Vicariate Apostolic of Keewatin

The Vicariate Apostolic of Keewatin was a Roman Catholic missionary jurisdiction in northern Canada (see Keewatin proper) which included the northern half of the Province of Saskatchewan, and was bounded on the north by the Arctic regions, on the south by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint-Boniface, on the east by Temiskaming Vicariate, and on the west by the Diocese of St Albert and the Vicariate Apostolic of Athabasca.

History

The generally barren and uninteresting country, possessing some timber and mineral resources but sparsely inhabited by Indians, half- breeds, and a few whites, was first visited by pioneer missionaries in the nineteenth century, when Mgr. Provencher, Bishop of St. Boniface, sent Abbé Thibault to Ile-à-la-Crosse (1845), Abbé Louis-Francois Richer Lafleche (later Bishop of Three Rivers) to explore the Cumberland district (1846), and Father Taché, O.M.I. (later Archbishop of St. Boniface), to join Lafleche at Ile-à-la-Crosse (1846), and thence visit Lake Caribou (1847). These and surrounding missions were subsequently served by Oblates of the Manitoba or Alberta-Saskatchewan Provinces. Prominent among these since 1887 has been the Rev. Ovide Charleboix whose administrative capacities, proved during sixteen years' ministry at Fort Cumberland, led in 1900 to his nomination as Visitor of the Cumberland District Indian Missions, in 1903, to his appointment as director of Duck Lake Indian Industrial school, and in 1910 to his preconization as titular Bishop of Berenice and Vicar Apostolic of Keewatin, with residence at Le Pas. There were in the vicariate in the early 20th century 15 Oblate Fathers of Mary Immaculate, 8 Oblate Brothers of Mary Immaculate, 12 Grey Nuns (Montreal), 16 Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart and Mary Immaculate (St. Boniface), 4 more Grey Nuns (St. Hyacinth), 10 churches with 16 out-stations; 11,000 Indians, Montagnais, Cree and Eskimo, of whom 7000 were Catholics and 5000 non-Catholics or pagans (chiefly Esquimaux). Indian boarding schools at Norway House (Oblate Sisters, 20 pupils), Lac Laplonge [Grey Nuns (Montreal), 50 pupils] , a general hospital at Le Pas [Grey Nuns (St. Hyacinth), 25 beds] , a Catholic (French-English) school at Le Pas [Grey Nuns (St. Hyacinth)] . It was renamed and promoted Metropolitan See of Keewatin-Le Pas in 1967; its archbishop now has an ecclesiastical province with three suffragan bishops in Churchill-Baie d'Hudson, Labrador City-Schefferville, and Moosonee.

External links

* [http://www.gcatholic.com/canada/dioceses-w.htm GigaCatholic- western region of Canada]
*CathEncy|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/16049a.htm|title=Vicariate Apostolic of Keewatin