Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John's, Newfoundland

The Archdiocese of St. John's, Newfoundland (Latin: Archidioecesis Sancti Ioannis Terrae Novae) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is the metropolitan of an ecclesiastical province with two suffragan dioceses: Grand Falls, and Corner Brook and Labrador. The current archbishop is Peter Hundt. The Archdiocese of St. John's is the oldest Roman Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in English-speaking North America.

Archdiocese of St. John's, Newfoundland

Archidioecesis Sancti Ioannis Terrae Novae
Basilica of St. John the Baptist, the archdiocesan cathedral
Location
Country Canada
TerritoryNewfoundland and Labrador
Ecclesiastical provinceArchdiocese of St. John's, Newfoundland
Population
- Catholics
120,135 (49.6%)
Information
DenominationCatholic Church
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
Established30 May 1784; 239 years ago
CathedralBasilica of St. John the Baptist
Patron saintSt. John the Baptist
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
ArchbishopPeter Hundt
SuffragansRobert Anthony Daniels
Bishop of Grand Falls
Bart van Roijen
Bishop of Corner Brook and Labrador
Website
rcsj.org

The Basilica of St. John the Baptist is the cathedral of the archdiocese. The building sits within the St. John's Ecclesiastical District, a National Historic District of Canada.

History

The future Archdiocese of St. John's was established 30 May 1784 as Catholics in Newfoundland gradually gained religious liberty, made explicit by a public declaration by Governor John Campbell. After a request from Irish merchants in St. John's to Bishop William Egan, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, James Louis O'Donel was appointed Prefect Apostolic of Newfoundland, as a pre-diocesan jurisdiction entitled to a titular bishop and exempt, i.e., directly subject to the Holy See, not part of any ecclesiastical province. In addition to O'Donel's personal popularity, one of his qualifications for the position was an ability to preach in Newfoundland Irish.

It was promoted to a Vicariate Apostolic on 5 January 1796 and on 4 June 1847 was elevated to diocese.

In 1904, St. John's was elevated to an archdiocese and presently contains 40 parishes, 39 active diocesan priests, 33 religious priests, and 120,135 Catholics. It also has 220 Women Religious, and 42 Religious Brothers.

In July 2021, the Archdiocese of St. John's announced plans to sell off assets in order to compensate victims of the Mount Cashel sex abuse scandal.[1]

Sex abuse scandals
Main article: Sexual abuse in St. John's archdiocese

For decades, the Archdiocese of St. John's has been tied to sex abuse scandals. In July 2020, Rev. Peter Power, who was originally from the Archdiocese of Toronto, was charged with charges of sexual touching, sexual assault and committing an indecent act involving two teenaged boys, aged 18 and 16 years old at a residence in a small Newfoundland community earlier in the year.[2] Though officially retired, Power was still occasionally active in Catholic ministry when he relocated to Newfoundland.[2] The same month, the Court of Appeal of Newfoundland and Labrador unanimously reversed a 2018 Canadian Supreme ruling and ruled that the Archdiocese of St. John's was liable for the sexual abuse committed at the Mount Cashel Orphanage in the 1950s and 1960s.[3]

Bishops

Prefecture Apostolic of Newfoundland
#ImageNameFromUntil
Erected: 30 May 1784
1 James Louis O'Donel O.F.M. 17 May 1784 →

Vicariate Apostolic of Newfoundland
#ImageNameFromUntil
Elevated: 5 January 1796
1 James Louis O'Donel O.F.M. ← 1 January 1807
2 Patrick Lambert O.F.M. 1 January 1807 23 September 1816
3 Thomas Scallan O.F.M. 23 September 1816 7 June 1830
4 Michael Anthony Fleming O.F.S. 7 June 1830 →

Diocese of Newfoundland
#ImageNameFromUntil
Elevated: 4 June 1847
4 Michael Anthony Fleming O.F.S. ← 14 July 1850
5 John Thomas Mullock O.F.M. 14 July 1850 →

Diocese of St. John's, Newfoundland
#ImageNameFromUntil
Name Changed: 29 February 1856
5 John Thomas Mullock O.F.M. ← 29 March 1869
6 Thomas Joseph Power 13 May 1870 4 December 1893
7 Michael Francis Howley 5 January 1895 →

Archdiocese of St. John's, Newfoundland
#ImageNameFromUntil
Elevated: 8 February 1904
7 Michael Francis Howley ← 15 October 1914
8 Edward Patrick Roche 26 February 1915 23 September 1950
9 Patrick James Skinner C.I.M. 23 January 1951 28 March 1979
10 Alphonsus Liguori Penney 28 March 1979 2 February 1991
11 James Hector MacDonald C.S.C. 2 February 1991 4 December 2000
12 Brendan O'Brien 4 December 2000 1 June 2007
13 Martin William Currie 18 October 2007 12 December 2018
14 Peter Joseph Hundt 12 December 2018 →

Coadjutor bishops
  • Patrick Lambert, O.F.M. Ref. (1805-1807) as Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic
  • Thomas Scallan, O.F.M. Ref.(1815-1816) as Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic
  • Michael Anthony Fleming, O.F.M. Ref. (1829-1830) as Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic
  • John Thomas Mullock, O.F.M. Ref. (1847-1850)
  • Thomas John Flynn (1945-1949), did not succeed to the see

Auxiliary bishop

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops
  • Michael Fintan Power, appointed Bishop of Saint George's, Newfoundland in 1911
  • Henry Thomas Renouf, appointed Bishop of Saint George's, Newfoundland in 1920
  • Raymond John Lahey, appointed Bishop of Saint George's, Newfoundland in 1986

Bibliography

References
  1. CBC News, NL (July 26, 2021). "Catholic Church selling assets to pay Mount Cashel survivors, but lawyer says it won't be enough". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  2. The Canadian Press (July 21, 2020). "Retired priest from archdiocese of Toronto facing sex charges in Newfoundland". Global News. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  3. Whiffen, Glen (July 29, 2020). "The decision by province's Appeals Court, which reverses a 2018 Supreme Court finding, was unanimous; church has 60 days to decide if it will apply for a Supreme Court of Canada appeal". Journal Pioneer. Retrieved December 14, 2020.

47.5656°N 52.7082°W / 47.5656; -52.7082


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