Nicolet, Diocese Of (NICOLET, DIOCESI DI) - Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. VIII, p. 1091

Machine translation of the 1948–1954 Italian original. The original text is authoritative.

NICOLET, DIOCESE of. - The diocese of Trois Rivières, already divided in 1874 to form the diocese of Sherbrooke (Québec) and enlarge that of S. Giacinto, and again for the creation of the apostolic vicariate of Pontiac, was divided a third time in 1885, when Pope Leo XIII, on 10 July, after several years of negotiations, erected the new diocese of N. on the southern bank of the St. Lawrence River; N. then became a suffragan of Québec, while since 1951 it has been suffragan to Sherbrooke. Its first bishop was Msgr. E. Gravel (1885-1904). The Cathedral is dedicated to s. Giovanni Battista.

N. today has a population of 126,061 inhabitants, of whom 124,862 are French-speaking Catholics and 271 are English-speaking Catholics. There are 219 diocesan priests and 20 religious priests (Montfortians and Missionaries of the S. Cuore of Issoudun). The diocese has two classical colleges, 76 parishes, 81 churches and chapels, 3 hospitals, and 1 orphanage.

BIBL.: Acta Leonis XIII, V, Roma 1886, pp. 81-83; J. A.

Article illustration — NICOLET, DIOCESE of. - Aerial view of the Cathedral, the bishop’s residence, the school of the Fratelli delle scuole cristiane, the motherhouse of the Suore dell'Assomption de Marie, and the Institute of the Suore Grigie of N. and the Seminary.
(photo Champlain Air Services)

Douville, Histoire du Collège-Séminaire de N. (1803-1903), 2 vols., Montreal 1903; AAS, 1 (1909), pp. 622-23; Le Canada ecclésiastique, Montréal 1950, pp. 157-67. Gastone Carrière