As Iditarod kicks off, pilgrims find missionary spirit is the Church in Alaska’s North Star

By Levi Livengood, OSV News

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (OSV News) — A group of pilgrims with the Napa Institute attended presentations, dined with bishops, flew over the mountain Alaskans call Denali and attended the Iditarod start in Anchorage to discover Alaska’s missionary spirit.

The state’s climate and vast distances challenge the Christians who call it home to adapt and figure significantly as to why infrequent reception of sacraments such as the Eucharist or reconciliation is the norm for many Alaskan Catholics. To reach remote villages or even some large communities, it is necessary to fly or take a ferry. Most Alaska communities, including the capital Juneau, are not even on the road system.

Ministry in Alaska has brought about a unique expression of the Church’s missionary spirit. Alphonso Pinto, the Napa Institute’s director of experiences and hospitality, told OSV News this was precisely what drew the Napa Institute, with its interest in working for the re-evangelization of the U.S., to Anchorage.

“We want to understand the expression of the faith of the people wherever we go, whether that be Miami where we saw the Cuban influence, or here in Alaska, where we see the huge role the Yup’ik community plays in the Russian Orthodox Church,” he said.

The Russian Orthodox Church brought Christianity to Alaska first. Protestant denominations followed the 1867 Alaska Purchase, when the U.S. acquired the territory from the Russian Empire for $7.2 million (upwards of $150 million today).

The Catholic Church came with Archbishop Charles Seghers of Vancouver Island, the “apostle of Alaska” who toured the territory twice before his companion, driven to madness by isolation, murdered him in 1886.

Far from ending the mission, Archbishop Seghers’ successors saw the Church in Alaska flourish. In 1925, just prior to her canonization, Bishop Joseph Crimont dedicated the then-Apostolic Vicariate of Alaska to St. Thérèse of Lisieux. The National Shrine of St. Thérèse north of Juneau was built with the bishop’s help from 1931 to 1941. After 51 years of ministry in Alaska, he was buried at the shrine.

The group of 15 pilgrims came at the invitation of fellow Napa Institute member and Alaska resident Cathryn Rasmuson, wife of the late Ed Rasmuson, who received the papal Benemerenti Medal in 2021, honoring their support for the church since the 1970s.

Cathryn Rasmuson and Pinto organized this “Anchorage Experience” that saw the group travel to Anchorage and Fairbanks, learn the history of Alaska and Christianity in the state, and meet with Archbishop Andrew E. Bellisario of Anchorage-Juneau and Bishop Steven J. Maekawa of Fairbanks.

“The talk was absolutely fascinating,” Shann Patton told OSV News, describing the presentation they heard on the history of Christianity in Alaska. Though not members of the Napa Institute, Patton and her husband met Napa co-founder and board chair Timothy Busch and his wife, Steph Busch, through pro-life work for Legatus, an organization that engages North American executives and their spouses in the mission to study, live and spread the Catholic faith.

“We appreciate how Napa supports the church and priests, and how it provides the laity a unique way to serve the church,” Patton said.

The group gathered on their second day for Mass with the archbishop at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Anchorage. Afterward, they joined him for refreshments and a presentation on the history and state of the Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau.

According to the archbishop’s presentation, the Anchorage-Juneau Archdiocese shares similar challenges to the rest of the country, such as a shortage of priests and new immigration regulations making it difficult to find international priests. However, the vastness of Alaska exacerbates these issues dramatically compared to the rest of the Church in the U.S.

For instance, Unalaska’s Dutch Harbor, the richest fishery in the United States, is 800 miles from Anchorage. It is not unusual for flights to turn around and try again the next day even just miles from landing. Plane crash debris near Unalaska’s runway, too expensive to remove, reminds visitors of the power of the island’s winds. But the archdiocese’s Dominicans are nonetheless up to the challenge, most recently visiting the parish last December to celebrate Simbang Gabi, a beloved Filipino Catholic tradition observed in the nine days leading up to Christmas, as well as Christmas Mass.

Alaska’s vastness and ferocity do not dampen the missionary spirit. Father Scott Garrett in Dillingham, for example, flies a plane owned by the archdiocese to celebrate Mass in communities that would never see it otherwise. Laypeople across Alaska put their time and money to good use through the social outreach of organizations such as the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Juneau, which operates a warming shelter and provides food to thousands in need.

During his presentation, Archbishop Bellisario said to the group that for missionaries, “there’s never enough, but that does not get in the way of us doing our best to serve.”

Levi Levingood is an OSV News correspondent based in Anchorage. He is the content manager for North Star Catholic, the news outlet of the Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau.