Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish

The Diocese of Antigonish (Latin: Dioecesis Antigonicensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in Nova Scotia, Canada. Its current diocesan ordinary is Wayne Joseph Kirkpatrick.

Diocese of Antigonish

Dioecesis Antigonicensis
Location
Country Canada
Ecclesiastical provinceHalifax
Statistics
Area18,800 km2 (7,300 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		(as of 2020)
Increase 220,300
Increase 124,400 (Increase 56.5%)
Information
DenominationCatholic Church
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
EstablishedAugust 23, 1886
CathedralSt. Ninian's Cathedral
Secular priests74
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopWayne Joseph Kirkpatrick
Metropolitan ArchbishopArchbishop of Halifax-Yarmouth
Website
www.antigonishdiocese.com

History
Proto-Cathedral of Notre Dame de L'Assomption, Arichat, Nova Scotia.

The Diocese was established on 22 September 1844, under the name of the Diocese of Arichat, on territory split off from the Diocese of Halifax. Its proto-cathedral (now Église Notre Dame de l’Assomption) was located on Cape Breton Island, in the port town of Arichat.

In both Scottish and Canadian folklore, the first ordinary of the Diocese, Bishop William Fraser of Strathglass, is a folk hero. He is said to have been a man of enormous physical strength and to have been able to break steel horseshoes with his bare hands. On both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, many legends have been collected of the Bishop's exploits.[1]

On 23 August 1886, the diocese was renamed the Diocese of Antigonish, and its episcopal see moved to St. Ninian's Cathedral, on the Nova Scotia mainland in the town of Antigonish.

Prior to the outbreak of the First World War, the highly influential Antigonish Movement, which combined adult education, co-operatives, microfinance and rural community development to help small, resource-based villages throughout the Maritimes to improve their economic and social circumstances, was largely founded and led by a small group of Diocesan priests: Father James Tompkins, Father Moses Coady, and Fr. Hugh MacPherson.

In 1946, Scottish nationalist, folklorist, and scholar of Scottish Gaelic literature John Lorne Campbell was received into the Roman Catholic Church inside St. Ninian's Cathedral in Antigonish.[2] Campbell, along with his American-born musicologist wife, Margaret Fay Shaw, had previously collected much folklore and traditional music from Diocesan Catholics in both Canadian Gaelic and the indigenous Mi'kmaq language, which was recorded onto Ediphone wax cylinders.[3]

2009–2010 apostolic administration

On August 7, 2009, Bishop Raymond Lahey announced that the Diocese of Antigonish had reached a $15 million settlement in a class action lawsuit filed by 125 victims of sexual abuse by Hugh Vincent MacDonald and other diocese priests dating from 1950 to 2009.[4] On September 26, 2009 Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Bishop Raymond Lahey, one day after a warrant was issued for his arrest by the Ottawa Police Service relating to child pornography charges (cf. sexual abuse scandal in Antigonish diocese).[5] The bishop pleaded guilty to child pornography charges and was jailed.[6]

Archbishop Anthony Mancini of the Archdiocese of Halifax was named the Apostolic Administrator effective September 26, 2009, and remained in that position until the installation of Brian Dunn on January 25, 2010.[7]

Extent

The Diocese of Antigonish covers 18,800 square kilometers, comprising the counties of Pictou, Antigonish, Guysborough, Inverness, Victoria, Richmond and Cape Breton.

As of 2006, the diocese contained 123 parishes, 119 active diocesan priests, 8 religious priests, and 129,905 Catholics. It also has 290 women religious, 12 religious brothers and 1 permanent deacon. In 2012 in order to satisfy its legal obligations to pay out $15 million to the victims of sexual abuse, the diocese had to sell a large number of its lands and properties, liquidating the bank accounts of many of its churches, and borrowing $6.5 million from private lenders to make the payout.[8][4][9]

Until 2015, the Bishop of Antigonish served ex officio as Chancellor of St. Francis Xavier University.

Bishops
Bishops of Arichat
Bishops of Antigonish
Other priests of this diocese who became bishops
  • Thomas Sears, appointed Prefect of Western Newfoundland (St. George’s) in 1871
  • Neil McNeil, appointed Vicar Apostolic of Western Newfoundland (St. George’s) in 1895
  • Ronald MacDonald, appointed Bishop of Harbour Grace, Newfoundland in 1881
  • Alexander MacDonald, appointed Bishop of Victoria, British Columbia in 1908
  • John Hugh MacDonald, appointed Bishop of Victoria, British Columbia in 1934
  • Malcolm Angus MacEachern, appointed Bishop of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in 1954
  • Joseph Neil MacNeil, appointed Bishop of Saint John, New Brunswick in 1969

In Canadian literature

References
  1. Effie Rankin (2004), As a' Braighe/Beyond the Braes: The Gaelic Songs of Allan the Ridge MacDonald, Cape Breton University Press. Pages 169-170.
  2. Ray Perman (2013), The Man Who Gave Away His Island: A Life of John Lorne Campbell, Birlinn Limited. Pages 115-116.
  3. Ray Perman (2013), The Man Who Gave Away His Island: A Life of John Lorne Campbell, Birlinn Limited. Pages 63-68.
  4. "More church properties for sale to cover cost of sex-abuse deal". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  5. "CBC News - Nova Scotia - N.S. bishop wanted on child porn charges". Archived from the original on 2009-10-02.
  6. Charge against Kansas City bishop the temper of the times, by John L Allen Jr, Oct. 15, 2011, National Catholic Reporter
  7. "New N.S. bishop named to replace Lahey". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  8. "Diocese of Antigonish starts church review". The Chronicle Herald. 2014-04-14. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  9. "Antigonish diocese to sell hundreds of properties". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
  10. Flemming, David B. (1985). "Fraser, William". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. VIII (1851–1860) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
  11. MacLean, R. A. (1972). "MacKinnon, Colin Francis". In Hayne, David (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. X (1871–1880) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
  12. MacLean, R. A. (1994). "Cameron, John". In Cook, Ramsay; Hamelin, Jean (eds.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. XIII (1901–1910) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
  13. Effie Rankin (2004), As a' Braighe/Beyond the Braes: The Gaelic Songs of Allan the Ridge MacDonald, Cape Breton University Press. Pages 110-115, 169-170.
  14. Effie Rankin (2004), As a' Braighe/Beyond the Braes: The Gaelic Songs of Allan the Ridge MacDonald, Cape Breton University Press. Pages 169-170.

MacDonald, Alexander (1907). "Diocese of Antigonish" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

45.6201°N 61.9935°W / 45.6201; -61.9935

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