The Cathedrals of Canada - 2. Alexandria-Cornwall

It is almost unheard of to change the name of a Diocese in Europe. Some may be suppressed, perhaps to be used by titular Bishops, and some are united but in Canada the movement of population or the Diocesan offices from one ecclesiastical hub to another is often followed by a change in the name of the Diocese.

One example is the Vicariate Apostolic of Grouard moved its chancery and cathedral to

McLennan, and became known as the Archdiocese of Grouard-McLennan. In 1912, the Diocese of St. Albert was moved a few short miles and renamed the Archdiocese of Edmonton. In 1953, the seat of the Diocese of Harbour Grace in Newfoundland moved to Grand Falls and was renamed the Diocese of Grand Falls. The Diocese of St. George’s also in Newfoundland was moved to CornerBrook and became the Diocese of CornerBrook and Labrador. In 1963, the Diocese of Prince Rupert BC was moved to Prince George and became the Diocese of Prince George - poor Prince Rupert!

Something similar happened in 1976 when the seat of the Diocese of Alexandria was moved from Alexandria to Cornwall and the diocese renamed the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall. While the cathedral remained in the town of Alexandria, a co-cathedral was designated in the city of Cornwall. Ironically, another population shift has meant that the co-cathedral has ceased to be a Parish Church and has been re-designated a Marian Sanctuary.

The Co-Cathedral was built in 1887 and dedicated to the Nativity of Our Lady. The corner stone reads:

Replique Pierre Angulaire

Le 8 Sept en l'année 1887

Son Excellence

Mgr. James Vincent Cleary

Eveque de Kingston et Ordinaire du

lieu a dument pose la pierre angulaire

de l'eglise de la Nativité de la B.V.M.

The pictures of the Ontario Heritage Trust and on flickr show just how little damage was done by the post-Conciliar iconoclasts. The Parish forms part of the French-speaking deanery of the Diocese so there is a typically Canadian equality of representation between the Alexandra deanery and the Cornwall deanery, one anglophone Cathedral and deanery and one francophone.

The Cathedrals of Canada - 1. Alexandria-Cornwall

I wanted to start my survey of Canada's 91 Catholic Cathedrals on a high. St. Finnan's Cathedral in Alexandria ON is the Mother Church of the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall. Thanks for flickr you can compare the interior arrangement of the Cathedral before and after the flood of liturgical revolution.

St. Finnan, The Apostle of Moidart, was an Irish Missionary to Scotland in the 6th Century.

A chronicle of the Cathedral parish here relates that ""The plans of the new St. Finnan's Church were prepared by William H. Hodson, Esq., architect, Montreal, during the Winter of 1883 and approved by the Rt. Rev. James V. Cleary, S. T. D., Bishop of Kingston, in the Spring of the same year. The contract of building the new church was awarded to Messrs. John R. Chisholm and Son, of Lochiel, on the 22nd September, 1883. The first ground was broken and commencement made on the 25th day of the same month. The corner stone was set and blessed with solemn ceremonies on the 13th July, 1884, by the Rt. Rev. James V. Cleary, assisted by the Reverend pastor, also by the Reverend Fathers O'Connor, Perth, Gauthier, Williamstown, Duffus, St.Raphael's, and Cicolari of Lochiel, and a large concourse of people, to whom his Lordship preached an eloquent and impressive sermon.

"On the 15th of March, 1885, the same illustrious prelate dedicated with solemn service to the worship of God interiorly and exteriorly the church, assisted by the Rev. pastor, also Fathers Gauthier, Duff us, Cicolari, and a full congregation of the laity. The Reverend Father Gauthier celebrated Mass and his Lordship preached an eloquent sermon appropriate to the occasion."

"On the 18th of June, 1883, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Cleary, Bishop of Kingston, visited the parish and administered confirmation to three hundred and sixty-three persons. On the 19th of September, 1886, His Lordship visited the parish and appointed the Very Rev. Alexander Macdonell, Vicar-General of the Diocese and received his oath of office in the presence of Rev. Thomas Kelly, Sec. Rev. C. J. Duffus of St. Raphael's, Rev. John Twomey of Lochiel, Rev. William A. Macdonell, Glen Nevis, and a full congregation of the laity, to whom the Bishop explained, in eloquent terms, the dignity and obligations of the office to which their humble pastor was raised."

"In the Summer of 1861, the ground in front of the church was terraced and a new fence built to the west and in front of the church"

The parish was established in 1833 as part of the Diocese of Kingston, which, as I've already said, was formed from the Vicariate of Upper Canada in 1826. The Diocese of Alexandria in Ontario (Alexandrinus in Ontario) was itself erected in 1890, perhaps on account of its splendid Church, and became the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall in 1976. According to the Annuario Pontificio 2007, the Diocese has the remarkably small Catholic population of about 55,675 souls, which has been pretty static over the last 40 years, in 31 Parishes.

The Diocese is currently vacant since Bishop Durocher was transferred to be Archbishop of Gatineau. The Administrator of the Diocese is Fr. Kelvin Maloney.

Sowing the Seeds of Catholicism in Canada

The seeds of the Catholic Faith in Canada were sown by France, eldest daughter of the Church. So in a sense Canada is the senior Granddaughter of Our Holy Mother the Church. Even before the arrival of Jacques Cartier, French sailors had landed and, as good sons of the Church, had consacrated the lands of Canada to God and to His Blessed Mother. The first Mass on Canada's shores was celebrated on 7th July, 1534 by the Chaplain to the Cartier expedition. The foundation of the settlements at Sainte-Croix and Annapolis (Port Royal) was the first permanent presence of Holy Mother Church in Canada.

The first serious missionary endeavours began with the foundation of Québec by Samuel de Champlain. Franciscans (1615), Jesuits (1625), the Ursuline Nuns (1640), the Congregation of Notre Dame (1653) and Suplicians (1657) were the early pioneers.

Until 1659, Canada, known as New France, was a vicarate of the Archdiocese of Rouen. In that year, Pope Alexander VII Chigi appointed François de Montmorency-Laval as Vicar Apostolic of New France. In 1674 Pope Clement X Altieri created him first Bishop of Québec, the first Diocese of Canada.

1763 was a year of potential disaster. By the Treaty of Paris, Angican English forces occupied New France. The Protestant English proposed to substitute an Anglican for a Catholic Hierarchy, as had been done in England and Ireland two centuries earlier - in violation of the Treaty of Paris, which had confirmed the liberty of Holy Mother Church in New France. The English authorities proceeded to protestantize education and to interfere in the nomination of Bishops and insisted upon the title of Superintendent of Catholic Worship for Catholic Bishops, reserving the title to their own Anglican pretenders. They forbade the Franciscans, Jesuits and Suplicians to accept novices. Only the latter retained their property in the general confiscation of 1774. Providence has strange ways and it was the wave of refugees from the French Rebellion that swelled the diminishing ranks of the Clergy of Canada. However, this period of open persecution was not to end until 1819, with the elevation of the See of Québec to an Archdiocese, with Suffragan Vicarates Apostolic of Upper Canada (based upon the Diocese of Kingston) and Nova Scotia (based upon the Archdiocese of Halifax).