The first Mass said in what would become the state of Vermont was celebrated in 1666 by a Sulpician priest from Montreal, in the chapel of Fort Sainte Anne on Isle La Motte.[2] The northern region of Vermont was largely settled in the 18th century by Catholic French Canadians who migrated south from the British Province of Quebec. In 1784, after the conclusion of the American Revolution, Pope Pius VI moved to remove American Catholics from the jurisdiction of the Diocese of London. He erected the Prefecture Apostolic of the United States, which included what was then the Vermont Republic. In 1789, the Vatican placed Vermont, along with the rest of the United States, under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Baltimore.
During the late 18th century, out of convenience, the bishops of Quebec continued to minister to Catholic settlers and Native Americans, mainly in northern Vermont. In 1801, Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore formally accepted the offer of Bishop Pierre Denaut of the Diocese of Quebec to care for French-speaking Catholics in Vermont. Pope Pius VII erected the Diocese of Boston in 1808, transferring Vermont to the new American diocese.[2]
In the early 19th century, there were no Catholic priests residing in Vermont. Francis Matignon of Boston visited Burlington in 1815 and counted about 100 Catholic Canadians living there. Around 1818, Marie Migneault from Chambly, Quebec, came to Vermont and ministered to the settlers by Lake Champlain for several years. Bishop Jean-Louis de Cheverus, the first Bishop of Boston, later appointed Migneault as vicar-general of that part of the diocese. Migneault continued as vicar general until 1853.
Joseph Fenwick succeeded Cheverus as Bishop of Boston in December 1825. He visited Windsor, Vermont, in 1826. In 1827 he ordained James Fitton. Fitton served some time with the Passamaquoddy before being sent to serve the scattered Catholics in Vermont and New Hampshire. He visited Burlington in 1829.[3]
In 1830, Fenwick sent Jeremiah O'Callaghan to Vermont to serve as its first resident priest. He visited successively Wallingford, Pittsford, and Vergennes, then settled in Burlington. O'Callaghan had St. Mary's church built. It served as his mission base. His territory extended from Rutland, Vermont in the south to the Canadian border in the north, a distance of about 100 miles (160km) and from Lake Champlain in the west to the Connecticut River in the east. St. Mary's Church in Burlington was destroyed by arson in May 1838.[4] O'Callaghan served in Vermont for 23 years and was known as the "Apostle of Vermont."[5]
In 1837, John Daley was sent by the Diocese of Boston to southern Vermont. He is described as an "eccentric, but very learned man".[2] He usually made his headquarters at Rutland or Middlebury, Vermont, but spent most of his time traveling the state as a missionary. Daley went wherever Catholics lived without any particular schedule. Daley ministered in Vermont until 1854 and died in New York in 1870. An 1843 census showed the Catholic population of Vermont to be 4,940. As immigration from Europe and particularly Ireland to the United States increased at this time, the Catholic population in Vermont Catholic population also rose.
1850 to 1880
Bishop GoesbriandCathedral of the Immaculate Conception (1867–1972)
In 1850, Pope Pius IX elevated the Diocese of New York to a metropolitan archdiocese, assigning the Diocese of Boston, with its Vermont parishes, as a suffragan see.[6]
In 1852, at a meeting of the bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of New York, the bishops decided that Vermont should have its own diocese. They made this proposal to the Vatican, with Burlington to be the Episcopal see.[2] Bishop John Fitzpatrick of the Diocese of Boston recommended Louis de Goesbriand, vicar-general of the Diocese of Cleveland, as the first bishop of Burlington.
On July 29, 1853, Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Burlington, taking Vermont from the Diocese of Boston. He designated the new diocese as a suffragan of the Archdiocese of New York, and appointed De Goesbriand as bishop.
In 1853, De Goesbriand arrived at Burlington. He was installed there the following day by Bishop Fitzpatrick. After his installation, De Goesbriand visited the entire diocese. He found about 20,000 Catholics scattered throughout Vermont. In 1855, he visited France and Ireland to recruit more priests for the diocese, bringing back several volunteers.
The first diocesan synod was held at Burlington in 1855. De Goesbriand appointed Thomas Lynch as vicar-general of the diocese in 1858. De Goesbriand started construction of the gothic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in 1861. Progress was slowed because of the Civil War. Local marble was used, quarried and from around Rutland and limestone from the Isle La Motte.[7]
On February 12, 1875, Pope Pius IX elevated the Diocese of Boston to a metropolitan archdiocese[8] and transferred the Diocese of Burlington from the Archdiocese of New York to the new archdiocese.[9]
In the 1870s, De Goesbriand bought a 25 acres (10ha) parcel of land on North Avenue in Burlington from a former editor of the Burlington Free Press. In 1879, under the supervision of future Bishop John Michaud, the diocese constructed the St. Joseph orphanage there.[10]
1880 to 1950
By 1881, DeGoesbriand had a dozen priests to serve 6,000 congregants scattered throughout Vermont.[11] In 1891, the diocese had the highest ratio of French speaking priests to francophone parishioners (1:1610) in New England.[12]
John Stephen Michaud
In 1892 De Goesbriand purchase land at Fort Sainte Anne on Isle La Motte in order to preserve its history. A small chapel was built.[13] That same year, due to his age and failing health, he requested the appointment of a coadjutor bishop by the Vatican to assist. Pope Leo XIII appointed Michaud, then pastor of a parish of Bennington, Vermont, to this post. Handing many of his responsibilities to Michaud, De Goesbriand retired to St. Joseph's orphanage.[1]
In August 1894, De Goesbriand consecrated the Diocese of Burlington to Saint Peter.[14] De Goesbriand served as bishop of Burlington for 38 years. When he died in 1899, Michaud automatically succeed him as bishop of Burlington. De Goesbriand spent his entire family fortune constructing churches and orphanages in the diocese and assisting the poor; he died with only four dollars left to his name.[15]
After Rice's death in 1938, Pope Pius XI appointed Matthew Brady from the Diocese of Hartford as his replacement. Brady erected 12 new parishes in Fairfax, Gilman, North Troy, Orleans, and South Burlington, all in Vermont. When Brady was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Manchester by Pope Pius XII in 1944, the next bishop was Edward Ryan from the Archdiocese of Boston. In 1945, Ryan purchased a 7 acres (2.8ha) parcel adjacent to St. Joseph's orphanage and created the Don Bosco School for delinquent boys.
1950 to present
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (1977–2018)
In 1954, Pius XII appointed Robert Joyce as the first auxiliary bishop of Burlington. When Ryan died in 1956, Pius XII named Joyce as his replacement. With Joyce's retirement in 1971, Pope Paul VI appointed John Marshall as the next bishop.
In 1972, an arsonist burned the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Marshall built a new cathedral with the same name on the same site in 1977.[18][19][20] In 1974, Marshall closed St. Joseph's orphanage and eventually sold the property. It is now a condominium project known as 'Liberty House.'[21] In 1981, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Abbey was founded in Westfield, Vermont.[22]
In 1992, Pope John Paul II appointed Auxiliary Bishop Kenneth Angell from the Diocese of Providence as the new bishop of Burlington. Under Angell, Catholic schools in the diocese experienced a 24% drop in enrollment between 1998 and 2008, from 3,190 to 2,431 students.[23] Faced with a shortage of priests in Burlington, and a decline in weekly mass attendance, Angell consolidated Sacred Heart and St. Francis de Sales Parishes in Bennington as well as St. Cecilia and St. Frances Cabrini in East Barre, and closed Our Lady of the Lake in St. Albans.
In 1999, the Vatican elevated Saint Joseph Church in Burlington as the co-cathedral of the diocese.[24] Burlington became one of only four American dioceses to have two active cathedral churches in the same city.[25] In 2005, Pope John Paul II appointed Salvatore Matano from the Diocese of Providence as coadjutor bishop of the diocese. When Agnell retired several months later, Matano automatically became the new bishop of Burlington. In 2010, Matano ordained four priests, the highest number in the diocese in decades.[26]
In 2014, Pope Francis appointed Auxiliary Bishop Christopher J. Coyne from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis as the next diocesan bishop. He replaced Matano, who was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Rochester. Coyne's installation was celebrated on January 29, 2015, at the Co-Cathedral of Saint Joseph. In 2018, Coyne announced that the diocese was selling the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception due to a long period of low attendance. Its members were transferred to St. Joseph's, which became the sole cathedral in the diocese.[27]
In June 2023, Francis appointed Coyne as coadjutor archbishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford.[28]Msgr. John McDermott was named bishop of the diocese on May 6, 2024.[29] McDermott was Coyne's vicar general, and with the former's move to Hartford, served as Burlington's Diocesan Administrator.[30]
Sexual abuse
St. Joseph's Orphanage
St. Joseph's opened in 1854 in a former tavern. Staffed by the Sisters of Providence from Montreal, it initially housed fifty-eight orphans. St. Joseph's closed in 1974. In the 1990s, the Diocese of Burlington was sued by former residents of St. Joseph's Orphanage, claiming abuse by the staff. Over 100 former residents stated that they had been physically, sexually and emotionally abused by nuns, priests and lay staff workers from the 1940s through the 1970s.[21]
Lawyers for the diocese originally asked the court to throw out the St. Joseph lawsuits, on the grounds that the victims' allegations could not be corroborated. Five priests who each at one time held the position of chaplain at St. Joseph's were also accused by victims of sexual abuse in unrelated litigation. The diocese ultimately paid over $300,000 to settle the claims of 60 former residents.[21] Almost all of these settlements were in the form of an offer from the Diocese of $5000.00.
On September 30, 2024, the diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing increased sex abuse lawsuits. The diocese currently faces over 61 lawsuits.[31]
Paquette case
In 1994, the diocese was sued by Michael Gay, who claimed to have been sexually molested by Edward Paquette during the 1970s. Paquette had an early history of sexual abuse of children from his tenures in the Diocese of Fall River and the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. In 1971, the Indiana diocese ordered Paquette to undergo electroconvulsive therapy to treat his pedophilia. Convinced that Paquette was cured, Bishop Marshall brought him into the Diocese of Burlington in 1972. He was finally suspended from priestly duties in 1978.
The diocese settled Gay's lawsuit for $965,000 in 2006, then settled two more lawsuits for $8.75 million and $3.6 million.[32] Paquette was laicized in April 2009.[33]
The diocese in 2013 settled 11 more sexual abuse cases for an undisclosed account. Nine of those cases were filed by victims of Paquette.[34]
In February 2010, the diocese announced that it would sell its headquarters in Burlington and Camp Holy Cross in Colchester to pay sexual abuse victims.[35] In May 2010, the diocese settled 26 lawsuits by former altar for sexual abuse by its clergy for $17.65 million.
The diocese in August 2019 released the names of 40 clergy since 1950 who had been "credibly accused" of sex abuse. Most of these men were deceased and none were in active ministry.[36][37] Much of the abuse occurred at St Josephs, and all but one of these named acts took place before 2000.[36]
Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan released an investigative report on St. Joseph's Orphanage in December 2020. A 2018 Buzzfeed article had claimed that staff had murdered residents there.[38] The attorney general report found no evidence that any murders occurred at the facility. However, the investigation did find evidence of physical and sexual abuse of the residents.[39]
In May 2022, the diocese settled a lawsuit brought by a man who claimed to have been sexually assaulted by Roger W. Carlin. The plaintiff, filing the lawsuit in 2021, said that Carlin abused him at St. John Vianney church in South Burlington between 1966 and 1967.[40]
Deaneries
As of 2023, the Diocese of Burlington had a Catholic population of approximately 110,000, with 36 active priests, 44 permanent deacons and 15 religious ministering in 68 parishes.[41] The parishes are divided into 12 deaneries:
As of 2023, the Diocese of Burlington included 12 Catholic schools with an enrollment (including catechetical students) of approximately 2,500.[41] Student enrollment dropped 24% from 3,190 to 2,431 from 1999 to 2008.[44] Dave Young is the superintendent of schools.[45]
In 2005, the Diocese of Burlington had net assets of $5,679,217. This figure includes assets acquired "at cost."[47] An insurance company has estimated that it would cost $400 million to replace the physical assets of the diocese, including churches, schools, and nursing homes.[48]
The Vermont Catholic Charities had total net assets of $3,874,935.[49]
In 1808 Fanny Allen, daughter of Revolutionary War General Ethan Allen, converted to Catholicism and entered the novitiate of Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal, where she was received as a member of the order.
The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. It is led by an archbishop who administers the archdiocese from the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The archbishop has both a cathedral and co-cathedral: the mother church – the Cathedral of Saint Paul in Saint Paul, and the co-cathedral, the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis.
The Diocese of Providence is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Rhode Island in the United States. The diocese was erected by Pope Pius IX on February 17, 1872.
The Diocese of Savannah is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southern Georgia in the United States. The mother church of the diocese is Cathedral Basilica of Saint John the Baptist in Savannah. The patron saint is John the Baptist.
The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its mother church is the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston. The archdiocese is the fourth largest in the United States.
The Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in Western Massachusetts in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston.
The Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in north-central and northeastern Indiana in the United States.
The Archdiocese of Indianapolis is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Indiana in the United States.
The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Hartford is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Connecticut in the United States. It is a metropolitan see.
The Diocese of Norwich is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in the states of Connecticut and New York in the United States. It was erected on August 6, 1953, by Pope Pius XII.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington is a Latin Church diocese in Northern Kentucky in the United States. The cathedral church of the diocese is the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington.
The Diocese of Duluth is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in northeastern Minnesota in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
The Diocese of Portland is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church for the entire state of Maine in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston.
Salvatore Ronald Matano is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as bishop of the Diocese of Rochester in Upstate New York since 2013. Matano previously served as Bishop of Burlington in Vermont from 2005 to 2013.
Christopher James Coyne is an American Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Hartford since May 2024. He had been coadjutor archbishop since June 2023. He has also served temporarily as administrator of the Diocese of Burlington since June 2023.
Louis Edward Gélineau is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as bishop of the Diocese of Providence from 1972 to 1997.
Louis Joseph Marie Théodore de Goesbriand was a French-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of the Diocese of Burlington in Vermont from 1853 until his death in 1899.
John Stephen Michaud was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Burlington in Vermont from 1899 until his death in 1908.
Joseph John Rice was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Burlington in Vermont from 1910 until his death in 1938.
Edward Francis Ryan was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Burlington in Vermont from 1945 until his death in 1956.
Kenneth Anthony Angell was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Burlington from 1992 to 2005. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Providence from 1974 to 1992.
↑ "Archived copy"(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on September 27, 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) retrieved on June 18, 2007
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