PORTLAND
288
PORTLAND
self for twenty years to the Penobscots and Passa-
niaquoddys and to the scattered Cathohc missions.
Bishop Fenwick was consecrated in 1825, and con-
tinued the work. Father Ffrench, a Dominican, was
stationed at Eastport, and from that place visited the
Indian missions. In July, 1827, Bishop Fenwick
visited them and at intervals later. In 1833, 109
years after the destruction of the mission at Norridge-
wock, Bishop Fenwick erected a monument to the
memory of Father Rasle. Father Demilier continued
the work until his death 23 July, 1843. Bishop
Fitzpatrick, the successor to Bishop Fenwick, gave
over the Abenaki mission to the Society of Jesus, and,
in 1848, Father John Bapst was sent to Oldtown and
became a zealous missionary to both whites and
Indians. The Indians of Maine are, as a result of the
careful teaching and self-sacrificing labours of the
missionaries. Catholics.
In the latter part of the eighteenth centurj', some immigrants from Ireland came to Maine and settled in the towns of Newcastle, Damariscotta, and Noble- boro. Seven Catholic families had settled at Dam- ariscotta Bridge, and for them Father Cheverus said Mass in the barn of Matthew Cottrill. Later Mr. James Kavanaugh, a merchant of the towm, had fitted up a neat chapel and ISIass was celebrated there on the visitations of the priest. In 1800, Mr. Kavanaugh and his partner, Mr. Cottrill, subscribed $1000 each for the new church, which was dedicated 17 July, 1808, Father Cheverus officiating. This was the second Catholic church in New England, and the first built by English-speaking Catholics in Maine. In 1822, Bishop Cheverus came to Portland at the request of some Catholics, and said the first Mass in Portland. Bishop Fenwick succeeded Bishop Cheverus and ruled the New England province from 182.5 to 1845. The work of Bishop Cheverus among the Indians was con- tinued by Bishop Fenwick, and he established in July, 1834, the Catholic colony at Benedicta in Northern Elaine and to-day all the inhabitants of the township are Catholics. In 1853 the Holy See di\-ided the diocese of Boston and erected a new see at Portland, and named its first bishop, Da\'id WilUam Bacon (see Bacon, David William).
James Augustine Healy, second bishop, b. at Macon, Ga., 6 April, 1830. He entered Holy Cross College, 1844, and graduated, 1849. His theological education was received at the Grand Seminary, Montreal, where he spent three years, then two years at St-Sulpice, Paris. He was ordained in the Cathe- dral of Notre Dame, Paris, by Archbishop Sibour, 10 June, 1854. He began his priestly labours in Boston as Secretary to Bishop Fitzpatrick, and became the first chancellor of the diocese. In March, 1866, he was named pastor of St. James' Church by Bishop Williams. A papal bull dated 12 Feb., 1875, desig- nated him as second Bishop of Portland. He was consecrated in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Con- ception, Portland, 2 June, 1875. When he assumed the cares of the diocese he found the Church well established in the cities of Maine and New Hampshire. In the small towns, however, Uttle was known of Catholic doctrine. Bishop Healy established many missions and new parishes and the Catholic name be- came known in all parts of the state. He introduced the Dominicans and Marists and some religious orders of women, and was instrumental in establishing the hospital and Healy Asylum in Lewiston. In February, 1877, the school begun in Portland by Bishop Bacon was completed at a cost of .123, (XX). It is named the Kavanaugh School in honour of Miss Kavanaugh, a sister of Governor Edward Kavanaugh. In 1881, Bishop Healy purchased a splendid estate in Deering, then a separate town, but now a part of Portland, and opened a boarding school for girls, under the care of the Sisters of Mercy. It is known as St. Joseph's Academy, and has an enrollment of about 100 pupils.
He also caused to be built on the same grounds a
home for aged women, and a neat chapel to serve the
needs of the Catholics in the vicinity. In 1887, St.
Elizabeth's Orphan Asylum, which had been trans-
ferred to North Whitefield, shortly after his acces-
sion, was re-estabUshed in Portland. The Sacred
Heart School for boys was established by him in 1893.
Bishop Healy died 5 August, 1900, respected and be-
loved by priests and people, as a scholar, a master of
oratory, and a man of sanctity.
The third Bishop of Portland was William Henry O'Connell (see Boston).
Louis Sebastian Walsh, fourth bishop, b. at Salem, Mass., 22 Jan., 1858, son of Patrick Walsh and Honora Foley. He was educated for the priest- hood at the Grand Seminarj', Montreal, and St- Sulpice Seminary, Paris, and later made profounder studies of canon law and theology at Rome. Or- dained in St. John Lateran, Rome, 23 Dec, 1882, by Cardinal La Valletta, he was appointed assistant pastor at St. Joseph's Church, Boston, and professor and director at St. Joseph's Seminarj', Brighton, at its opening in 1884, where for thirteen years he taught church history, canon law, and liturgy. In Sept., 1897, he was appointed supervisor of Catholic schools in the archdiocese. He was one of the founders of the "New England Catholic Historical Society", also of the "Catholic Educational Association". He was appointed Bishop of Portland in Aug., 1906, and con- secrated in the cathedral at Portland on 18 Oct., 1903, by Rt. Rev. Matthew Harkins of Providence. New parishes and schools were soon established, and the mother-house of the Diocesan Sisters of Mercy was erected in the Deering district of Portland. Bishop Walsh opened in Sept., 1909, the Cathohc Institute in the former mother-house of the Sisters of Mercy, wherein are taught 200 boys, also the Holy Innocents Home for Infants and St. Anthony's Guild for Work- ing Girls. At Damariscotta in Aug., 1908, a celebra- tion was arranged to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the dedication of the parish church, and on tliis occasion was formed the "Maine Catholic Historical Society". At Norridgewock the monu- ment erected by Bishop Fenwick to the memory of Father Rasle, S. J., was replaced and re-dedicated. On Mt. Desert Island in the town of Bar Harbor the arrival of the first missionaries, in 1604, was com- memorated; and a beautiful church dedicated under the name given to the island by them, that of St- Sauveur or Holy Redeemer, was erected. The char- ities of the diocese have been arranged on a permanent basis. In general it may be said that there is a splen- did advance in all that pertains to the Church.
Statistics. — Within the limits of the diocese, com- prising the State of Maine, there are (1911) 125,000 CathoUcs. They are cared for by 125 seculars and 22 priests of religious orders. There are 70 churches with resident pastors and 49 mission churches, 36 chapels and 67 stations. There is one college, St. AIarjs, Van Buren, conducted by the Marist Fathers. Nine academies have an enrollment of 500 pupils. St. Joseph's Academy of Maine, conducted by the Sisters of Mercy, is the largest and best, and furnishes instruction to iOO pupils. There are two schools for Indians caring for 132 pupils; three Catholic hospitals and one home for aged women. The orphans under Catholic care number 415. Total of young people under Cathohc care, 12,274.
Religious Communities. — The Dominican Fathers are established in Lewiston and the Marists at Van Buren and Lower Grand Isle. Tlie Diocesan Sis- ters of Mercy have their mother-house in Portland and number 185. The following Sisters and congre- gations are engaged in various parts of the state: The Sisters of Charity; Grey Nuns; Dominican Sis- ters; Little Sisters of the Holy Family; Little Fran- ciscan Sisters of Marj'; Sisters of the Holy Rosary;
