PRINCE-RUPERT, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE of. - Situated in the extreme north-west of Canada; it is entrusted to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.
Hunters and forest couriers, married to Indian women, were the first to spread Christianity beyond the Rocky Mountains. In 1862 Fr Giov. Séguin entered it as its first missionary. Attracted by the gold discoveries on the Klondike at the beginning of the 20th century, immigrants of all European races flocked into the country, as did many Indians, Chinese, and Japanese. On 9 March 1908 the apostolic prefecture of Yukon and P.-R. was established, carved out of the apostolic vicariate of Mackenzie and partly from the diocese of Nuova Westminster (now Vancouver). On 20 Nov. 1916 it was raised to an apostolic vicariate. On 14 Jan. 1944 this was divided into two parts, namely: the apostolic vicariate of Whitehorse in the north and that of P.-R. in the south. The number of Catholics in the vicariate is 7,683 out of 44,758 inhabitants, of whom only 3,000 are Indians. The immigrants belong almost exclusively to Protestant sects. There are also Ruthenian and Eastern minorities (Catholics and Orthodox). Pagans in the strict sense of the word are found exclusively among Asian immigrants. The chief difficulty for the 28 Oblate missionaries is the enormous distances in an inaccessible region.