SHEBROOKE, ARCHDIOCESE OF. - Archdiocese and city in the province of Quebec (Canada).
The diocese has a Catholic population of 214,823 (184,613 French and 28,20 English) and a non-Catholic population of 26,092. There are 403 diocesan priests (54 religious from 11 different congregations), 69 seminarians, 6 congregations of men religious, 18 congregations of women religious, 121 parishes, 135 churches and chapels, 1 major seminary, 2 minor seminaries, 7 hospitals, 3 orphanages, and 4 novitiates.
The diocese was erected by Pius IX on 28 August 1874 by separating territory from Trois-Rivières, St-Hyacinthe, and Quebec, covering the part of the province of Quebec known as the Eastern Townships. The first missionary was the Rev. Giovanni Raymbault (1816-23). In 1855, Bishop J. C. Prince of St-Hyacinthe wished to establish a college there and donated the necessary land for that purpose. The college was officially named St. Charles College on 25 May 1857; it was canonically erected as a diocesan seminary by Bishop Antonio Racine (1875-78) on 30 August 1875.
At the time of its foundation, the diocese had 29,000 Catholics, 28 diocesan priests, and 20 parishes in a center notable for its industry, commerce, and fertile land. As of 1952, the city of Shebrooke has a total population of 47,000 (42,000 French and 4,000 English). On 2 March 1951, Pius XII divided the dioceses of St-Hyacinthe (in the province of Montreal) and Nicolet (in the province of Quebec) and elevated Shebrooke to an archdiocese, assigning the two new dioceses as its suffragans.