Archdiocese of Quebec

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(QUEBECENSIS)

The Archdiocese of Quebec, in Canada, comprises the counties of Beauce, Bellechasse, Dorchester, Kamouraska, Levis, L'Islet, Lotbiniere, Megantic, Montmagny, part of Temiscouata, Montmorency, Portneuf, and Quebec. The early missionaries, the Récollets (1615-29) and the Jesuits (1625), depended directly on the Holy See. The Jesuits having returned alone in 1632, the Archbishop of Rouen extended his jurisdiction over the country. According to the Bull of erection (1674), the See of Quebec comprehended all the possessions of France in North America: Newfoundland, Cape Breton, Acadia, Ile St. Jean, all New France from the Atlantic to the plains of the far West, the valley of the Mississippi and Louisiana, a territory much larger than Europe. After the treaty of Paris (1783), the Bishop of Quebec kept Newfoundland and what now forms the Dominion of Canada. That immense diocese was successively diminished by the erection of new sees until by the formation of Chicoutimi (1878) it was reduced to its present boundaries (see CATHOLICITY IN CANADA).

Bishops

(l) François de Montmorency Laval, consecrated (1658) Bishop of Petræa and Vicar Apostolic of New France, landed at Quebec (1659) and, having happily overcome the pretensions of the Archbishop of Rouen, set about the organization of his diocese. His first report to the Holy See (1660) states that there were only twenty-six priests, of whom sixteen were Jesuits; eight churches or chapels in Quebec and the neighbourhood, with three others in Montreal, Three Rivers, and Tadoussac; about 2000 inhabitants. No house, no revenue for the bishop, no cathedral, and no income for churches. Two orders of nuns applied themselves to the instruction of girls: the Ursulines (founded in 1639 by Venerable Marie de l'Incarnation, and the Congregation of Notre Dame founded by Ven. Marguerite Bourgeoys (1659) and granted approbation by Bishop Laval in 1669 and 1676. The Sisters of St. Joseph of La Flêche kept the hospital established in Montreal (1642) by Jeanne Mance, and the Quebec Hôtel-Dieu (1639) was entrusted to the Order of St. Augustine, the Sisters of the Mercy of Jesus. Bishop Laval founded the seminary of Quebec (1663), which became a lower seminary in 1668, but had no classes before the Conquest. The pupils attended the lectures of the Jesuit college opened in 1635, and where, on the bishop's request, classes in theology were soon added to philosophy. For its maintenance the institution was granted the tithes established in 1663; parish priests and parishes were to be served by its members; what remained of tithes was devoted to the building of churches and priests' houses. The first parish erected was that of Quebec (1664) which, suppressed by the Bull of erection of the diocese, was reestablished by the bishop in 1684 and united to the seminary; he also instituted a chapter. The parish church of Quebec, begun in 1647, consecrated in 1666 by the prelate, became and remains the cathedral. Eleven other parishes were erected in 1678. In 1683 eighteen priests of the seminary did parish work along the St. Lawrence. The Montreal parish, with Our Lady of Bon-Secours, was united to the seminary of the Sulpicians (1678). In Acadia, Port-Royal was served by the Abbé Petit, sent in 1676, and the Abbé Thury founded the Pentagoet mission in 1684. There were numerous Indian missions, some residential, some among wandering tribes, almost all in the hands of the Jesuits. Bishop Laval, in spite of material obstacles, faithfully visited his diocese and confirmed nearly 5000. The population (1683) was 10,278 in Canada, 600 Acadians, and 1512 converted Indians. The census of 1686 states that there were 44 priests, 12 students in theology, 43 Jesuits, 12 Récollets (returned in 1670), 28 Ursulines, 26 Hospitallers of the Mercy of Jesus, 16 Hospitallers of St. Joseph, and 13 Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame.

(2) Jean-Baptiste de la Croix Chevrière de St. Vallier, b. 1653; d. 1727, visited Canada as vicar-general of Bishop Laval (1685-6) and became his successor in 1688. A yearly grant of eight thousand francs from the king enabled him to increase the number of parish priests from twenty to thirty-six. The Jesuits were entrusted with the mission of the Illinois (1690) and other Indians of that region; the Récollets, with the Royal Island (Cape Breton), and the Seminary of Quebec with Acadia and the mission of the Tamarois on the left shore of the Mississippi, which it kept until after the Conquest. Two of its members, the Abbéss St. Cosme and Foucault, fell victims there to their zeal. Parishes were rendered independent of the seminary (1692). For the improvement of science in the clergy and of church discipline, ecclesiastical conferences were organized (1700), four synods held, and a ritual with a catechism published. The General Hospital of Quebec was founded (1693), also the Ursuline convent at Three Rivers (1697) which was in the meantime a hospital and a school. He approved (1688) the Charron Brothers, founders of the General Hospital of Montreal (1694). They were Hospitallers and schoolmasters and, until their extinction, half a century later, kept schools in Montreal, Three Rivers, and a few other places. Instruction was more common at that epoch than is generally admitted by historians. The Jesuits and the Sulpicians early established primary schools, teachers went about from place to place, and mostly all parish priests were school-masters. Though a most charitable man, he was not amiable. He had hurt the feelings of many, chiefly in the separation of parishes from the seminary (1692), and complaints had reached France. His resignation was called for by the king and, upon his refusal, he was retained in Paris several years (1694-7), and again from 1709 to 1713, after having been five years a prisoner in England (1704-9). During that voyage he had gone to Rome and obtained the canonical union to the See of Quebec, chapter, and seminary, of the abbeys of Maubec, Lestrées, and Benevent, granted by the king to Bishop Laval.

(3) Louis-François Duplessis de Mornay, b. 1663; d. 1741, coadjutor of Bishop St. Vallier (1713), and his successor (1727-33). He never went to Canada, sending, to administer in his stead, his coadjutor, Bishop Dosquet.

(4) Pierre-Herman Dosquet, consecrated (1725) Bishop of Samos, bishop from 1733 to 1739. His chief acts were the establishment of the sisters of the congregation of Notre Dame at Louisburg (1735) and the resignation to the king of the abbey of Benevent, more a burden than a source of revenue for the Quebec bishops. A yearly allowance of nine thousand francs was granted in return. He resigned his see in 1739, and received the abbey of Breine with an income of six thousand francs.

(5) François-Louis Pourroy de L'Auberivière, b. 1711; d. 1740, consecrated in Paris (1739) by Bishop Mornay, unfortunately died a few days after landing at Quebec.

(6) Henri-Marie de Pontbriand, b. 1708; d. 1760, was consecrated in Paris (1741). A man of great science and zeal, most devoted to his pastoral duties, he visited several times his diocese, even the distant missions of the Presentation (Ogdensburg) and Detroit, occasionally taught theology in the seminary, and established yearly retreats for priests. The new order of Grey Nuns, recently founded in Montreal by Madame D'Youville and entrusted with the General Hospital, received his encouragement and approval (1755). He aided the victims of the plague in 1746, 1757, and 1758, enabled the Ursulines to rebuild their convent at Three Rivers, destroyed by fire (1752), and retrieved a similar disaster fallen upon the Quebec Hôtel-Dieu (1755). In his pastoral letters, he exhorted the clergy to grant to the king for his wars a part of their tithes and encouraged Canadians to do their duty to their country, recalling the fate of the Acadians in 1755. During the siege of Quebec, broken in health by work and cares, he retired to a nearby parish and could see after the surrender, his palace and the seminary, the churches of the Jesuits and the Recollects greatly damaged by bullets and shells, half of the city houses, the church of the Lower-Town and the cathedral, which he had recently (1744-9) rebuilt on a larger scale, entirely destroyed.

(7) Jean-Olivier Briand (q.v;), bishop from 1766 to 1784. One of the vicars-general charged with the administration of the diocese during the vacancy, he ruled the district of Quebec. The Canadians, by two delegates, and the chapter, by an address, had entreated the King of England to maintain the Catholic hierarchy. More successful than the Abbé Montgolfier, rejected by England, the Abbé Briand, elected by the chapter in his place, was indirectly notified that the Government would not oppose his consecration, which took place in Paris (1766); He had to thwart the intentions of England of anglicizing her new subjects in faith and language. Circumstances besides seemed most unfavourable. The population, 42,000 in 1739, was in 1760, 60,000; of 181 priests only 138 remained. The Recollects and Jesuits were forbidden to receive novices; The chapter, prevented from filling its vacancies, soon died. Canonically notified — or not (it may be doubted) — of the suppression of their order, the Jesuits were left, until the death of the last, Father Casot (1800), in peaceful possession of their estates, which were afterwards forfeited to the Crown. In Louisiana they had been all banished after 1763, with the exception of Father Meurin, and their several chapels among the Illinois destroyed, while the properties of the mission of the Tamarois were sold for a farthing by the Abbé Forget-Duverger, the last priest sent by the seminary. The Recollects disappeared one by one, Father Berey, the superior, who received an annuity of 500, dying in 1800, and the last priest of the order, in 1813. The college of the Jesuits having been changed into military stores and barracks, the hope of education rested upon the seminary of Quebec, where classes opened in 1765. The loyalty of the bishop during the American War of Independence greatly contributed to obtain religious liberty for Canada. He could write in 1775: "Religion is perfectly free. I can exercise my ministry without any restriction." As a proof that he united firmness with the respect of civil authority, it may be remembered that he refused to take the Test Oath, until the formula was made acceptable to a Catholic, and once said to General Murray: "My head shall be cut off before allowing you to appoint priests to any parish." The Government granted him an annuity of 250 besides 150 for the episcopal palace that he had rebuilt and rented for public use. With three thousand francs voted by the clergy of France in 1765, it formed nearly all his revenue. Nevertheless, he found means for frequent and abundant charities. The number of parishes was about one hundred, more than twenty-five having been erected since the Conquest. A pastoral letter of 1777 contains interesting statistics: 46,323 births and 24,731 burials from 1759 to 1769, and 43,995 births with 26,127 burials from 1769 to 1777, giving a net increase of 39,460 for the whole period between 1759 and 1777. From 1767 Bishop Briand regularly visited his diocese. He ordained ninety priests. Having been allowed by Rome, for fear of a vacancy, to choose and consecrate a coadjutor with future succession, he consecrated in 1772 the Bishop of Doryln and gave him authority in 1784.

(8) Louis-Philippe Mariauchau D'Esglis was the first Quebec bishop born in Canada. He was pastor of Saint-Pierre-d'Orléans and kept until his death his small parish. According to the Ursuline annals, in 1782 priests were very scarce and several parishes without pastors. Vacancies were quickly filled, whereas, in 1788-90, the number of parishes being 121, the census of 1790 numbers 146 priests, of whom 142 were in office. Returning Acadians settled in several of the maritime provinces and were served by Vicar-General Bourg and the Fathers Girouard, Le Roux, and Donat, of the congregation of the Holy Ghost, while the Irish and Scotch Catholics of the same region were attended by the Abbéss Phelan and Jones, who resided at Halifax.

(9) Jean-François Hubert, consecrated Bishop of Almire and coadjutor of Quebec (1786), filled the see from 1788 to 1797. Every year he spent three months visiting the religious communities and a part of his diocese. In 1795 he visited Baie-des-Chaleurs. He ordained 53 priests and confirmed 45,148 people. The number of priests, in 1794, was 160 for a population of 160,000 Catholics. During the French Revolution, 34 came from France. Nine were sent to Acadia and four to Upper Canada. The seminary of Montreal, on the verge of ruin, obtained recruits, and kept possession of its estates, which, thanks to the firmness of Bishops Plessis and Panet, were declared, under Queen Victoria, its lawful property. Bishop Hubert, to please Lord Dorchester, appointed coadjutor the Abbé Bailly de Messein, parish priest of Pointe-aux-Trembles (Portneuf co.), consecrated Bishop of Capsa in 1789. A distinguished man in some regards, successful missionary in Acadia (1767- 71), professor of the seminary (1772-7), and afterwards (1778-82) private teacher of the governor's children, he favoured the establishment of the mixed university contemplated by some New England loyalists settled in Canada, and which Bishop Hubert considered and firmly opposed as an anti-Catholic agency. The coadjutor died in 1794, apologizing for his errors. Another and different coadjutor was chosen, Pierre Denault, to whom Bishop Hubert resigned his authority in 1797.

(10) Pierre Denault (q.v.) was pastor of Longueuil and kept his parish even after his consecration as Bishop of Canathe (1795). The parishes of Lower Canada numbered then about one hundred and forty, some of which he visited every year. He also visited Upper Canada in 1801 and 1802, and created, for English-speaking Catholics, the parishes of St. Andrew and St. Raphael, which he entrusted to Rev. Alex. McDonell. On his visit to the maritime provinces in 1803, he confirmed 8800 people. The primary school founded by Abbé Brassard at Nicolet he made a classical school (1803), now the seminary of Nicolet. His generous contributions to the new college of the Sulpicians (1804-5) also show his devotion to education.

(11) Joseph-Octave Plessis (q.v.), consecrated Bishop of Canathe in 1801, Bishop of Quebec from 1806 to 1825. His great achievement was the organization of the Church in Canada in which he was providentially aided by the American invasion of 1812-13. After the treaty of Ghent (1814) he was for the first time officially acknowledged as Catholic Bishop of Quebec, and granted by the king an annuity of 1000. He obtained from Rome, besides the erection of the Vicariate Apostolic of Nova Scotia (1817), the appointment of bishops for Upper Canada, Montreal, New Brunswick, including Prince Edward's and the Magdalen Islands, and for the North-West, where the Abbéss Provencher and Dumoulin had begun (1818) the mission of the Red River. England assented, but on the express condition that these bishops would be only auxiliaries and vicars-general of Quebec. He also obtained from the pope not to use, while the Government objected, the title of archbishop granted to him in 1819. All the new prelates were consecrated by him on his return: McDonell (1820), McEachern and Lartigue (1821), Provencher (1822). He ordained 114 priests, preserved the college of Nicolet, and encouraged St. Hyacinth College, begun by Abbé Girouard (1811). Like his predecessors, he firmly opposed the royal institution which placed education in Protestant hands, and endeavoured to obtain Catholic primary schools. A more favourable law was voted in 1824. As a member of the Legislative Council from 1817, he had great influence. In 1822 he contributed to prevent the union of the Canadas intended by the English House of Commons.

(12) Bernard-Claude Panet, b. 1753; d. 1833, parish priest of Rivière-Ouelle, consecrated Bishop of Saldes and coadjutor of Quebec (1807), was bishop from 1825 to 1833. The chief events of his administration were: the building of Nicolet College (1827), to which he contributed the sum, large for the time, of $32,000; the foundation of the College of Ste-Anne-de-la-Pocatière (1827) by the Abbé Painchaud; the educational law of 1829 which granted allowances for the creation of parish schools and the maintenance of colleges, convents, and academies already in existence; the erection in Quebec, with his help, of St. Patrick's church for the Irish; the sale to the Government of the episcopal palace built by Mgr Briand. An annual rent of 1000 was paid, which, although irredeemable, was redeemed in 1888 by the sum of $74,074, given to Cardinal Taschereau.

(13) Joseph Signay, b. 1778; d. 1850, Bishop of Fussala and coadjutor of Quebec (1827), administrator (1832), bishop (1833), archbishop from 1844 to 1850. There were epidemics of cholera in 1832, 1834, and 1849. Quebec was almost entirely destroyed by fire in 1845. In 1847 typhus visited the Irish exiles at Grosse-Ile. Among many priests deserving grateful memory must be mentioned the Abbé Félix Cazeau, then secretary to the bishop and afterwards vicar-general, who found homes for nearly five hundred Irish orphans. Important events were: the law on education (1841) which allowed the election of school commissioners having power to build new schools, to choose teachers and raise funds therefor; the erection of Quebec (1844) into a metropolis with three suffragan sees, Kingston, Montreal, and Toronto; the Oblates (1844) and the Jesuits (1849) admitted into the diocese and charged respectively with the Saguenay mission and the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin of the Upper-Town; societies for the Propagation of the Faith (1837), colonization (1838), and temperance (1843). The report of Bishop Signay to the Holy See in 1843 states that the diocese contained 200,000 Catholics 145 churches and chapels, 4 orders of nuns, and 3 colleges or seminaries. ln the Red River mission, under Bishop Provencher, out of 5140 souls, more than 2700 were Catholics. Vicar-General Norbert Blanchet and Modeste Demers had opened (1838) the mission of British Columbia, while other missionaries worked among the Indians of Lake Abbittibi. Bishop Signay was the last to receive the annuity of 1000 granted to Mgr Plessis. In 1847 he entered the present episcopal palace.

(14) Pierre-Flavien Turgeon, b. 1787; d. 1867, elected in 1831 and consecrated in 1834 Bishop of Sydime and coadjutor of Quebec, became administrator in 1849, and bishop in 1850. That same year a meeting of the bishops at Montreal prepared the first Council of Quebec, held in 1851 under his presidency. After directions on liturgy and discipline, against social and moral dangers, its most important decree is that on Catholic universities and normal schools, which gave birth (1852) to Laval University and to Laval Normal School in 1857. Pius IX was also petitioned to form new sees. St. Hyacinth and Three Rivers were erected in 1852, while Halifax became a metropolis. A second council took place at Quebec in 1854. The foundation of the Quebec Sisters of Charity (1849) and of the Good Shepherd (1850), the reorganization of ecclesiastical conferences the publication of a new catechism and the approval of Butler's for English-speaking Catholics are the chief acts of Bishop Turgeon's administration. In 1855, owing to ill-health, he left the administration of the diocese to his coadjutor.

(15) Charles-François Baillargeon, as parish priest of Quebec (1831-50), procured for his parish the Brothers of the Christian Schools, and established the conferences of St. Vincent de Paul. As bishop, the great events of his administration were the third (1863) and fourth (1868) Councils of Quebec, attended by the suffragan Bishops of Montreal, Ottawa, St. Boniface, Three Rivers, St. Hyacinth, Hamilton, Sandwich (now London), Kingston, Toronto, and (in 1868) Rimouski. Besides several disciplinary decrees, the erection of the ecclesiastical provinces of Toronto and St. Boniface was decided and a petition was added for the canonization of Sister Marie de l'Incarnation, foundress of the Quebec Ursulines. Bishop Baillargeon attended the Vatican Council (1869), but was forced by ill-health to return before voting for papal infallibility, which he favoured. He died soon after. He had consecrated five bishops and ordained one hundred and ninety priests.

(16) Elzear-Alexandre Taschereau, b. 1820; d. 1898, for several years teacher of philosophy in the seminary, and was one of the founders of Laval University; he was rector (1800-6), and again, in 1869, vicar-general (1862), theologian of Archbishop Baillargeon at the Vatican Council, administrator (1870), archbishop (1871), cardinal of the title of Santa Maria della Vittoria (1886). Among the many facts of his administration may be quoted: the foundation of the Hospital of the Sacred Heart, which he entrusted to the Sisters of the General Hospital (1873); the erection of the Chicoutimi college and see (1878); the inauguration of a classical course of studies in the Commercial College of Levis (1879); the creation of more than fifty parishes with the funds of colonization and of the Propagation of the Faith, kept since 1876 for local wants; the foundation (1892) of the now prosperous order of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, by the Abbé Brousseau; the fifth (1873), sixth (1878), and seventh (1886) Councils of Quebec. Among the decrees must be mentioned that on the improvement of theological and philosophical studies after St. Thomas's principles, according to Leo XIII's direction. Archbishop Taschereau had to deal with some perplexing cases: he was papal delegate for the division of Notre Dame parish in Montreal (1871), and the conclusion of his report was adopted by Cardinal Barnabo. In the exciting question of Catholic Liberalism, his pastoral letters of 1875 and 1877 procured for the country a lasting peace. Another cause of discord was the university question, finally settled by establishing at Montreal (1876) a branch of Laval, which, by the Decree "Jamdudum" (1896), has become nearly independent. In 1888 the long pending debate on the Jesuits' estates ended by an agreement between Prime Minister Mercier and Father Turgeon, S.J., authorized by Rome. The Government paid an indemnity of $400,000 to be divided among the Jesuits, Laval University, and the bishops for educational purposes. A share of $60,000 was granted to the Protestant Board of Education. When Cardinal Taschereau handed over the administration to his coadjutor (1894), the archdiocese contained 320,000 Catholics 392 secular priests, 33 regulars, 3 colleges or seminaries, 65 convents, 195 churches and chapels, 192 parishes and missions, although more than 50 had been cut off for the new sees of Rimouski and Chicoutimi.

(17) Louis Nazaire Begin, b. 1840, after several years of studies in Rome, where he was ordained in 1865, filled in the seminary of Quebec the successive positions of professor of theology, director of students, and prefect of studies. Principal of the Laval Normal School (1884), Bishop of Chicoutimi (1888), coadjutor of Quebec (1891) with the title of Archbishop of Cyrene, granted future succession (1892), he took possession of the see in 1898. He has written books on infallibility, the rule of faith, and the veneration of the saints. During his administration the archdiocese has greatly developed by the admission of several orders of men and women, and by the creation of many new parishes. He played a leading part in the struggle of the Canadian bishops (1896) against the unjust law of 1890, by which the Catholics of Manitoba had been deprived of their schools. After the delegation of Mgr. Merry del Val, now Secretary of State to Pius X, he received (1898) the Encyclical letter "Affari vos" (1897), in which Leo XIII, while he praised the bishops for their vindication of Catholic principles of education, advised union and charity when claiming justice. On the tercentenary of the foundation of Quebec (1908) a monument was erected to Bishop Laval. Important events are: the organization of the "Action sociale catholique", a branch of which is the paper "L'Action Sociale", edited at Quebec since 1907; the first Plenary Council of Canada (1909), attended, under the presidency of Archbishop Sbaretti, delegate Apostolic, by 7 archbishops, 26 bishops, 1 prefect Apostolic, 1 mitred abbot, and 5 episcopal proxies. At this date (April, 1911), the decrees have not yet been published. Mgr Paul-Eugene Roy, b. 1859, was consecrated auxiliary bishop in 1908. His classical course was made in Quebec; after taking in France the degree of licentiate in letters, he was professor of rhetoric and prefect of studies in the Quebec seminary, became pastor of the Canadians at Hartford, Conn., and in 1901 was first parish priest of Jacques-Cartier in Quebec. He is the chief force in the "Action Sociale".

Organization

The Archdiocese of Quebec is incorporated under the title "La Corporation Episcopale Catholique Romaine de Québec" by XII Victoria, ch. 36, which also grants (§ 7) incorporation to all dioceses then existing or to be afterwards erected in Canada. "L'Evêque catholique de Québec" was personally, and remains, incorporated by letters patent of Queen Victoria in 1845. Parishes receive civil incorporation after canonical erection, but possess their legal rights even without it. Church property, administered under the pastor's presidency by church-wardens elected by parishioners, cannot be legally alienated without the bishop's assent. In the ecclesiastical province of Quebec, a mutual insurance, with its seat in Quebec, covers risks on church buildings and parsonages to the amount of $7,500,000. A similar insurance exists for Catholic educational or charitable institutions. The parish church of Quebec is the cathedral. Begun in 1647, consecrated by Bishop Laval in 1666, rebuilt on a larger scale by Bishop Pontbriand (1744-9) and again, after the siege by Bishop Briand (1767-71), it was honoured in 1874 by the title of basilica. With the exception of a few students, sent every year to Europe to receive a training as professors, most of the clergy are educated in the higher seminary of Quebec. None is admitted until after satisfactory classical studies and two years of philosophy. The course of theology lasts four years. Four times a year all priests in office have to meet by groups of ten and twelve to treat of questions of theology or church history determined by the bishop, to whom report must be sent. Two retreats every year are preached in the seminary, so that all the clergy may attend one or the other. An ecclesiastical association ("La Caisse St. Joseph") grants a pension to its members out of office through sickness or old age.

Charities

Two hospitals (Hôtel-Dieu) for the sick; 12 for old persons of both sexes; 7 orphanages; 3 patronages for foundlings; 1 refuge for repentant girls — all entrusted to religious orders; several prosperous societies or conferences of St. Vincent de Paul; a Tabernacle Society and an Association for the Protection of Maid Servants.

Religious orders

Male

(The asterisk shows which have in the diocese a novitiate or at least a preparatory house or postulate.) Jesuits, Franciscans*, Capuchins *, Dominicans, White Fathers, Oblates, Fathers of the Sacred Heart*, Brothers of the Christian Schools, of Christian Instruction, of St. Viateur, of the Sacred Heart, Marists*, Fathers and Brothers of St. Vincent de Paul. The Fathers of Ste Croix have a house and 9 students following the course of theology at Laval. The Franciscans have their own classes of theology with 30 students.

Female

Ursulines*, Sisters of the Good Shepherd*, Congregation of Notre Dame, Servants of the Holy Heart of Mary*, Dominican Sisters of the Infant Jesus*, Franciscan Missionaries of Mary*, Sisters of the Mercy of Jesus*, of Charity*, of Jésus-Marie*, of the Holy Family, of Charity of St. Louis*, of St. Francis of Assisi, of the African Missions (White Sisters)*, of St. Joseph of St. Vallier*, of the Perpetual Help*, of the Holy Redeemer (Redemptoristines)*, of the Precious Blood*, of Hope, and Cistercian Sisters (Trappistines)*.

Statistics

(1910): 359,000 Catholics; 510 secular and 100 regular priests; 218 parishes and 25 missions; 266 churches and chapels (only two parishes are exclusively composed of Irish or English Catholics; about fifteen are mixed, but mostly all with a much larger proportion of French-Canadians); 1 university (Laval) with 405 students, of whom 116 for theology; 3 colleges or seminaries with 1601 students; Laval Normal School, with 95 young ladies and 61 young men trained for teaching, and 174 other pupils; 49 academies and 143 high schools (écoles modèles), with 27,579 children educated by 196 brothers, 745 sisters of different orders, 21 lay schoolmasters and 136 schoolmistresses; 1279 primary schools (écoles élémentaires), in which 14 brothers, 108 sisters, 4 schoolmasters and 1293 schoolmistresses give instruction to 43,933 children.

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