Michael Power (Canadian bishop)
Encyclopedia
Michael Power was the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Toronto
Roman Catholic Archbishops of Toronto
This is a list of the Roman Catholic Archbishops of Toronto.The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto was created out of the Diocese of Kingston December 17, 1841....

.

Early years

Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...

, Canada to Captain
Captain
Captain or The Captain is derived from the Greek word katepánō which was a senior Byzantine military rank and office.It may refer to:...

William Power and Mary Roach. He went to Seminary of St. Sulpice, Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 and Seminary of Quebec and was ordained a priest in 1827 by Bishop Dubois. He served as missionary priest of the Archdiocese of Québec and the Diocese of Montréal until 1839 when he was appointed Vicar General of Montréal.

First Bishop of Toronto

Power was canonically erected as Bishop of Toronto in 1841 by Pope Gregory XVI. Father Michael Power was appointed the first Bishop of the new See. He was also the first English-speaking Bishop to be born in Canada.

Legacy

Bishop Power's most notable achievements were the building of St. Michael's Cathedral, Toronto
St. Michael's Cathedral, Toronto
St. Michael's Cathedral is the Roman Catholic cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto, Canada, and one of the oldest churches in the city. It is located at 200 Church Street in Toronto's Garden District. St. Michael's was designed by William Thomas, designer of eight other churches...

 and the Bishop's Palace on Church Street. He also invited the Loretto Sisters (Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary) from Rathfarnham, Ireland to establish schools in the city, starting education for women and the growth of Ontario's separate schools.

In 2005, Dr. Mark G. McGowan wrote a book about him called, Michael Power: The Struggle to Build the Catholic Church on the Canadian Frontier.

In 2009, Bishop Power was featured prominently in the docudrama Death or Canada
Death or Canada
DEATH or CANADA staring Kieran 'Larry' O leary and Shane Gaffey is a Gemini and IFTA nominated two-part Canadian-Irish docudrama which was broadcast in Ireland on RTÉ One in November/December 2008, in the UK on The History Channel UK in January and February 2009 and in Canada on History Television...

, which tells the story of the Irish Famine and its impact on Toronto in 1847. Power is portrayed as the hero of Toronto and is described as a "martyr of charity." A book, also called Death or Canada, accompanies the film and is written by Dr. Mark G. McGowan.

Death

Power's tenure was short, dying from typhus in Toronto on October 1, 1847 while ministering to recently arrived Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 immigrants, escaping the Great Irish Famine. Power's remains are buried in a crypt beneath St. Michael's Cathedral where he had laid the cathedral's cornerstone on May 8, 1845 and dedicated it after his diocese's patron saint, St. Michael the Archangel.

External links

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