“The Catholic Register” has written about the fundraising initiative of Catholic Missions in Canada. The article quotes Bishop Jan Hanses, C.Ss.R., ministering in the diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith in Canada, who talks about the challenges of the mission in arctic territories and his passion for photography. The 2021 mission calendar contains some Bishop Hansens’ pictures that he took on his pastoral travels.
Capturing the northern spirit: calendar project assists CMIC
By Wendy-Ann Clarke, The Catholic Register
[Yellowknife, NWT – Canadian Catholic News] – Situated in one of Canada’s coldest and most geographically isolated regions, the area encompassed by the Diocese of MacKenzie-Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories is a nature lover’s dream.
Bishop Jon Hansen has been capturing that beauty with his photographic lens for the past five years he’s been living in the territory.
A selection of those images has been curated into Missions in this Northern Land, a 2021 calendar raising funds for Catholic Missions In Canada (CMIC) and helping to engender hope in this winter season where many find themselves in isolation.
“I think pictures that are beautiful and that show our serene landscapes and beautiful wildlife stir our imaginations and help us to daydream,” said Hansen. “They keep in our minds these places that maybe we would like to be but are not able to be there right now (due to COVID-19).
“Keeping that imagination alive, at the heart of it, that’s what hope is all about. We have a promise of something beautiful. We just have to cling to the good memories that we’ve had before and know that we will share those memories with loved ones again.”
The MacKenzie-Fort Smith diocese is home to an estimated 36,000 Catholics and covers over one million square kilometers across the Northwest Territories.
