Celebrating our 200th ANNIVERSARY

Diocesan and religious order archives are repositories of the Church’s memory and history.

One way that we know of “Christ and the power of his resurrection” (Philippians 3:10) is through documents, like the scriptures, but also through the records that have been created in the 200 years since this Diocese was created. The archives of the Archdiocese of Kingston is full of treasures that offer a glimpse into the Catholic history of Kingston and the wider diocese. Over the course of the bicentennial year, we will be featuring documents from the archives that illustrate the development of the diocese, share stories   of the parishes, and shine a light on the people that form the Roman Catholic community of the Archdiocese of Kingston. 

One of the most important documents in the Archives - you might even say the most important because without it we’d have no Diocese - is the papal brief that created the Diocese of Kingston. A papal brief is an official document issued by the pope and written in Latin. This particular brief was issued on January 27, 1826 by Pope Leo XII, who served as pope from 1823 to 1829.  This papal brief not only erected the Diocese of Kingston but also appointed the Reverend Alexander Macdonell as Bishop of Kingston. The Diocese covered a much larger geographical area than it does today, encompassing all of Upper Canada at the time, from the Quebec border to Windsor. From 1841 to 1904 the original borders of the diocese of Kingston were reduced as several new dioceses were created, including Toronto, Ottawa, Peterborough, Alexandria-Cornwall, and Sault Ste. Marie. On December 28th, 1889, the diocese was elevated to become the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kingston. 

A Pope would use either a papal brief or a papal bull to create a diocese – the formal term is “erect a diocese”. A papal brief was written on vellum and always has the Pope’s name at the top usually in capital letters, in this case LEO PP XII. The difference between a papal brief and a papal bull is that a papal bull is a more formal document (in form and presentation, not in authority) also written on vellum, but with a lead medallion attached by a cord called a bulla that bears the pope’s seal.

Bishop Patrick Phelan was officially the Bishop of Kingston for only 30 days: from May 8th to June 6th, 1857. While he only held that title for a month, he effectively oversaw the Diocese for nearly a decade and a half.

The second Bishop of Kingston, Remigius Gaulin, continued the work begun by Bishop Macdonell including planning for the cathedral and providing for the education of Catholic youth. While he made some great strides in his first couple of years as Bishop, he suffered serious issues with his physical and mental health which greatly impacted his ability to serve the Diocese. In February of 1843, the Vicar General of Bytown (Ottawa), Patrick Phelan was appointed the titular Bishop of Carrhae and the coadjutor with right of succession to Bishop Gaulin. Two days after Bishop Phelan’s consecration as bishop in August of that year, Bishop Gaulin wrote a pastoral letter announcing that, due to his health, the responsibility of the Diocese would be given to Bishop Phelan.

As Coadjutor Bishop, Phelan was responsible for many critical moments in the history of the Diocese: he laid the cornerstone of St. Mary’s Cathedral, oversaw its construction, and dedicated it once it opened; the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph arrived in Kingston and opened the Hotel Dieu Hospital and orphanage; the Christian Brothers founded their school in Kingston and Phelan oversaw the opening of schools in St. Andrew’s, Belleville, and Alexandria as well as supporting the Congregation of Notre Dame and their school, along with Regiopolis College; and, in Bytown, the Missionary Oblates established a mission which would lead to schools, a seminary, and what would become the University of Ottawa, and the Grey Nuns of Charity founded the General Hospital. Under Bishop Phelan, the Catholic population of Kingston grew while territory was lost as there was an influx of Irish Immigrants in 1847 and nearly twenty parishes were founded but the Diocese of Bytown was created taking territory from Kingston. Numerous Catholic organizations and societies were established, and Bishop Phelan presided over the first Diocesan synod.

Upon Bishop Gaulin’s death on May 8th, 1857, Bishop Phelan formally became the Bishop of Kingston. He presided over his predecessor’s funeral and, at that event, he became ill. Towards the end of the month, he had recovered enough to travel to Belleville to bless the new cemetery but there, his illness was exacerbated and his condition worsened, until he ultimately passed away on June 8th, serving as Bishop of Kingston for only one month.