PORTLAND, Diocese of. - Diocese and city in the State of Maine, U.S.A. The diocese was erected by Pius IX on 8 Dec. 1854 for the States of Maine and New Hampshire, previously under the jurisdiction of Baltimore and more recently under that of Boston. In 1884 the diocese was divided to form a new see at Manchester, New Hampshire. P., a suffragan of Boston, covers the whole State of Maine, that is, an area of 33,040 square miles.
It has a total population of 913,774 inhabitants, of whom 227,192 are Catholics. There are 343 diocesan and religious priests, 132 parishes, 39 chapels, 135 missions, 24 female congregations with 1,399 nuns, 2 colleges, 6 orphanages and 8 hospitals.
In 1604, 16 years before the "Pilgrims" landed at Plymouth, Henry IV, king of France, authorized Pierre du Gaust, sieur de Monts, to found a colony between the 40th and 60th degrees of northern latitude. De Monts landed at Cap de la Heve on the southern shore of Nova Scotia (Canada) and founded a colony on the island of St. Croix (today De Monts Island). Mass was offered for the first time in New England by the rev. Nicolas Aubry of Paris during the month of July 1604. Jean de Biencourt, sieur de Poutrincourt, successor of de Monts, did much for colonization and for the conversion of the natives. The Jesuits Pierre Biard and Edmond Massé exercised their sacred ministry among the Abenakis. The Capuchins and the Franciscans also worked in the territory. After the civil war, when Msgr. John Carroll was consecrated bishop of Baltimore, the natives asked for priests and the p. Ciquard, a Sulpician, was sent to them, and he remained there until 1794. Toward the end of the 18th century a great number of Irish immigrants settled in the diocese, followed later by many French-Canadians who even today form a very important part of the Catholic population of the diocese.
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Gastone Carrière