THREE RIVERS, DIOCESE OF
Diocese and city in the province of Quebec (Canada, North America).
The Diocese of Three Rivers covers a territory of 12,600 square miles and has a Catholic population of 192,380 souls out of a total population of 195,821. There are 245 diocesan priests, 91 religious, 86 churches, 85 parishes, a major seminary, 3 minor seminaries, 2 classical colleges for girls, 2 retreat houses, 12 hospitals, 45 male religious congregations and 93 female ones (Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 433).
The Diocese of Three Rivers, suffragan of Quebec, was erected on 8 June 1852 in the city of the same name on the north bank of the St Lawrence River, between the cities of Montreal and Quebec. In July 1885 all the parishes on the south bank of the river were detached NICCOLÒ (v.).
In the diocese the shrine of Our Lady of Cap-de-la-Madeleine is much frequented; it has been declared a national shrine and entrusted to the care of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The statue of the Virgin was crowned by mandate of Pius X on 12 October 1904. Pilgrims to the shrine on the feast of the Assumption alone exceed 100,000. The statue of Our Lady of Cap, modelled on those of Fatima and Our Lady of Boulogne in Europe, made a triumphal journey through the provinces of Quebec and Ontario at the time of the Marian Congress in Ottawa (1947) and then continued its journey into the Canadian West as far as the missions beyond the Arctic Circle.