The Archdiocese of Ottawa–Cornwall (, ) is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

archdiocese 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 associated ...

in the

Province of Ontario Ontario is the southernmost province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it is home to 38.5% of the country's population, and is the second-largest province by ...

. It is the

metropolitan diocese A metropolis, metropolitanate or metropolitan diocese is an episcopal see whose bishop is the metropolitan bishop or archbishop of an ecclesiastical province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces. Eastern Ortho ...

of the ecclesiastical province of Ottawa–Cornwall which includes the

suffragan diocese A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandr ...

s of Hearst–Moosonee, Pembroke, and

Timmins Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 at the 2021 Canadian census and an estimated population of ...

. As of 2023, the archdiocese had 129

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

, 129

diocesan priests In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. Secular priests (sometimes known as diocesan priests) are priests who commit themselves to a certain geograph ...

, 103 religious priests, and 472,000 Catholics. It also had 379 women religious, 110

religious brother A religious brother (abbreviated Br. or Bro. as a title) is a laity, lay male member of a religious institute or religious order who commits himself to following Christ in consecrated life, usually by the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. E ...

s, and 100 permanent

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

History

The Diocese of Bytown was erected on 25 June 1847. Its name was changed to the Diocese of Ottawa on 14 June 1860. It was elevated to archdiocese status on 8 June 1886. On 6 May 2020,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

amalgamated the Archdiocese of Ottawa and the

Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall 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 associated ...

to create the Archdiocese of Ottawa–Cornwall.

Territory

The archdiocese includes the

City of Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of the Ottawa–Gatinea ...

, the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, the eastern portion of the

United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry The United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (SDG) is a county and Census divisions of Canada, census division in the Canadian province of Ontario, that comprises three historical county, counties. The county's administrative office is lo ...

, as well as a small portion of

Lanark County Lanark County is a county and Census divisions of Canada, census division located in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its county seat is Perth, Ontario, Perth, which was first settled in 1816Brown, Howard Morton, 1984. Lanark Legacy, Nineteenth ...

consisting of only two parishes.

Leadership

;Bishops and archbishops of

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

* Joseph-Eugène-Bruno Guigues (1847–1874) *

Joseph-Thomas Duhamel Joseph-Thomas Duhamel (; 6 November 1841 – 5 June 1909) was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest and Archbishop of Ottawa. Born in Contrecœur, Lower Canada, he was educated at St. Joseph's College, Ottawa, and ordained in 1863. He became B ...

(1874–1909) * Charles-Hughes Gauthier (1910–1922) * Joseph-Médard Émard (1922–1927) *

Joseph-Guillaume-Laurent Forbes Joseph-Guillaume-Laurent Forbes (August 10, 1865-May 22, 1940) was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest and the Archbishop of Ottawa. Forbes was born on August 10, 1865, probably in Île Perrot, Lower Canada. He was the second of 16 children, and in ...

(1928–1940) *

Alexandre Vachon Alexandre Vachon (August 16, 1885 – March 30, 1953) was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest who served as the Archbishop of Ottawa and the chancellor of the University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U o ...

(1940–1953) *

Marie-Joseph Lemieux Marie-Joseph Lemieux (10 May 1902 – 4 March 1994) was a Catholic archbishop and diplomat of the Holy See. Biography Marie-Joseph Lemieux joined the Dominican Order, and professed his vows on 4 August 1924. He studied in Rome, Lille and Oxford ...

(1953–1966), appointed titular Archbishop and nuncio * Joseph-Aurèle Plourde (1967–1989) * Marcel André J. Gervais (1989–2007) * Terrence Prendergast, S.J. (2007–2020) ;Archbishops of Ottawa-Cornwall *Terrence Prendergast, S.J. (May 2020–Dec 2020) * Marcel Damphousse (2020– )

Coadjutor bishops

(1939-1940) * Marcel André J. Gervais (1989) * Marcel Damphousse (2020- )

Auxiliary bishops

* Maxime Tessier (1951-1953), appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Timmins, Ontario * Paul-Émile Charbonneau (1960-1963), appointed Bishop of Hull, Québec * Joseph Raymond Windle (1960-1969), appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Pembroke, Ontario * René Audet (1963-1968), appointed Bishop of Joliette, Québec * John Michael Behan (1977-1988) * Gilles Bélisle (1977-1993) * Brendan Michael O'Brien (1987-1993), appointed Bishop of Pembroke, Ontario * Paul Marchand, SSM (1993-1999), appointed Bishop of Timmins, Ontario * Frederick Joseph Colli (1994-1999), appointed Bishop of Thunder Bay, Ontario * Christian Riesbeck, CC (2014-2019), appointed Bishop of Saint John, New Brunswick * Yvan Mathieu, S.M. (2022- )

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

* John Thomas McNally, appointed Bishop of Calgary, Alberta, in 1913 * François-Xavier Brunet, appointed Bishop of Mont-Laurier, Québec, in 1913 * Joseph Charbonneau, appointed Bishop of Hearst, Ontario in 1939 * Jean Gratton, appointed Bishop of Mont-Laurier, Québec, in 1978 * Jean-Louis Plouffe, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario in 1986 * José Avelino Bettencourt, appointed nuncio and titular archbishop in 2018

Statistics

References

Bibliography

*
Archdiocese of Ottawa page at catholichierarchy.org
retrieved July 13, 2006 * *

External links

Official website
Organizations based in Ottawa Long stubs with short prose {{Ottawa-stub