Victoria, BC – 70 Years of Portuguese Presence

Article written with references from an historical overview published on the website of Our Lady of Fatima Roman Catholic Parish in Victoria: https://www.ourladyoffatimavictoria.com/our-history

Official Portuguese immigration to the City of Victoria occurred in 1955 after Manuel Potinho, José Cabrita, José de Souza and António Chorão arrived here from the mainland. A year later, a group of 19 men, all from the archipelago of the Azores but mostly from the island of São Miguel, added to the count. They were António Moniz, João Galvão, Eduardo Oliveira, Carlos Almeida, José de Melo, João Chaves, Manuel Lima, Altino Andrade, Tomáz Medeiros, José Moniz, Alfredo Curvelo, Eduardo Esaias, Carlos da Silva, José Barbosa, João Martinho, Adriano Pacheco, Domingos Carreiro, Gilberto Ferreira and Isaias Achadinha. For the next few decades, the community continued to grow and, with it, so did the cultural and social influence that marks our presence in the region.

Although they arrived in the city proper, many of these men had to relocate to the northern part of the Vancouver Island to find work, mostly in the railroad or as farmhands. António Moniz, however, remained in Victoria where he found work at the famous Butchart Gardens. Here, he learned the language and became a major point of reference for other Portuguese who arrived in the city afterwards. As these men began to settle and to become more financially stable, they started to call for their families, leading to a boom of Portuguese presence here for the three decades that followed the arrival of the pioneers. They also began to purchase homes and to proudly display their colourful front yards with opulent trees, finely trimmed bushes, and blossoming flowers. A Portuguese home is always well looked after, no matter where it stands.

It took some time for the community to organize socially. In those early years, they mostly visited each other in their homes to reminisce about the homeland and to plan for an uncertain future in a new country. As is the case in many communities, sport, and soccer in particular, served as a starting point for the Portuguese to commune and socialize under the pretense of defending their honour on the pitch. In Victoria, the occurrence first took place in 1967 when the community formed the first team. The founders were José Lima, Walter Craveiro, John Craveiro, António Lima, Manuel Pereira, Américo de Frias, and Francisco Cabecinha as the first president. Carlos Almeida was elected manager of the team. The team drew large crowds of soccer enthusiasts who filled the sidelines with cries of incentive for the men in red and green, the men who represented the homeland and who brought pride to the newly formed community.

As the soccer team gained notoriety and community cohesion strengthened, the formation of the Portuguese Cultural and Athletic Association, in 1978, became part of a natural evolution. Under the banner of the new organization, soccer took on many names, depending on the sponsor in each particular season. Some of the names it adopted include Mayfair Barber Shop, Coffee House, Suburban Motors, Lusitania, Metro Toyota, and Mestons Auto. However, the executive put an end to the constant changes in name and permanently called it “Sagres”. The team participated in the Vancouver Island League, but also entered various other tournaments such as the Taça de Portugal (in British Columbia). It also hosted various tournaments that included teams from different parts of Canada and the United States. In 1987, it celebrated its 20^th anniversary, bringing together many players that had represented the club and honouring those who, at the time, had already passed away. They included Américo de Frias, Manuel Abelenda, Francisco Cabecinha, Charlie Sadler, Gordon Reading, and Sisco Rossini.

Even though soccer became an important element of community life, the church quickly turned into the focal meeting point. The religious movement began when Father Daniel Johnson of the St. Andrew’s Cathedral learned the mass in Portuguese and started celebrating for the community. This led to the desire to organize other religious events. In 1969, a group of men met to discuss the celebration of Portugal’s matriarch, Our Lady of Fatima. A statue was ordered from the city of Braga but it took two years for it to arrive here. Manuel de Frias, José Moniz, António Moniz, José Ambrósio, Jaime Brigida, Carlos de Silva, and José Melo formed the commission that began planning the festivities. However, it wasn’t until 1971 that they occurred, at Sacred Heart Church, with a replica of Our Lady of Fatima borrowed from Vancouver. The community attended in droves, leading to other relevant events that followed and, eventually, turning the church into the main meeting point, to this day, for the Luso-Canadians who reside here.

The community acquired its own replica of Our Lady of Fatima in October of that same year. It was blessed by Bishop Remi De Roo with assistance from Father Daniel Johnson and Altino Andrade. The celebrations continue to take place twice a year, in May and October. The religious celebration includes a procession and a mass. Afterwards, the community gathers for a social and cultural feast with plenty of food, music and dances.

In 1972, the community gathered to discuss the formation of its own parish. Again, Father Daniel Johnson was instrumental in the development of the project, as were other influential members of the community such as Altino Andrade, Manuel Frias, Jaime de Medeiros, António Moniz, Manuel Craveiro, and Vivaldo do Couto. The parish – under the name Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Parish – was officially registered in the Victoria Diocese a decade later, in 1982, then under the leadership of Father Arduino Antonello who came from Brazil to serve the community. In 1983, the first Feast of the Holy Spirit was organized, an event that marked the enlarging of the scope of religious celebrations and social gatherings in the community.

This led to the formation of a Parish Council. The first elected members were Altino Andrade, Manuel Frias, João Moniz, Joana Moniz, António Ramos, Marias Simas Pereira, Lourdes Frias, Jorge Frias, and João Craveiro. The council’s first point of order was to appeal to the Diocese for the purchase of a property and the construction of a community church. The proposal was approved and a property was purchased on Elk Lake Drive in 1983. In May of 1984, ground was broken. The community raised funds and made offers to the project, helping to turn a dream into reality. In October of the same year, the church of Our Lady of Fatima was inaugurated. The building included the sacred space and a hall to accommodate the various groups being formed in the community at the time. As a result of this milestone, the community added the celebration of Senhor Bom Jesus da Pedra to the list of annual events.

As the community grew and evolved, so did its needs. The church became too small to accommodate the large crowds that visited weekly, and the cultural and social spaces too sparce to serve the community groups. As a result, now under the tutelage of the first Portuguese priest in the community, Father Manuel Cardoso, a new and ambitious project began to take shape: the construction of a new church. Jorge Melo designed the building and, in 1994, it was inaugurated. To this day, it remains as the most significant Portuguese landmark in the community, serving as the sole location for the local Luso-Canadians to gather for religious, cultural and social events.

Shortly after the influx of women and children, sponsored by the men who had arrived here first, the need to create a Portuguese school arose. Manuel de Frias (who is connected to most of the early milestones in the community) and João Valadas encouraged Maria Simas Pereira to form the first school. The group approached the Diocese of Victoria without success but, later, a space at Sacred Heart Church became available. The first class had eight students enrolled but it quickly grew to 23. This rapid growth prompted those responsible for the school to join the Portuguese Association. Dora Craveiro, Lourdes Frias, Dina Abelenda, Helena Sousa, and Norberta Pereira joined Maria Pereira as enrollment continued to grow. As soon as the Portuguese church was inaugurated, in 1984, a Parents Association was formed to support the school. Beyond its responsibility to teach the language, the school also organized various cultural and social events for parents, students and other members of the community.

On April 2, 1979, the school took on the name of Escola da Associação Portuguesa Cultural de Victoria. It was also recognized by the Government of Portugal, which granted it official status and support from the motherland.

After the founding of the Portuguese Association, in 1978, a folk-dance group was almost simultaneously formed, under the leadership of the late António Carvalho Ferreira, who tragically passed away in 1987. The group graced many of the Portuguese festivities in the City of Victoria, but it also participated in various other events organized by the municipality such as Folk Fest, Victoria Day, and Music Festival, and in locations such as senior homes and the University of Victoria. After the passing of António Carvalho Ferreira, Maria Helena Lima took the lead. The group, Folclore Alegre de Victoria, is still in operation to this day.

The community enriched its cultural canopy in 1989 with the founding of a brass band, formed by Vivaldo do Couto and conducted by Gervásio de Sousa. The band, although popular and successful for many years, is no longer in operation.

In 1994, with the aging of the population that included many of the pioneers, the group Terceira Idade was formed and led by Maria Adelina Ferreira. The group used the community facilities to socialize and to participate in various other activities.

Although the Portuguese community of Victoria was once vibrant and dynamic, the integration into the general community by its members and the decaying of most cultural, social and sporting organizations have become real challenges in the preservation of its homogeneity. The church and the folk-dance group remain as the two surviving elements that continue to unite a scattering community. There have been recent attempts by the new generation of Luso-Canadians to revive the soccer team and the defunct Portuguese Association, but they have, so far, been unfruitful. Perhaps this new desire of our younger generation to maintain our traditions will reinvent a community that has been slowly melting into the general population.