James Louis O'Donel (1737, Knocklofty,

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

– April 1, 1811,

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

, Ireland) was the first

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

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

of St. John's,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

Life

O'Donel was born into a prosperous family and received a classical

Christian education Christian education may refer to: * Catechesis, a type of Christian education associated with the Roman Catholic church and churches that follow a liturgical paradigm *Sunday school, a form of Christian education used widely among many different ki ...

before entering the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

order. After the

Penal Laws Penal law refers to criminal law. It may also refer to: * Penal law (British), laws to uphold the establishment of the Church of England against Catholicism * Penal laws (Ireland) In Ireland, the penal laws () were a series of Disabilities (C ...

ceased to be rigorously enforced, he travelled to Rome to study for the priesthood, becoming ordained in 1770. He later taught philosophy and theology in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, and in 1777 became the Franciscan

Prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

. Following developments in England, Catholics in

gradually gained religious liberty, made explicit by a public declaration by the Governor in 1784. After a request from Irish merchants there to Bishop William Egan, O'Donel was sent to St. John's as

Prefect Apostolic An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

the same year, largely to deal with the presence of "unlicensed" and "unruly" priests on the island. In addition to his personal popularity, one of his qualifications for the position was an ability to preach in

Irish language in Newfoundland The Irish language was once spoken by some immigrants to the island of Newfoundland before it disappeared in the early 20th century. The language was introduced through mass immigration by Irish speakers, chiefly from counties Waterford, Tipper ...

. O'Donel found that insubordinate priests were fighting Irish battles, and set about reorganizing the Catholic Church in Newfoundland. He built a chapel in St. John's, established parishes outside the capital, and gradually brought priests under his authority. During his first few years in post, O'Donel also found that Catholic Emancipation was less than absolute, and in 1786 he was physically assaulted by the future

King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers Constitutional monarchy, regula ...

Prince William Henry Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (25 November 1743 – 25 August 1805), was a grandson of George II and a younger brother of George III of the United Kingdom. Life Youth Prince William Henry was born at Leicester House ...

. In 1796, O'Donel was consecrated as

titular bishop of Thyatira Bishopric of Thyatira () is a titular see of the Catholic Church centered on the Roman Empire, ancient Roman city of Thyatira in Asia Minor. The bishopric of Thyatira stretched back to very early Christianity. Christianity came to the region in t ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

on 21 September. O'Donel's ministry in Newfoundland was largely characterized by trying to maintain peace, both between fellow Catholics and with the British. In 1800, imminent plans for a

United Irishmen The Society of United Irishmen was a sworn association, formed in the wake of the French Revolution, to secure Representative democracy, representative government in Ireland. Despairing of constitutional reform, and in defiance both of British ...

uprising by the soldiers in the St. John's garrison (including other ranks in the

Royal Newfoundland Regiment The Royal Newfoundland Regiment (R NFLD R) is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. It is part of the 5th Canadian Division's 37 Canadian Brigade Group. Predecessor units trace their origins to 1795, and since 1949 Royal ...

, the Royal Newfoundland Fencibles and the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

) was prevented when a terrified O'Donel, upon hearing of the plans, alerted the authorities. The 19th-century historian

Charles Pedley Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

alleged that O'Donel shared his information in violation of the

Seal of Confession The Seal of the Confessional (also Seal of Confession or Sacramental Seal) is a Christian doctrine forbidding a priest from disclosing any information learned from a penitent during Confession. This doctrine is recognized by several Christian denomi ...

, but credible evidence for this claim is absent. O'Donel's health deteriorated in the early 19th century, and he resigned his position in 1807 and returned to Ireland. He died of shock in 1811 after suffering minor injuries in a fire.

Views

Theologically, O'Donel subscribed to the Augustinian position that religion imposes a "reverential fear" on mankind's "naturally licentious" nature. This, and his belief in the essential mystery of the divine nature gave rise to his support for religious tolerance, since God's inscrutability would inevitably lead to theological disagreement, but furthermore, as he wrote to his contemporary John Jones, "an observant ristian of any denomination is...a better man".

References

External links

*FitzGerald, John Edward,
Bishop James Louis O'Donel
' *Rollmann, Hans,

' *Rollmann, Hans, '' ttps://www.mun.ca/rels/ang/texts/pwh.htm Prince William Henry in Newfoundland' *Shortt, Seamus and Gannon, Joseph E.,
United Irish Rising in Newfoundland
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Odonel, James Louis 1737 births 1811 deaths 18th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Canada 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Canada Apostolic prefects Irish emigrants to Canada 18th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Roman Catholic bishops of St. John's, Newfoundland Christian clergy from County Tipperary Irish Franciscans Franciscan bishops

Life

Views

See also

References

External links