus Liguori in Callander.

In 1904, the new Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie was formed with Callander at its most south-easternly boundary.  Fr. David Scollard was consecrated as the first Bishop of this newly formed Diocese.

On Good Friday in 1913, a terrible wind storm demolished St. Alphonsus Church.  Rebuilding began immediately and on Christmas Eve of that same year, Midnight Mass was celebrated in the new church.

In 1924, Fr. E. Bunyan, the first man raised in North Bay to be ordained a Catholic priest, became the first resident pastor in Callander.  During this period, the first parish rectory was built directly across the road from the church.  Fr. Bunyan served two terms as pastor.

In 1956, under Fr. Keith McKee's pastorate, an addition to the church was undertaken.  Major renovations of the church interior also occurred.  A new altar railing was donated by Mr. & Mrs. Oliva Dionne, parents of the famous Dionne Quintuplets.

In 2011, St. Alphonsus, Callander was absorbed by the parish boundary of Holy Name of Jesus Church, North Bay.

On December 10, 2018, St. Alphonsus Liguori celebrated its 125th Anniversary.