The first Polish priests to arrive in Canada belonged to the Order of the Resurrectionists. Fr Edward Glowacki arrived in Berlin, Ontario (now Kitchener) for a German-speaking parish before 1860. A year later, on 6 January 1861 to be exact, a Silesian, Fr Francis Breitkopf, became pastor.

Subsequent pastors were associated with the Polish parish established in 1875 and the construction of a church dedicated to St. Stanislaus Kostka in Vilnius, the place where the Kashubians settled in 1858. These included priests Franciszek Specht, Aleksander Michnowski, Tomasz Korbutowicz, Władysław Dembski and Bronisław Jankowski, who went down in the history of Kashubian settlement in Ontario, not only as a parish priest who expanded the church, but also as a social activist who spearheaded the campaign to bring in new settlers from all three annexations.

Beginning at the turn of the 20th century, with the mass settlement of Poles in the pristine prairie areas of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, the faithful of the Catholic Church, like the Kashubians, desired to pray in their mother tongue. Knowing these spiritual needs of the Polish pioneers, the then Superior General of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate directed the Oblate priests (a religious congregation founded on 25 January 1816 by the later Bishop of Marseilles, St Eugene de Mazenod, and approved on 17 February 1826 by Pope Leo XII) to western Canada.

"The founders of our Province had one main goal: to serve the Polish immigrants in the best way possible, taking as their model the first generations of Oblates working since the end of the 19th century among Polish settlers and those coming from the neighbouring areas of the former Republic of Poland," wrote Fr Janusz Błażejak OMI in his book Half a Century of the Province of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Canada 1956-2006, (OMI, Toronto 2006). "The beginnings of the pioneering work, of the priests and brothers of the Oblate congregation, were almost heroic - due to modest material means and great distances. The pastoral service of our predecessors could truly be considered an authentic 'evangelisation of the poor' - in line with the charism of the whole Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate".

The first to arrive on the Canadian prairies were the two brothers John and Adalbert Kulawy, who had graduated in theology in Ottawa. Fr Albert (Adalbert) Kulawy OMI arrived in Winnipeg on 6 May 1898 and already as pastor of All Slavs in his first year in Winnipeg, he visited many places in Manitoba and Alberta where Poles had settled. He built the Church of the Holy Spirit in Winnipeg, and in 1904 founded the first Polish newspaper in Canada, the Voice of Canada, and in 1908 the Catholic Gazette.

A year later his younger brother, Fr Jan Wilhelm Kulawy OMI, arrived and soon reached the Rocky Mountains and British Columbia. In turn, the third of the Kulawy brothers, Fr Paul OMI, completed his studies in Hűnfeld and began his pastoral service in the Province of Alberta in 1903. All three, disregarding hardships and distances, reached Polish settlements on horseback or on foot. They celebrated services in the settlers' native language and encouraged the building of Polish churches.

Unfortunately, due to loss of health, the brothers Fr Wojciech and Jan Wilhelm Kulawi OMI left Canada. They were later joined by the youngest, Fr Pawel. However, they all returned to Poland. In 1941 Jan and Pawel died in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, the eldest, Wojciech, died in 1942 in Tuczępy near Kielce.

In Canada, Fr Pawel Kulawy OMI settled in Round Hill, Alberta, and went down in people's memory as a great apostle of his compatriots, who for 18 years visited Polish farmers and brought the Good News.

In 1915, Fr. Pawel Kulawy moved to Edmonton, which after the erection of a church dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary in that city in 1913, became the centre of settlement in Alberta. Four years later, Fr Paul was joined by Fr Anthony Sylla OMI, who had been in Banff since his arrival on Canadian soil in 1909. Together, over several years of work, they built more than a dozen chapels and temples, expanded many, converted many makeshift chapels into churches, and established new Polish parishes. According to historians, this was the period of the most flourishing Polish missions in Canada. The settlers were already wealthier, and years of hard work and sacrifice were beginning to bear fruit. New churches could be built, replacing makeshift chapels. Each of the fathers served a number of missions. Fr Sylla visited Round Hill, Skaro, Woodstock every month. Every two months he visited Opal, Waugh and Krakow. He also commuted to Rabbit Hills, Kopernick, Mundare, Chipma, Palin Lake and Pegis.

Today, Fr Anthony Sylla (1881-1978) and other Oblate Fathers working among Poles living mainly in Western Canada are laid to rest at Holy Spirit Cemetery in Winnipeg.

Founded by the Polish community under the direction of Fr. Stanley Wachowicz OMI in 1942, Holy Spirit Cemetery is the resting place for nearly 7,000 people. The Missionary Oblates of the Polish Province of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary are also buried in this cemetery. In the so-called Oblate cemetery section, which is located in the central place behind the cemetery gate, the following are buried: Fr Stanisław Baderski OMI (1895-1979), Fr Jan Bednarz OMI (1898-1992 ), Fr Antoni Hylla OMI (1913-1989), Fr Jerzy Kania O MI (1911-1974), Fr . Ryszard Kosian OMI (1885-1962), Fr Feliks Kwiatkowski OMI (1906-1996), Fr Piotr Miczko OMI (1909-1971), Fr Albert Pilikowski OMI (1916-1962), Fr Stanisław Puchniak OMI (1901-1989), Fr Antoni Rabiega OMI (1911-1999), Fr Stanisław Wachowicz OMI (1902-1977).

The site is marked by a series of modest white gravestones with crosses, bearing the name of the deceased, the date of birth and death and the symbol of membership of the Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate - OMI (Oblati Mariae Immaculatae in Latin) clustered around a stylised Golgotha with a crucified Jesus. A total of 41 extremely meritorious priests of the Oblate Order, who for many years served the Polish community and were its spiritual guardians, are buried in the so-called Oblate quarters.

Location: Holy Spirit Cemetery, 4387 Main Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada