Saint-Germain de Rimouski, Archdiocese of

SAINT-GERMAIN DE RIMOUSKI, ARCHDIOCESE OF. - With its seat in the city of Rimouski, province of Québec (Canada).

Rimouski today covers an area of 8,000 square miles with a total population of 177,169 souls, almost all Catholic (there are only 896 non-Catholics), of whom 176,851 are French-speaking. There are 275 priests, of whom 41 religious (Capuchins, Clerics of St. Viator, Oblates of M. I., Redemptorists, Fathers of the Holy Spirit and Eudists) exercise the sacred ministry in the 98 parishes. There are two seminaries; among the charitable institutions there are 2 homes for the aged, 2 orphanages, 4 hospitals. Jacques Cartier landed on the extreme part of Gaspé (formerly Honguedo) on his first voyage of discovery in 1534 and erected a cross there. The first Mass was celebrated at Pointe-aux-Pères, near Rimouski, by the Jesuit Father Enrico Nouvel in 1663. The first inhabitant of Rimouski was Germano Lesage (1696), whence the name of S. G. di R. The first canonically constituted parish was Cacouna in 1825.

The see of Rimouski was erected by Pius IX on 14 January 1867 and was divided several times to form the apostolic prefecture of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, on 15 June 1882, and the diocese of Gaspé in 1882. In 1946 (9 February), Pius XII elevated Rimouski to an archdiocese. The province is composed of Rimouski, the apostolic vicariate of Labrador (erected on 13 July 1945) and the diocese of the Gulf of St. Lawrence (apostolic vicariate on 12 September 1905 and diocese on 24 November 1945). The minor seminary was opened on 7 February 1854 and erected as a diocesan seminary in 1870, while the major seminary dates from 4 November 1870. Under the direction of Monsignor Giorgio Courchesne, 4th bishop (1928-50) and first archbishop, the diocese prospered greatly in the field of education: a technical school was opened in 1936, a school for sailors in 1944, a school of commerce in 1947 and one of ceramics in 1950.

Gastone Carrière