Roman Catholicism in Canada

The Catholic Church in Canada is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and the Canadian Bishops Conference. It has the largest number of followers of a religion in Canada with 46% of Canadians (13,070,000 as of 2008) baptized as Catholics. There are 72 dioceses and about 8,000 priests in Canada.

Catholicism arrived in Canada in 1534, when Jacques Cartier planted a cross at Gaspe. In 1608, Samuel de Champlain founded the first Catholic colony in Quebec City. Later, in 1611, he established a fur trading post on the Island of Montreal, which later became a Catholic colony for trade and missionary activity.

Some important Catholic sites in Montreal are Notre-Dame Basilica, Saint Joseph's Oratory, Blessed Brother Andre's chapel, and Marie-Reine-du-Monde. In Quebec, Notre Dames des Victoires, Notre-Dame de Quebec Cathedral and Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, Quebec.

In Nova Scotia, St. Francis Xavier University, a Scot Catholic university associated with the Antigonish Movement and the highland games.

Within Canada the hierarchy consists of:

Archbishopric Bishopric Edmonton Calgary Saint Paul, Alberta Gatineau Amos Mont-Laurier Rouyn-Noranda Grouard-McLennan Mackenzie-Fort Smith Whitehorse Halifax Antigonish Charlottetown Yarmouth Keewatin-Le-Pas Churchill-Baie d'Hudson Moosonee Kingston Alexandria-Cornwall Peterborough Sault Sainte Marie Moncton Bathurst (formerly Diocese of Chatham) Edmundston Saint John Montréal Joliette Saint-Jean-Longueuil Saint-Jérôme Valleyfield Ottawa Hearst Pembroke Timmins Québec Chicoutimi Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière Trois Rivières Regina Prince-Albert Saskatoon Rimouski Baie-Comeau Gaspé Saint-Boniface St. John's Grand Falls Corner Brook and Labrador Sherbrooke Nicolet Saint-Hyacinthe Toronto Hamilton London Saint Catharines Thunder Bay Vancouver Kamloops Nelson Prince George Victoria Winnipeg Saint Boniface

There is also a Ukrainianan Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Winnipeg, which has suffragan dioceses in Edmonton, New Westminster, Saskatoon, and Toronto.

There are also three other eparchies in Canada:

• The Eparchy of Saint-Maron de Montréal (Maronite)
• The Eparchy of Saint-Sauveur de Montréal (Melkite) and
• The Eparchy of Saints Cyril and Methodius of Toronto (Slovakian)
• Eparchy of Mar Addai of Toronto (Chaldean)

There is also a Military Ordinariate of Canada for Canadian military personnel.

See also

• List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Canada
• Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
• Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada
• Roman Catholic saints of Canada