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 the Most Reverend 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
Territory	Newfoundland and Labrador
Ecclesiastical province	Archdiocese of St. John's, Newfoundland
Population - Catholics	120,135 (49.6%)
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	30 May 1784; 240 years ago
Cathedral	Basilica of St. John the Baptist
Patron saint	St. John the Baptist
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Archbishop	Peter Hundt
Suffragans	Robert 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 a diocese.

In 1904, St. John's was elevated to an archdiocese.

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.^[2]

In 1988, a scandal erupted over allegations of widespread abuse of children at Mount Cashel Orphanage.^[3][4][5][6] From 1989 to 1993, nine Christian Brothers were charged and prosecuted for various criminal offences including sex offences against the boys of Mount Cashel orphanage.^{[7][8][9][10]} The religious order that ran the orphanage filed for bankruptcy in the face of numerous lawsuits. Since the Mount Cashel scandal erupted, a number of priests across the country have been accused of sexual abuse.^[11]

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.^[12] Though officially retired, Power was still occasionally active in Catholic ministry when he relocated to Newfoundland.^[12]

The same month in July 2020, the Newfoundland and Labrador court of appeal unanimously reversed a 2018 decision of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador and ruled that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John's was vicariously liable for the sexual abuse committed at the Mount Cashel Orphanage in the 1950s and 1960s, paving the way for victims of the Mount Cashel sex abuse scandal to receive compensation from the Diocese.^[13][14][15]

In July 2021, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of NL announced plans to sell off assets in order to compensate victims of the Mount Cashel sex abuse scandal.^[16]

On July 5, 2024, a third-party insolvency monitor put forward a sum of $104 million to pay the victims of sexual abuse by the Archdiocese. A document filed with Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court put the net claim award at $104,074,667. Among the 367 claims filed, 292 had already been accepted, while 65 were disallowed and 10 were considered pending. The document stated the average payment to a claimant was $356,417.^[17]

Bishops

Prefecture Apostolic of Newfoundland

#	Image	Name	From	Until
Erected: 30 May 1784
1		James Louis O'Donel O.F.M.	17 May 1784	→

Vicariate Apostolic of Newfoundland

#	Image	Name	From	Until
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

#	Image	Name	From	Until
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

#	Image	Name	From	Until
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

#	Image	Name	From	Until
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

• Thomas Francis Brennan (1893-1905)
• Patrick James Skinner, C.I.M. (1950-1951), appointed Archbishop of St. John's (1951)

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

• William Aquin Carew, appointed titular Archbishop of Telde in 1969, serving as Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi and Rwanda (1969-1974), Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Cyprus (1974-1983), Apostolic Delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine (1974-1983), and Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Japan (1983-1997)
• Michael Fintan Power, appointed Bishop of Saint George's, Newfoundland in 1911
• Henry Thomas Renouf, appointed Bishop of Saint George's, Newfoundland in 1920
• Richard Thomas McGrath, appointed Bishop of Saint George's, Newfoundland in 1970
• Raymond John Lahey, appointed Bishop of Saint George's, Newfoundland in 1986

Bibliography

• Archdiocese of St. John's, Newfoundland page at catholichierarchy.org retrieved July 14, 2006
• Newfoundland Biographies - Newfoundland History retrieved November 30, 2007

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. "Catholic Church Liable for Sexual Abuse of Altar Boys: St. John's, Newfoundland". 2009-02-16. Archived from the original on 2009-08-15. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
3. Gullage, Peter (February 17, 2019). "Mount Cashel: After 30 years, the pain still has not gone away". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
4. Bartlett, Jeff (January 13, 2018). "Abuse settlement brings dark memories — and hope — for journalist who covered Mount Cashel scandal". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
5. CBC News, NL (September 19, 2007). "Whistleblower in Elizabeth Towers scandal dies at 69". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
6. Hughes, Samuel (1992). "Mount Cashel Hughes Commission" (PDF). Report on Mount Cashel. One: 149.
7. Government, NL (1997). "Mount Cashel Orphanage Abuse Scandal Timeline". Heritage Newfoundland and Labrdor. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
8. Government, NL (1997). "Mount Cashel Orphanage Abuse Scandal". Heritage Newfoundland and Labrador. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
9. 15 years later, Mount Cashel cases appear to end. CBC News, Friday, May 28, 2004. Retrieved January 31, 2008. Archived February 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
10. Bill, Roger (February 23, 2019). "The pedestals were washed away: The sex abuse scandals that rocked the church in N.L." Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
11. Notorious Mount Cashel orphanage to close
12. The Canadian Press (July 21, 2020). "Retired priest from archdiocese of Toronto facing sex charges in Newfoundland". Global News. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
13. 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.
14. Mercer, Greg (January 13, 2021). "Three decades after Mount Cashel orphanage abuse scandal, victims are still fighting for justice". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
15. Cooke, Ryan (January 15, 2021). "Mount Cashel survivor reflects on traumatic path to victory against Catholic church". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
16. 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.
17. "$104M awarded to sexual abuse victims of Mount Cashel and N.L. priests". CBC News. July 5, 2024. Retrieved July 5, 2024.

External links

• Official website
• Basilica Heritage Foundation website

47.5656°N 52.7082°W / 47.5656; -52.7082