St. Finnan's Basilica is a
minor basilica and former cathedral in
Alexandria,
Ontario. The basilica served as the cathedral of the
Diocese of Alexandria–Cornwall from 1890 to its suppression in 2020.
History
The church's history began in 1832 when
Alexander Macdonell established a mission in Priest's Mill
(later to be renamed to Alexandria, in honour of Macdonnell ) the following year, a church was built and in 1840, the mission was elevated to a parish.
During the pastorate of Fr.
Alexander Macdonell the basilica was constructed from 1883 to 1885. In 1890,
Pope Leo XIII established the
Diocese of Alexandria in Ontario
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...
and named Macdonnell as bishop.
On October 28, 1890, he was consecrated bishop at St. Finnan. He chose St. Finnan's as his episcopal seat, elevating the church to a cathedral.
[McGowan, Mark.“Macdonne, Alexander”, ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', vol. 13, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003]
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The basilica houses a Casavant organ, Opus 284, installed in 1907.[https://www.rcco.ca/resources/PDFs/AboutRCCO/Designated_Organs.pdf ]
On May 6, 2020, Pope Francis united the Diocese of Alexandria–Cornwall with the Archdiocese of Ottawa to create the Archdiocese of Ottawa–Cornwall, reverting the cathedral to a parish.
References
External links
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{{Basilicas in Canada
Roman Catholic churches in Ontario
Basilica churches in Canada
Former cathedrals in Canada
19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Canada