Diocese of Charlottetown

Diocese of Charlottetown Dioecesis Carolinapolitana Diocèse de Charlottetown Sgìre-easbaig Bhaile Shearlot
Catholic
Cathedral–Basilica of Saint Dunstan
Location
Country	Canada
Territory	Prince Edward Island
Ecclesiastical region	Atlantic
Ecclesiastical province	Halifax–Yarmouth
Headquarters	Catholic Centre #350 North River Rd., Charlottetown, PE C1A 7L9
Statistics
Area	5,686 km2 (2,195 sq mi)
Population Total Catholics	(as of 2021 ) 159,713 68,150 (42.7%)
Parishes	52
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	August 11, 1829
Cathedral	Cathedral–Basilica of Saint Dunstan
Patron saint	Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury
Secular priests	39
Language	English and French
Current leadership
Pope	Leo XIV
Bishop	sede vacante
Metropolitan Archbishop	Brian Joseph Dunn
Bishops emeritus	Richard John Grecco Joseph Andrzej Dabrowski, CSMA
Map
Jurisdiction of the diocese within Canada.
Website
www.dioceseofcharlottetown.com
All current statistics are based from updated data taken by Catholic-Hierarchy.org.

Diocese of Charlottetown — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlottetown (Latin: Dioecesis Carolinapolitana) is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Canada. It is a suffragan diocese comprising the entire province of Prince Edward Island.

Originally carved from the Archdiocese of Quebec on August 11, 1829, it was transferred to the Archdiocese of Halifax–Yarmouth on May 4, 1852. It is the second-oldest English-speaking diocese in Canada.

Its seat is the Cathedral–Basilica of Saint Dunstan in downtown Charlottetown.

History

Early history

Then known as Île Saint-Jean, the island was initially part of the vast Diocese of Quebec. In the spring of 1721, René-Charles de Breslay and Marie-Anselme de Metivier, priests of the Society of Saint Sulpice, arrived at the Acadian settlement of Port-LaJoye and built a small church dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist. It was then handed-over to Franciscan priests from Louisbourg (in modern-day Nova Scotia) two years later.

By 1752, four more small parishes were then established. In 1758, however, following the Île Saint-Jean campaign, British authorities expelled the Acadians.

Scottish immigration and establishment

Roughly three years after separation from Nova Scotia and becoming its own colony, a further expansion of the Church on now-renamed Saint John's Island began in 1772, when the first band of about 200 Scottish Catholic immigrants set foot, led by the layman John MacDonald of Glenaladale. The idea was conceived and the financed by two bishops of the Scottish Catholic Church — John MacDonald and George Hay — in order to relieve the persecution of Catholics on Uist. They were accompanied by James MacDonald, a cousin of John of Glenaladale. MacDonald was well-suited for the assignment, as he was fluent in Gaelic, English, Latin, and French.

Another group of Scots settled in 1790, led by Angus MacEachern, to join their families who had migrated earlier. MacEachern spoke English, French, and Gaelic. He traveled extensively throughout the Maritimes as a missionary. He built the original Saint Dunstan's in 1816. MacEachern served as an auxiliary bishop of Quebec from 1821 until 1829, when he became the first-ever Bishop of Charlottetown.

Split and transfer to new metropolitan see

On September 30, 1842, the diocese was then split off when the new Diocese of Saint John in New Brunswick was created. Ten years later, on May 4, 1852, the diocese was officially transferred to the recently elevated Archdiocese of Halifax (now Halifax–Yarmouth).

On July 20, 1946, another piece of its territory was split off again, as the Magdalen Islands were transferred to the Diocese of Gaspé.

Education

Saint Dunstan's University

In 1831, MacEachern established Saint Andrew's College. Although it was closed down by Bernard Donald Macdonald in 1844, he also supervised the construction of Saint Dunstan's College in Charlottetown in 1848 and its eventual opening on January 15, 1855. It was built to respond to the needs of Catholic students on the Island, as opposed to Prince of Wales College, which was a majority-Protestant public institution.

In 1969, as part of the Prince Edward Island Comprehensive Development Plan designed by the government of then-premier Alex Campbell, the two schools amalgamated to form the University of Prince Edward Island.

Healthcare

Charlottetown Hospital was established in 1879, under the leadership of Peter McIntyre. It was the first hospital in Charlottetown. In 1982, the Charlottetown Hospital closed its doors when the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Riverside Drive opened. The campus on Haviland Street is now the Tourism and Culinary Centre of Holland College.

Community

Priests

As of 2021, there are a total of 40 priests (39 diocesan and 1 religious) serving within the jurisdiction of the diocese.

Past

• Sisters of Charity of Montreal (1879–1925)
• Filles de Jésus (1903–1909)
• Little Sisters of the Holy Family (1909–1916)
• Sisters of the Precious Blood (1929–2012)
• Notre-Dame-du-Sacré-Coeur (1959–1979)
• Servantes du Saint Cœur de Marie (1977–1989)

Ordinaries

Diocesan Bishops

Bishop			Period in Office	Coat of Arms
1.		Angus Bernard MacEachern† (1759–1835)	August 11, 1829 – April 22, 1835 (5 years, 254 days)
2.		Bernard Donald McDonald† (1797–1859)	February 21, 1837 – December 30, 1859 (22 years, 312 days)
3.		Peter McIntyre† (1818–1891)	August 15, 1860 – May 1, 1891 (30 years, 259 days)
4.		James Charles McDonald† (1840–1912)	May 1, 1891 – December 1, 1912 (21 years, 214 days)
5.		Henry Joseph O'Leary† (1879–1938)	January 29, 1913 – September 7, 1920 (7 years, 222 days)
6.		Louis James O'Leary† (1877–1930)	September 10, 1920 – July 8, 1930 (9 years, 301 days)
7.		Joseph Anthony O'Sullivan† (1886–1972)	February 6, 1931 – February 26, 1944 (13 years, 20 days)
8.		James Boyle† (1885–1954)	March 18, 1944 – June 3, 1954 (10 years, 77 days)
9.		Malcolm Angus MacEachern† (1901–1982)	November 27, 1954 – February 24, 1970 (15 years, 89 days)
10.		Francis John Spence† (1926–2011)	August 17, 1970 – April 24, 1982 (11 years, 250 days)
11.		James Hector MacDonald, CSC† (1925–2025)	August 12, 1982 – February 2, 1991 (8 years, 174 days)
12.		Joseph Vernon Fougère† (1943–2013)	December 11, 1991 – July 11, 2009 (17 years, 212 days)
13.		Richard John Grecco (b. 1946)	July 11, 2009 – March 4, 2021 (11 years, 236 days)
14.		Joseph Andrzej Dabrowski, CSMA (b. 1964)	April 2, 2023 – November 1, 2025 (2 years, 213 days)

Affiliated Bishops

• Joseph Faber MacDonald† – Bishop of Grand Falls, Newfoundland and Labrador

Canonical status and jurisdiction

Diocese of Charlottetown is a diocese of the catholic church of the Catholic Church.

• Part of: ecclesiastical province of Halifax-Yarmouth

External links

• Official website

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Diocese of Charlottetown (CAROLINAPOLITANA)

Includes all Prince Edward Island (formerly called St. John's Island), the smallest province of the dominion of Canada. It is situated in the southern waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and, together with the Magdalen Islands lying about sixty miles to the north-east of it, constitutes a diocese which takes its name from Charlottetown, the chief town of Prince Edward Island. The history of Catholicity in the territory now comprised in the diocese of Charlottetown goes back to the year 1719, when all the islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence were granted by the King of France to count Saint-Pierre, a nobleman of his court. Up to that time the population of Prince Edward Island consisted of a few Indians, but on its concession to Count Saint-Pierre immigration set in, and soon a number of settlements were formed, the chief one being at Port La Joie, where the count established his head-quarters. The first priest to labour in the new colony was René-Charles De Breslay, a Sulpician who came from France in April 1721, and who was joined a few months later by Marie-Anselme de Metivier, a priest of the same community. These two priests remained only about two years, and on their return to France their place was taken by Franciscans, who for thirty years ministered to the spiritual wants of the colony. Meanwhile, by the influx of settlers from France and Acadia, the population had so increased that a system of parochial organization became necessary and parishes were gradually formed, to preside over which four priests came from France by request of the Bishop of Quebec, whose diocese then comprised the whole of Canada. Thus, in 1753, five priests laboured in Prince Edward Island, viz., Father Girard at Point Prim, Father Cassiet at Scotchfort, Father Biscaret at St. Peter's, Father Dosquet at Malpeque, and Father Aubré. A Franciscan, at Port La Joie. Unfortunately, these prosperous conditions did not long endure. They gave way before the English invasion of 1758, when most of the people were driven out, the churches razed to the ground, and the clergy forced to leave the country. For these reasons Prince Edward Island was without a resident priest, from 1758 to 1772, when there arrive an immigration of Scottish Catholics, accompanied by a priest, the Rev. James Macdonald, who continued in charge of the whole colony till his death in 1785. Five years later a second band of Scottish Catholics came to swell the population, bringing with them the Rev. Angus Bernard MacEachern, the most striking figure in the early history of Catholicity in the Diocese of Charlottetown.

At this time Father Le Roux laboured in the Magdalen Islands, having been sent thither by the Bishop of Quebec to minister to the Acadians who had settled in that locality. He built a small church at the foot of Demoiselle Mountain on Amherst Island, where he remained till 1793, when he was succeeded by Father Alain. In 1798 two priests, Father De Calonne and Father Pichard, came to Prince Edward Island and took up their residence, the former in Charlottetown, the latter at Rustico. The first bishop to visit Prince Edward Island was the Rt. Rev. Pierre Denault, Bishop of Quebec, who went there in the summer of 1803. In 1812 his successor, the Rt. Rev. Joseph-Octave Plessis, visited the Maritime Provinces, bringing with him a priest, the Rev. Jean-Louis Beaubien, whom he stationed at Rustico, and to whom he entrusted the spiritual care of all the Acadian missions in Prince Edward Island and the Magdalen Islands. In the year 1819 Father MacEachern was named titular Bishop of Rosea, and received episcopal consecration in Quebec 17 June, 1821. The following year witnessed the ordination at Quebec of the first native priest, Father Bernard Donald Macdonald, who returned home in the early autumn to take charge of the Acadian missions. The Bishop of Rosea at first was merely vicar-general to the Bishop of Quebec, and, though performing episcopal duties throughout the greater part of the Maritime Provinces, he did so without independent jurisdiction. But in August, 1829, Charlottetown was raised to the dignity of an episcopal see, and the Rt. Rev. Angus Bernard MacEachern became its first bishop. Besides Prince Edward Island and the Magdalen Islands, the new diocese comprised the whole of New Brunswick.

On taking possession of his see, one of the first duties to devolve on Bishop MacEachern was to establish an institution for the education of students destined for the priesthood, and accordingly St. Andrew's College was founded at St. Andrews, Prince Edward Island, in November, 1831. On 22 April, 1835, the first Bishop of Charlottetown died and was succeeded by the Rev. Bernard Donald Macdonald, consecrated bishop at Quebec, 15 October, 1837. Five years later the diocese was dismembered, New Brunswick being made a separate diocese, with the see at St. John. Bishop Macdonald closed the college at St. Andrews in 1844, and in the beginning of the year 1855 the present college of St. Dunstan opened its doors to its first student. On the 28th of September, 1857, four sisters of the Congregation of Notre-Dame opened a convent in Charlottetown, where they began to give instruction to about sixteen pupils. Bishop Macdonald was called to his reward 30 December, 1859, and in the following year his successor, the Rt. Rev. Peter MacIntyre, received episcopal consecration in the cathedral of Charlottetown, 15 August, 1860. The episcopate of Bishop MacIntyre covered a period of over thirty years, during which many churches and schools were erected throughout the diocese. He died 30 April, 1891, and was succeeded by the Rt. Rev. James Charles Macdonald, who had been named coadjutor with right of succession in the preceding year. Catholicity is flourishing in the diocese of Charlottetown. A population of fifty thousand, under the guidance of forty-five priests, worship in fifty-one churches, of which many are neat and elegant structures. Eight convents, wherein fifty nuns of the Congregation of Notre-Dame give instruction to over one thousand pupils, and St. Dunstan's College, with a roster of one hundred and thirty students, tell what is being done for catholic education, whilst a fully-equipped hospital, under the care of the Sisters of Charity of Quebec, furnishes relief to the sick and suffering.

CASGRAIN, Les Sulpiciens et les prêtres des Missions Etrangères en Acadie (Quebec, 1897); IDEM, Une Seconde Acadie; Archives of the Archdiocese of Quebec; Archives of the Diocese of Charlottetwon; MACMILLAN, The Early History of the Catholic church in Prince Edward Island (Quebec, 1905).

External links

• Official website
• Diocese of Charlottetown – Catholic Hierarchy

46°14′02″N 63°07′30″W / 46.2338°N 63.1251°W