James Rogers (11 July 1826 – 22 March 1903) was an

Irish-Canadian ga, Gael-Cheanadaigh , image = Irish_Canadian_population_by_province.svg , image_caption = Irish Canadians as percent of population by province/territory , population = 4,627,00013.4% of the Canadian population (2016) , po ...

priest who was the

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Roman Catholic Diocese of Chatham The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bathurst (in Canada) (originally Diocese of Chatham) ( la, Dioecesis Bathurstensis in Canada) is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Moncton. It has its cathedral episcopal see, Sacred Heart Cathedral, in Bathurst, ...

. Born in Mountcharles, Ireland, he immigrated to

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

alongside his parents in 1931. His father, John Rogers, was a sickly man; James, an only child, became the primary income earner for his family when he was in his teenage years. Rogers entered the seminary in 1847, following John's death, and was ordained a priest on 2 July 1851. To the surprise of many of his contemporaries, he became the first bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chatham at age 33 on 15 August 1860, when he was

consecrated bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

. On his arrival at Chatham, Rogers found only seven priests to attend an immense stretch of country. During his episcopate of forty-two years, the diocese substantially grew, and when he resigned, on 7 August 1902, he left a diocese of 47 parishes and 51 priests. Bishop Rogers attended the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This, the twentieth ecu ...

where he opposed the declaration of

papal infallibility Papal infallibility is a dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Peter, the Pope when he speaks ''ex cathedra'' is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine "initially given to the aposto ...

. He invited the

Congregation of Notre Dame The Congrégation de Notre Dame (CND) is a religious community for women founded in 1658 in Ville Marie (Montreal), in the colony of New France, now part of Canada. It was established by Marguerite Bourgeoys, who was recruited in France to create ...

to open convents in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

Caraquet Caraquet ( ) is a town in Gloucester County, New Brunswick, Canada. Situated on the shore of Chaleur Bay in the Acadian Peninsula, its name is derived from the Mi'kmaq term for ''meeting of two rivers''. The Caraquet River and Rivière du Nor ...

, and Saint-Louis de Kent.

Early life and education

Ordination and priesthood

Tenure as bishop

Retirement and death

References

1826 births 1902 deaths 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Canada 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Canada Canadian people of Irish descent Roman Catholic bishops of Bathurst in Canada {{Canada-RC-bishop-stub