Showing 342 results

Authority record
Corporate body · 1930-

St. Teresa's Parish was established in 1930 in response to a rapidly growing Catholic population on the western margin of the city of St. John's. Previous to this date, residents in this area had fallen within the broad boundaries of the Cathedral Parish and later, St. Patrick's Parish. Beginning in 1924, Rev. W. H. Kitchen, pastor of St. Patrick's, appointed one of his assistant priests, Rev. H. A. Summers, to attend to the growing Catholic community surrounding Mundy Pond by conducting weekly visits to the area. Later, in 1928, Archbishop Edward P. Roche directed Summers to take a census of the Catholic population of the Mundy Pond, Freshwater Road and Thorburn Road areas, the results of which suggested the viability of an independent parish. Two years later, Summers was appointed St. Teresa's first parish priest.

During Summers' early visits to Mundy Pond, services were held in a small schoolhouse at the corner of Pearce and Campbell avenues. After he was appointed pastor of St. Teresa's, Summers oversaw the construction of a three-room school that also served as a temporary chapel. The first mass was celebrated there on Christmas Eve 1930. The building functioned as the parish church until a concrete-basement church was constructed on Mundy Pond Road during 1937 and 1938, (blessed and dedicated by Archbishop Roche 12 June 1938). Despite the fact that this building was designed to be altered and extended to accommodate future growth, construction on a new church and monastery, adjacent to the concrete-basement church, was begun in 1962. Finished in 1964, the first mass was celebrated in the new St. Teresa's 25 October and was later blessed and dedicated by Archbishop Patrick J. Skinner 13 December. The former church was then converted into a parish hall.

Schools formed an integral part of St. Teresa's parochial organization. As early as 1899, a Catholic school was opened at Mundy Pond in a private home. Circa 1906, Archbishop Michael F. Howley built the school, at the corner of Pearce and Campbell avenues, that was visited by Summers in his early ministrations to the area. This building was replaced by the three-room school built by Summers in 1930. Summers also built a one-room school in the Freshwater area in 1930, and an all-grades school in the Freshwater and Thorburn roads section of the parish in 1936. In 1944, the Sisters of Mercy took over the administration of the school at Mundy Pond. The three-room school built by Summers was replaced by a new eight-room school between 1948 and 1949, adjoining the Sisters' Convent. In the 1960s, the two schools on Freshwater and Thorburn roads closed and were amalgamated with St. Teresa's Parish School (several times reconstructed and enlarged) on Mundy Pond Road.

In 1956, due to a shortage of priests in the Archdiocese of St. John's, Archbishop Skinner invited members of the Redemptorist Order to assume responsibility for the direction and administration of St. Teresa's Parish. The Redemptorist congregation was officially associated with the Archdiocese of St. John's 21 October 1956 when Archbishop Skinner installed Patrick Mann, a Redemptorist priest, as the Pastor of St. Teresa's (Redemptorists at St. Teresa's were incorporated as the Newfoundland Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in 1959). Although the parish remains in the control of a religious congregation, it is administered in the same manner as all other secular parishes within the Archdiocese of St. John's. However, a monastery is attached to St. Teresa's in which the Redemptorists live in community, and their activities can be divided into those associated with the functions of their order and the functions of the parish. When the Redemptorists are engaged in mission work and other devotional activities within the Archdiocese, they are responsible to the Superior of the Toronto Province of the Most Holy Redeemer, the eastern chapter of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer of Canada. However, as parochial administrators, they are responsible to the Archbishop of St. John's.

In October 1978, Rev. James Glavine held a week-long retreat for parishioners of St. Teresa's which initiated the establishment of the St. Teresa's Parish Council. In 1980, the Council was comprised of a Steering Committee and six open committees: the Liturgical Committee, the Education Committee, the Committee for Spiritual Renewal, the Funding Committee, the Social Committee, and the Apostolic Committee. Numerous other committees and societies have been established at St. Teresa's to share in the administration of the parish, including the Men's Committee, the Ladies' Society, the Finance Committee, the Property Committee, the Knights of Columbus, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Mission Club, and the Youth Group (this list is not exhaustive).

Although the parish boundaries have been altered over time, they still include the Mundy Pond, Thorburn and Freshwater Road areas.

Pastors who have served St. Teresa's Parish since its establishment include: Harold A. Summers (1930-1952); Randall J. Greene (1952-1956); Patrick Mann (1956-1959); John Maddigan (1959-1967); John O'Deady (1967-1969); William Wylie (1969-1975); James V. Glavine (1975-1978); Eugene O'Reilly (1978-1983); Thomas Kelly (1983-1984); Raymond Corriveau (1984-1990); Dermot Fitzpatrick (1990); Raymond Earle (1991-1993); Douglas Stamp (1993-1996); and Raymond McNally (1996- ).

Corporate body · 1955-

In 1955, a school-chapel complex was constructed on Smithville Crescent in the Churchill Park area of St. John's to service the religious and educational needs of the local Catholic residents. Initially established as a mission of the Basilica-Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, the new chapel was dedicated to St. Pius X on 15 January 1956 by Patrick J. Skinner, Archbishop of St. John's. Priests on the Basilica staff were charged with the administration of the mission.

On 2 September 1962, St. Pius X was canonically established as a parish and its administration was transferred from Basilica clergy to the Society of Jesus of Upper Canada Province (Jesuit Fathers). In 1963, the St. Pius X Rectory and Gonzaga Residence were opened to meet the community needs of the Jesuit Fathers and, in 1975, construction began on a new parish church. Completed in 1976, the new church was blessed and dedicated 1 December 1976 by Archbishop Skinner. The original chapel was then converted into a parish hall.

Parochial schools have formed an integral part of the organization of St. Pius X Parish. St. Pius X School (upper floor of the school-chapel complex on Smithville Crescent) opened 19 September 1955 under the administration of the Sisters of Mercy. In 1967, St. Pius X Boys' School was opened on Elizabeth Avenue under the administration of the Irish Christian Brothers. The original 1955 school then became St. Pius X Girls' School. Due to a shortage of religious teachers, the Sisters of Mercy withdrew from the girls' school in 1978 and the Christian Brothers from the boys' school in 1982. These schools then became organized along the lines of an elementary and a junior high school, both of which were co-educational. The Jesuits were also active in parochial education, assuming control of the administration of the newly constructed Gonzaga Regional High School upon their arrival in St. John's in September 1962. They withdrew from the high school in June 1998 as a result of denominational education reforms passed by the Provincial Government in 1997. These reforms also led to the closing of St. Pius X Elementary School and the reorganization of St. Pius X Junior High as Rennies River Elementary.

The administrative structure of the parish has evolved over time. Shortly after its establishment in 1962, Ladies' and Men's Associations were established to aid in the management of parish affairs. This responsibility later passed to the St. Pius X Parish Pastoral Council, formed in October 1972. In addition to the priests of the parish, its membership included two members of the executive committees of the Men's and Ladies' Associations and six members at large.

The council was reorganized in 1991, with a formal written constitution; it had 12 members elected at large and three appointed, together with the pastor, priests, and religious of the parish. Standing committees included Finance, Liturgy, Outreach, Parish Life, and Religious Education (all committees report to the council).

Other committees and lay societies that have been active within the parish include the Environmental Committee, the Bereavement Committee, Attention to the Neighbourhood Committee, Development and Peace Committee, the Catholic Women's League, the Knights of Columbus, and the Boy Scouts.

Additional parish activities include the provision of Roman Catholic chaplaincy services to the General Hospital at the Health Sciences Centre and the support of the MacMorran Community Centre and parish outreach house in the Brophy Place neighbourhood.

Originally, St. Pius X's boundaries extended around the Churchill Park area. However, they were enlarged in 1982 when the Archdiocese of St. John's suppressed Our Lady of Lourdes Parish (est. 1964). The bulk of the territory comprising Our Lady of Lourdes was amalgamated with St. Pius X, including the Mount Scio-Nagles's Hill area. The custody of Our Lady of Lourdes parish registers also passed to the pastor of St. Pius X.

Pastors who have served St. Pius X Parish since its establishment include: Fred Lynch (1962-1970); Leonard Fischer (1970-1982); William J. Browne (1982-1988); Donald Beaudois (1988-1992); Jack Lynch (1992-1993); and Wayne Bolton (1993- ).

Corporate body · 1982-

St. Peter's initially was established as a mission of Mary Queen of the World Parish (Mount Pearl) in 1977. Members of the Capuchin congregation administering Mary Queen of the World held Sunday mass in the newly constructed St. Peter's Elementary School to serve the growing Catholic population in Mount Pearl's Newtown area. On 1 September 1982, Alphonsus L. Penney, Archbishop of St. John's, dismembered Mary Queen of the World Parish, detaching the Newtown territory to canonically erect St. Peter's Parish. The gymnasium at St. Peter's Elementary served as the parish's centre until 12 September 1985, when the newly constructed St. Peter's Chapel, annexed to O'Donel High School's gymnasium, was officially opened and dedicated by Archbishop Penney. Currently, a parish church is under construction at 112 Ashford Drive. A sod-turning ceremony was held 22 July 2001 and construction is expected to be completed in 2002.

A Steering Committee was established in 1982, charged with the responsibility of studying and reporting on the most appropriate administrative structure for the parish. The following year, the Committee recommended the establishment of a Parish Council to be comprised of the pastor, pastoral assistants, six members at large, the principals of the parochial schools, a parish member on the school board, and a parish member on the Diocesan Pastoral Council. (Information is not available on the current structure of the Parish Council. Denominational education reforms likely have altered its composition.) The first Parish Council was elected in 1984.

Other committees and lay societies established to share in the administration of the parish include the Liturgy Committee, the Administrative Committee, the Social Committee, the Christian Service Committee, the Finance Committee, the Building Fund Committee, the Planning and Building Committee, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, and the Legion of Mary (this list is not exhaustive).

St. Peter's Parish maintained close relations with Catholic schools in Mount Pearl, including St. Peter's Elementary on Munden Drive, St. Peter's Primary on Ashford Drive, and O'Donel High on Ruth Avenue. These schools are no longer under church control as a result of denominational education reforms passed by the Provincial Government in 1997.

Pastors who have served St. Peter's Parish since its establishment in 1982 include: Raymond Lahey (1982-1986); Francis A. Coady (1986-1987); William K. Lawton (1987-1990); Louis Mousseau, Administrator (1990-1991); and Charles Kelly (1991- ).

Corporate body · 1857-

Sts. Peter and Paul Parish was established in the community of Harbour Main, Conception Bay, in 1857. Harbour Main is an amalgamation of the three separate communities of Harbour Main, Chapel Cove and Lakeview, and was settled almost exclusively by an Irish Catholic population. The first chapel was constructed in 1811, by Reverend Thomas Ewer who was stationed at Harbour Grace. From 1811 until 1833, Harbour Main was administered to by visiting priests from Harbour Grace. In 1833 the parish of Brigus was established with Harbour Main as a mission until it was raised to the status of a parish in 1857. Under the supervision of Reverend Richard M. Shean (1911-1927) a church was built to replace the one dating from 1811. The church was completed in 1917 and is still used today.

The first school in Harbour Main was constructed in 1839 and in 1853 three Sisters of the Presentation Order established a convent and founded another school in the community of Chapel Cove; From the mid-1800s to the early 1900s, Sts. Peter and Paul Parish encompassed the area from Turk's Gut to the south side of Holyrood. Although churches and eventually separate parishes were established at Salmon Cove (Avondale), Cat's Cove (Conception Harbour) and Holyrood (Conception Bay), for most of this period the large area of the parish was administered by Harbour Main.

Pastors that have served St. Peter and Paul Parish since its inception include: Kyran Walsh (1857-1868); Jeremiah O'Donnell (1868-1877); Joseph Donnelly (1877-1885); James Brown (1885-1891); Patrick O'Donnell (1891-1906); John Roe (1906-1911); Richard M. Shean (1911-1927); Dwyer (1927-1953); Jeremiah Howard (1958-1969); Linus Coady (1969-1980); James Glavine (1980-1983); Linus Coady (1982-1983, 2nd term); Michael Walsh (1983-1987); William Houlahan (1987-1990); Edward Bromley (1990-1994); Ramon Bolates (1991-1993); Wayne Cummings (1995-1997); Brian Dunn (1996- ).

St. Paul's School Trinity
Corporate body · 1902-1969

St. Paul’s School, Trinity was an all-grade school administered by the Trinity Church of England Board of Education. It combined the former Commercial School and the grade schools. Until 1912, and the opening of the new school building, the school operated out of the Parish Hall.

The school registers indicate that St. Paul’s was mainly considered a high school - named on many of the registers, Trinity High - with the primary grades being referred to as the “Primary Department”. Up until the early 1960s the three-room school took students from the primary grades to grade 11.

In 1962 a regional high school opened at Port Rexton, and the School Boards of Trinity and Trinity East-Port Rexton were brought under the same administration. St. Paul’s continued as an elementary school. It closed in the early 1970s.

Source: St. Paul’s School Trinity fonds; School Building Committee fonds.

Corporate body · 1831-1996

St. Patrick's Parish was established in 1831 and included the communities of Bay Bulls, Witless Bay, Mobile, Tors Cove, Burnt Cove, St. Michael's, Bauline and La Manche. Prior to this, these communities were part of the much larger St. John's Parish which stretched from La Manche on the Southern Shore to Holyrood, Conception Bay.

In 1893, St. Patrick's Parish was divided. Bay Bulls and Witless Bay remained in St. Patrick's Parish. The remaining communities were transferred to the the jurisdiction of the newly established Sacred Heart Parish, with Mobile as its centre. In 1921, Mobile was removed from Sacred Heart Parish and transferred back to St. Patrick's Parish.

Additional jurisdictional changes to St. Patrick's Parish occurred in 1921 when Archbishop Edward P. Roche separated Bay Bulls from St. Patrick's Parish and created the Parish of Saints Peter and Paul, with its parish centre at Bay Bulls. This left the communities of Witless Bay and Mobile under St. Patrick's Parish.

In 1965, Sacred Heart Parish was dismembered and the parish came under the jurisdiction of St. Patrick's Parish. In 1996 St. Patrick's Parish and Sacred Heart Parish were canonically suppressed. The successor parish was the newly created parish Our Lady, Star of the Sea.

Freedom of religion had been granted to Roman Catholics in Newfoundland in 1784 and Rev. James O'Donel, vicar apostolic, was selected to organize the Catholic Church in Newfoundland. Sometime before 1796, O'Donel built the first Catholic Church in Bay Bulls, then part of St. John's Parish. The first priest appointed to St. Patrick's Parish was Rev. (later Dean) Patrick Cleary. He chose Witless Bay as the centre of the parish where he built a presbytery and started the construction of a church in the 1830s. This church, the current church in Witless Bay, was completed by Dean Roche ca. 1877. In 1989, when renovations were being made to the presbytery at Witless Bay, newspapers dating from 1840 were discovered in the walls of the house, suggesting that this was the original house that built by Cleary built and the oldest surviving Roman Catholic Parish presbytery in the Archdiocese of St. John's.

Education in St. Patrick's Parish was organized by Dean Cleary. Shortly after the Education Act of 1836, a school was established at Witless Bay and staffed with lay people. By 1844, there were Catholic schools in other communities in the parish, including Bay Bulls and St. Michael's. In 1860 the Presentation Sisters established a convent and school in Witless Bay. They educated the girls while the boys were educated in a separate school by a lay teacher. In 1915, Rev. Patrick J. O'Brien added two new rooms to the convent and school which allowed the boys and girls to be taught by the Presentation Sisters. In 1948 the Convent school at Witless Bay was renovated and called St. Bernard's School after its foundress Mother M. Bernard O'Donnel.

In 1920, Rev. O'Brien also built a new three-room school at Bay Bulls. In 1921 the Sisters of Mercy were invited to St. Patrick's Parish. They established a convent in Bay Bulls and directed the operation of the schools in the community; In the 1970s Rev. William Lawton, who had established the first parish council in Tors Cove-St. Michael's, organized the St. Patrick's Parish Council. By 1975, the men of St. Patrick's Parish had formed a District Council of the Knights of Columbus and called it the Dean Cleary Council in memory of the early pastor. Other community organizations which have been active in the parish include the Ladies Auxiliary of the Knights of Columbus, the Legion of Mary, the Columbian Squires and the Girl Guides and Boy Scouts.

Some of the priests who served the people of St. Patrick's Parish (est. in 1831) are as follows: Dean Patrick Cleary (1831-1882); Dean Roche (1882-1916); Patrick O'Brien (1916-1922); J. J. Greene (1923-1934); T. J. Gough (1934-1954); Richard McGrath (1954-1968); Francis Coady (1968-1970); William Lawton as administrator (1970-1973); E. J. Purcell (1973-1986); Tony Bennett (1986-1987); Francis Puddister (1987-1990); William Pomroy (1990-1995); and Robert Ryan (1995-1996).

Corporate body · 1840

St. Patrick's Parish, located on Fogo island off the northeast coast of Newfoundland, was established in 1840. In the 1830s and 1840s, Irish Roman Catholic families, originally from Waterford, migrated from the Conception Bay area to Fogo, settling in Tilting. In 1785 there was a priest in Tilting by the name of Reverend Thomas Londregan. In 1834 the community had its first parish priest, an Irishman named Reverend Martin Joseph Bergan. He supervised the construction of a church which was completed in 1838. Reverend Patrick Ward became the first resident parish priest after St. Patrick's Parish was officially established. In 1974 a new St. Patrick's Church was consecrated in Tilting. An uncertain number of chapels and churches have existed in the area prior to this one.

Currently, St. Patrick's Parish consists of four communities: Tilting (St. Patrick's Church), Island Harbour (St. Pius X Church), Fogo (Our Lady Of The Snows Church), and Joe Batt's Arm (Mary, Queen of the World Church).

Pastors that have served St. Patrick's Parish since its establishment include: Patrick Ward (1840-1865); James Brown (1865-1885); Richard Walker (1886-1892); William P. Finn (1892-1910); Edward O'Brien (1910-1914); Michael J. Kinsella (1944-1948); Joseph O'Brien (1948-1955); Gregory Pumphery (1955-1964); Brendan J. McCarthy (1964-1967); Kevin Barker (1967-1976); William Hearn (1976-1979); Edward Brophy (1979-1984); Michael Hynes (1984-1986); David Heale (1986); Wayne Cummings (1986-1990); Francis Aylward (1990-1994); Tony/Anthony Hageman (1994-1997); Thomas Duffenais (1998-).

Corporate body · 1881-

St. Patrick's Parish originated in its founding to Bishop John Thomas Mullock's purchase of a piece of land at Riverhead (old West End of St. John's), in 1852, on which he intended to build a church, school, and convent to serve the spiritual and educational needs of the area. However, the evolution of the parish was slow, extending over a period of several years. The foundation stone for the parish church was first laid in 1855 in connection with the celebrations surrounding the consecration of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. However, construction did not proceed after this ceremony, although St. Patrick's Convent was established at Riverhead the following year for members of the Presentation of the Most Blessed Virgin Congregation (Presentation Sisters). It has been suggested that a lack of funding and skilled manpower were to blame for the delay in the construction of the parish church. In any case, a provisional wooden church was erected on the present site of the Deanery (September of 1860), to service the needs of the parishioners until the church proper was completed. On 26 June 1864, Bishop Mullock laid the cornerstone (as distinct from the foundation stone) of the present-day church. However, progress on the structure was sporadic. It was finally opened for public worship and consecrated on 28 August 1881.

Under the denominational education system, the Presentation Sisters and the Irish Christian Brothers were active in the parish as administrators of St. Patrick's Convent and Holy Cross schools (these institutions are still in operation today, but are no longer run by religious congregations and are now co-educational). St. Clare's Mercy Hospital also exists within the boundaries of St. Patrick's, and the parish clergy are responsible for its ministry.

St. Patrick's established a Parish Council in 1975 and, in cooperation with the Pastor, it plays a leading role in determining policy for the Parish, including the approval of budgetary expenditures and renovations. In addition to the Parish Council, numerous lay societies play a part in the administration of parish activities. Societies that have been or still are active within the parish, include the Holy Name Society, the St. Anne's Sodality, the Legion of Mary, the Women's and the Men's Committees, the Youth Group, the Altar Boys' Society, the Children of Mary, the Christian Doctrine Society, the League of the Sacred Heart, the Knights of Columbus, and the Catholic Women's League (this list is not exhaustive). All societies are required to report to the Parish Council as the principal body responsible for co-ordinating parish affairs.

At the time of its founding, the parish's boundaries encompassed the West End of St. John's, then known as Riverhead. Although the boundaries have been altered over time with the establishment of additional parishes in St. John's, St. Patrick's still takes in most of the old West End of the city.

Due to insufficient documentation, it is difficult to identify the priests who attended to the needs of the parish in its earliest years of operation. Michael Walsh, Thomas Coady, William Walsh, John Conway, and John Scott were associated with St. Patrick's Parish before 1873. Pastors who have served St. Patrick's Parish since 1873 include: John Ryan (1873-1908?); J. J. McDermot (1909-1915); Henry T. Renouf (1915-1920); William Kitchen (1920-1932); Thomas J. Flynn (1932-1945); Ronald McDermot Murphy (1945-1970); Charles K. Greene (1970-1973); William K. Lawton (1973-1977); David P. Morrissey (1977-1984); and James Doody (1984- ).

Corporate body · 1966-

St. Patrick's Parish, located in Plate Cove on the Bonavista Peninsula, was established in July 1966. The community was first settled in the early 1800s, largely by Irish Roman Catholics from Bonavista and King's Cove. Settlement occurred on both sides of a cove, with the areas known as Plate Cove East and Plate Cove West. The communities were initially missions of Sts. Peter and Paul Parish, King's Cove.

In 1857, although there was a small Catholic school in Plate Cove East, the residents continued to rely on the church and school at nearby Open Hall or at the parish centre at King's Cove. Following the establishment of Plate Cove as a parish, Reverend Michael Hynes was appointed the first resident priest. In 1984 St. Patrick's Church was completely destroyed by fire. A new church was built in a more central location between Plate Cove East and Plate Cove West.

From 1990 to the present, St. Patrick's Parish in Plate Cove has been ministered to by assistants of the parish priest at nearby King's Cove.

Pastors that have served St. Patrick's parish since its inception include: Michael Hynes (1966-1979); Aloysius Antle (1979-1982); Gregory Pumphery (1983); William Hearn (1983); Larry/Lawrence George (1984-1989); Michael Hynes (1990-1992 parish priest of King's Cove; Sister Alice Dower PBVM assisted); William Houlahan (1993-1997 parish priest of King's Cove; Sister Sarah Moore, Sister Amelia Mooney and Sister Elizabeth Whelan assisted); Sebastian and Brian Colbert (1998-1999 parish priests of King's Cove; Sister Elizabeth Whelan assisted); Brian Dunn (1999- parish priest of King's Cove; Sister Elizabeth Whelan assisting as Administrator of Plate Cove).