Rémi Gaulin (30 June 1787 – 8 May 1857) was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

priest and bishop who spent time in the service of Bishop Joseph-Octave Plessis. Plessis ordained Gaulin in 1811 and appointed him curate to Alexander MacDonell in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...

. In 1815 he became a missioner in

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 ...

. In 1840 he succeeded Macdonnell as bishop of the Diocese of Kingston.

Life

Rémi Gaulin was born 30 June 1787 in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

to François and Françoise Amiot Gaulin. His father was a cooper. Rémi Gaulin was the great-grandnephew of Antoine Gaulin, missionary to the Abenakis and

Miꞌkmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the nort ...

Acadia Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17t ...

and Nova Scotia. Rémi studied at the

Séminaire de Québec The Seminary of Quebec (French: Séminaire de Québec) is a Catholic community of diocesan priests in Quebec City founded by Bishop François de Laval, the first bishop of New France in 1663. History The Séminaire de Québec is a Society of d ...

and then at the Séminaire de Nicolet. In the summer of 1811, he accompanied Bishop Joseph-Octave Plessis, as secretary, on a pastoral visit to the

Îles de la Madeleine The Magdalen Islands (french: Îles de la Madeleine ) are a small archipelago in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence with a land area of . While part of the Province of Quebec, the islands are in fact closer to the Maritime provinces and Newfoundland tha ...

and

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) 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. It is the only province with both English and ...

; and was ordained the following October. Father Gaulin was assigned to assist Bishop Alexander Macdonell as a curate in Glengarry County in Upper Canada. Gaulin was tri-lingual, speaking English, French, and Gaelic. Macdonnell had been chaplain for many of his parishioners, who were former soldiers who had emigrated from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

, he formed them into the

Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles The Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles were a light infantry unit, raised chiefly in the Glengarry District of Upper Canada shortly before the outbreak of the Anglo-American War of 1812. The unit fought throughout the war, and was disbanded shor ...

to defend Upper Canada. Gaulin saw service as a chaplain. He was put in charge of the parishes of St. Raphael and St. Andrews. In May 1815, Gaulin returned to Quebec in order to accompany Bishop Plessis on a pastoral visit to the missions on the Gulf of St Lawrence. In July, Plessis assigned Gaulin to be the first resident pastor of St. Ninian's parish in

Antigonish, Nova Scotia , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = File:St Ninian's Cathedral Antigonish Spring.jpg , image_caption = St. Ninian's Cathedral , image_flag = Flag of Antigonish.pn ...

, with responsibility for Margaree and Chéticamp, Cape Breton. He subsequently transferred his base to Chéticamp and by October 1816 was serving the Acadians of that community and of Margaree, and the Scots living in the

Bras d'Or Lake Bras d'Or Lake ( Mi'kmawi'simk: Pitupaq) is an irregular estuary in the centre of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. It has a connection to the open sea, and is tidal. It also has inflows of fresh water from rivers, making the brackis ...

district. In July 1819 he took charge of the

Arichat, Nova Scotia Arichat is an unincorporated place in the Municipality of the County of Richmond, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the main village on Isle Madame on the southeastern tip of Cape Breton Island. Toponym The name derives from a Mi'kmaq word meaning ...

mission. The diocese of Kingston was largely Scots and Irish. Macdonnell sought a coadjutor who was neither. Three potential candidates declined before Bishop

Jean-Jacques Lartigue Jean-Jacques Lartigue, S.S., (20 June 1777 – 19 April 1840) was a Canadian Sulpician, who served as the first Catholic Bishop of Montreal. Early life Lartigue was born to a noted Montreal family, the only son of Jacques Larthigue, a surg ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

suggested Gaulin. In 1833, Gaulin was consecrated as a bishop and made coadjutor to Macdonell with the right of succession. Gaulin became the bishop in the diocese of Kingston in 1840 when MacDonell died.

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

saw an influx of Irish immigrants, many of whom did not attend church regularly. At the instigation of Bishop Gaulin, Bishop

Ignace Bourget Ignace Bourget (October 30, 1799 – June 8, 1885) was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest who held the title of Bishop of Montreal from 1840 to 1876. Born in Lévis, Quebec, in 1799, Bourget entered the clergy at an early age, undertook several cou ...

led the French-Canadian hierarchy to petition for a new diocese. Michael Power, the vicar general of Montreal, was chosen as the first bishop of the Diocese of Toronto. Power had been born in Nova Scotia of Irish parents and spoke French. Bishop Gaulin said, "This gentleman is sufficiently Irish to be well thought of here and sufficiently Canadian to live up to all we might expect of him." Bishop Power died of typhus in 1847, contracted while ministering to the sick. Beginning in 1841 Gaulin's physical and mental health began to deteriorate. Bishop Bourget brought Gaulin to Montreal and appointed Patrick Phelan as coadjutor of Kingston. The latter was ordained bishop on 20 August 1843 and administered the diocese from then onwards. Bishop Gaulin died on 8 May 1857 in Sainte-Philomène, near Montreal. He is buried in St. Mary's Cathedral, Kingston.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaulin, Remi 1787 births 1857 deaths People from Quebec City Roman Catholic bishops of Kingston, Canada Pre-Confederation Quebec people Burials at St. Mary's Cathedral, Kingston 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Canada