Anishinabe Spiritual Centre, Church building in Espanola, Canada
The Anishinabe Spiritual Centre, known in Ojibwe as Wassean-dimi-Kaning, is a Jesuit-run Roman Catholic centre south of Espanola on the shore of Anderson Lake, just off Ontario Highway 6. Volunteers built it from 1982, raising a sawmill on site; the main building and chapel were finished in 1984 and the outlying buildings in 1985.
From 1972 to 1979 Jesuits ran a diaconate training programme across northern Ontario, backed by Bishop Alexander Carter of Sault Sainte Marie; travel fatigue ended it and a permanent site was sought. Volunteers began building south of Espanola in 1982, cutting timber at an on-site sawmill, and finished the main building and chapel by 1984, the outlying buildings in 1985. Bishop Carter opened the centre in June 1985.
The centre's Ojibwe name, Wassean-dimi-Kaning, is used alongside its English name. It trains both men and women: the Diocesan Order of Women later became the Diocesan Order of Service, open to both. Monthly Ministries weekends draw Roman Catholics from across northern Ontario.
The centre sits south of Espanola, just off Ontario Highway 6 on the shore of Anderson Lake. Monthly Ministries weekends are held for Roman Catholics from across northern Ontario, and Jesuits travel out from here to serve parishes such as Holy Cross Church in Wiikwemkoong and St. Raphael Church in Sagamok.
Members from the centre restored Heaven's Gate Trail, an ancient trade route running about 40 kilometers through the La Cloche Mountains. This often overlooked contribution shows how the community preserves local history and landscape beyond its religious purpose.
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