Michael Power : the struggle to build the Catholic Church on the Canadian frontier / Mark G. McGowan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McGowan, Mark George, 1959-

Series:

McGill-Queen's studies in the history of religion ; 40.

McGill-Queen's studies in the history of religion ; 40

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Power, Michael, 1804-1847.

Power, Michael.

Catholic Church--Ontario--Toronto--Bishops--Biography.

Catholic Church.

Catholic Church--Canada--History--19th century.

History.

Bishops.

Canada.

Ontario--Toronto.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xvii, 378 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Montreal ; Ithaca : McGill-Queen's University Press, [2005]

Summary:

From his role in the devotional revolutions of the nineteenth century to tending the Irish famine migrants in the fever sheds of Toronto, Michael Power's extraordinary life provides glimpses into the role of the Church during the most important events in early Canadian history. Writing with insight and grace, Mark McGowan untangles the man from the myth.

Setting his account against the dramatic backdrop of pre-Confederation Canada, McGowan traces the challenges Power faced as a young priest helping to establish and sustain the Catholic Church in the newly settled areas of the continent. Appointed first bishop of Toronto in 1841, Power became an ardent proponent of the Ultramontane reforms and disciplines that were to revitalize the Roman Catholic Church. McGowan explores the way in which Power established frameworks for Catholic institutions, schools, and religious life that are still relevant to English Canada today.

Born to Irish parents in 1804 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Power began his work as a priest in the St Francis River Valley. After a series of other frontier postings, he moved to Toronto, where he died, just days before his forty-third birthday, following work with the Irish immigrant community during the typhoid epidemic.

Contents:

Introduction: Eulogy for a Bishop 3

1 Land and Sea 14

2 Forming the Heart, the Spirit, and the Body 37

3 Saddlebag Christianity 57

4 "Clip the Gowns of the Clergy" 84

5 The Ultramontane Revolution 107

6 At the Edge of Civilization 136

7 The Fifth Age 167

8 Virtually a Canadian 199

9 The Year of the Irish 227

Conclusion: Seeking Stability 259

Appendix 1 Toronto Diocesan Regulations, 1842 273

Appendix 2 The Prisoners from Ste-Martine, 1838 287

Appendix 3 Population of the Diocese of Toronto, 1842-48 289.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [293]-367) and index.

ISBN:

0773529144

OCLC:

57281563