Heavy rainfall throughout the province of Alberta over the May long weekend potentially signaled a hopeful turning point in the effort to quell the 2023 wildfire state of emergency.

So far Catholic parishes in the path of devastating wildfires that have swept across Alberta have only been evacuated as a precaution, with no parishes reporting any damage by mid-month.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – By midday Nov. 16 firefighters had gained more ground in trying to contain the Camp Fire in Northern California, which is north of Sacramento and one of the deadliest blazes in the state.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Father Prakash Rao Kola was in Coldwater, Kansas, 30 miles east of Ashland, the afternoon of March 6 when he began to get frantic calls from parishioners.

PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. – St. Mary's Catholic Church was at ground zero in the wildfires that devastated parts of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge Nov. 28, and while flames reached to within yards of the tourist city church, it appears to have been spared.

JERUSALEM – Catholic leaders in the Holy Land expressed solidarity with those affected by regional wildfires, which continued to burn after five days.

In recent decades Fort McMurray and the oil industry it symbolizes has divided Canadians. The Alberta oil hub was regarded as either a badge of national prosperity or symbol of ecological disgrace. The arguments were fierce.

EDMONTON – A smiling St. Joseph's College employee poked her head around Danica Wolitski's door and said, "We've got another family with three children."