Roman Catholic Diocese of Victoria in Canada

This article is about the diocese in British Columbia. For the diocese in Texas, see Roman Catholic Diocese of Victoria in Texas.

Diocese of Victoria Dioecesis Victoriensis in Insula Vancouver
St. Andrew's Cathedral, Victoria, BC, Canada
Location
Country	Canada
Ecclesiastical province	Archdiocese of Vancouver
Metropolitan	1-4044 Nelthorpe St. Victoria, BC V8X 2A1
Statistics
Area
Population - Catholics	96,000 (13.6%)
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Roman rite
Established	July 24, 1846
Cathedral	St Andrew's Cathedral
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Gary Gordon
Metropolitan Archbishop	John Michael Miller CSB Archbishop of Vancouver
Website
rcdvictoria.org

The Diocese of Victoria (Latin: Dioecesis Victoriensis in Insula Vancouver) is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Headquartered in Victoria, the diocese encompasses all of Vancouver Island and several nearby British Columbia islands. A suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, the diocese's cathedral is St. Andrew's Cathedral and its present diocesan bishop is Gary Gordon.

Diocesan Demographics

In 2004 the diocese had 94,465 Catholics, 22 diocesan Priests, 15 religious Priests, 1 Deacon. The diocese is also helped by 19 Brothers, and 91 Sisters servicing 30 parishes.

History

The diocese was created on 24 July 1846 as the Diocese of Vancouver Island, one of three dioceses in the Pacific Northwest created out of the Vicariate Apostolic of the Oregon Territory. It was elevated to an archdiocese on 19 June 1903 and renamed Archdiocese of Victoria in 1904. It was then lowered to a diocese in 1908, when the metropolitan see was moved to Vancouver.

The territory included Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, New Caledonia (mainland British Columbia), the Queen Charlotte Islands and Alaska. Modeste Demers became the new diocese's first bishop.

Territorial losses

Year	territory lost to form:
1863	Vicariate Apostolic of British Columbia
1894	Diocese of New Westminster Prefecture Apostolic of Alaska

On June 19, 1903, the diocese became an Archdiocese of Victoria. It was returned to the status of a diocese on October 1, 1908, and became a suffragan diocese to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver.

Ordinaries

The following are the lists of Bishops and their years of service:

Bishops

• Modeste Demers (1846 - 1871)
• Charles-Jean Seghers (1873 - 1878)
• Jean-Baptiste Brondel (1879 - 1883)
• Charles-Jean Seghers (1884 - 1886)
• Jean-Nicolas Lemmens (1888 - 1897)
• Alexander Christie (1898 - 1899)
• Bertram Orth (1900 - 1908)
• Alexander MacDonald (1908 - 1923)
• Thomas O'Donnell (1923 - 1929)
• Gerald C. Murray, C.SS.R. (1930 - 1934)
• John Hugh MacDonald (1934 - 1936)
• John Christopher Cody (1936 - 1946)
• James Michael Hill (1946 - 1962)
• Remi Joseph De Roo (1962 - 1999) - Bishop Emeritus
• Raymond Roussin, S.M. (1999 - 2004)
• Richard Joseph Gagnon (2004 - 2014) - Archbishop of Winnipeg
• Gary Gordon (2014–Present)

Auxiliary Bishops

• Louis Aloysius Lootens (1876-1898)

Churches

Greater Victoria

• St Andrew's Cathedral
• Holy Cross
• Our Lady of Fatima (Portuguese)
• Our Lady of the Rosary
• Our Lady Queen Of Peace
• Saanich Peninsula Parish
• Sacred Heart
• St-Jean-Baptiste (French)
• St. Joseph the Worker
• St. Leopold Mandic (Croatian)
• St. Patrick's
• St. Rose of Lima

Courtenay

• Christ The King

Campbell River

• St. Patrick's

Gold River

• St. Peter and St. Paul

Hornby Island

• Holy Cross

Chemainus

• St. Joseph's

Duncan

• St. Ann's
• St. Edward the Confessor

Lake Cowichan

• St. Louis De Montfort

Ladysmith

• St. Mary's

Gabriola Island

• Our Lady of Victory Mission

Mayne Island

• St. Francis of Assisi

Pender Island

• St. Teresa's Chapel

Salt Spring Island

• Our Lady of Grace

Mill Bay

• St Francis Xavier

Shawnigan Lake

• Our Lady Queen of the World

Nanaimo

• St. Peter's
• Trinity Catholic

Parksville

• Church of the Ascension

Port Alberni

• Holy Family/Notre Dame

Tofino

• St. Francis of Assisi

Ucluelet

• Holy Family

Alert Bay

• Our Lady of Assumption

Port Hardy

• St. Bonaventure

Port McNeill

• St. Mary's

Port Alice

• St. Theresa's

Sayward

• St Bernadette's

Tahsis

• St. Joseph's

Inside St. Andrew's Cathedral

Education

Catholic high schools

St. Ann's Academy, is now a heritage site

School	City	Est.	Website	Enrolment
St. Andrew's Regional High School	Victoria		http://www.standrewshigh.ca/	~475 (co-ed)

• St. Ann's Academy (Victoria, British Columbia), was open 1858 and closed in 1974.
• Smith Memorial High School, of Port Alberni, was opened 1951 and closed in 1976.

Catholic elementary schools

School	City	Est.	Website
St. Andrew's	Victoria		http://www.standrewselem.ca/
St. Joseph’s	Victoria		http://www.stjosephschool.ca/
St. Patrick's	Victoria		http://www.stpatrickselem.ca/
Queen of Angels	Duncan		http://www.queenofangels.ca/
St. Joseph's	Chemainus		http://www.stjosephselem.ca/
John Paul II	Port Alberni	1951	http://www.jp2nd.ca/

• St. Ann's Academy for Boys, of Duncan, was erected in 1864 and closed in 1969.
• St. Mary's School, of Ladysmith, was established 1909 and closed in 1913.

Catholic Universities, Colleges and Seminaries

• St. Joseph's School for Nursing, of Victoria, was erected in 1900 and closed in 1981.

Religious institutes

Religious institutes of women

• Benedictine Sisters
• Franciscan Poor Clares
• Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
• Sisters of St. Ann

Charities

Health Care

• Lourdes Hospital, of Campbell River, was erected in 1926 and closed in 1957.
• St. Joseph's Hospital, of Victoria, was erected in 1876 and closed in 1972.

Notes

• The diocese produces the Diocesan Messenger which is a Catholic newspaper for its community.

Bibliography

• Sisters of St. Ann's scrapbook
• St. Ann's establishments

External links

• Catholic Diocese of Victoria site