175th anniversary of the Diocese of Saint John NB (1842-2017)
Thursday, October 5, 2017
The Diocese of Saint John, New Brunswick, is celebrating its 175th anniversary during 2017. To mark the occasion, a solemn Mass was presided on 1 October 2017 by His Eminence Gérald Cyprien Cardinal Lacroix, Archbishop of Québec and Primate of Canada. The concelebrants included the Most Reverend Robert Harris, Bishop of Saint John; the Most Reverend Lionel Gendron, P.S.S., Bishop of Saint-Jean-Longueuil and President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB); the Most Reverend Luigi Bonazzi, Apostolic Nuncio to Canada; all the Catholic Bishops who belong to the Atlantic Episcopal Assembly; the Most Reverend Scott McCaig, C.C., Bishop of the Military Ordinariate of Canada, and Msgr. Frank Leo, Jr., C.S.S., General Secretary of the CCCB.
The Diocese of Saint John is the seventh-oldest Roman Catholic diocese in Canada, established in 1842 by Pope Gregory XVI. Once part of the Diocese of Charlottetown, the Diocese of Saint John originally embraced the whole province of New Brunswick but today is one of four Catholic dioceses in the province. It has 83 parishes and missions, with a Catholic population of 115,400 served by 54 diocesan priests, eight priests who are members of institutes of consecrated life, two permanent deacons, 69 Sisters who are members of religious institutes, as well as 20 lay pastoral workers. The solemn Mass celebrating the diocesan anniversary was broadcast live on Salt + Light Television.