This weekend will be a celebration for thousands of Roman Catholics across the Bay of Quinte region.
On Saturday at the Cathedral in Kingston, the 200th anniversary of the Archdiocese will be celebrated.
The Archdiocese spans from Quinte West and Marmora in the west, to Ormsby (near Gilmour) in the north, Prince Edward County in the south, to Chesterville and Morrisburg in the east.
It was created on January 27, 1826 and is described as the “mother diocese” for English-speaking Canada.
Kingston was also the first Roman Catholic diocese created in the British Empire since the Protestant Reformation.
According to local priest, Father Raymond de Souza, the Archdiocese stretched as far as Winnipeg.
The Mass will be celebrated on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at St Mary’s Cathedral (built 1842) and will include cardinals, bishops, the Apostolic Nuncio (Papal representative), and elected officials.
The cathedral for the area has undergone a major renovation over the last year and an ongoing fundraising campaign has raised seven figures to help cover the expenses.
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A Solemn Mass of Thanksgiving commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Archdiocese of Kingston will be celebrated at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 18, 2026.
This seminal celebration takes place early in the Easter season with special guests including cardinals, bishops, the Apostolic Nuncio, and elected officials who will join local clergy and laity in this historic celebration.
A luncheon reception will follow and representatives of each parish of the archdiocese will receive a specially-commissioned icon, created for the anniversary year, to take back to their home parishes.
Archbishop of Kingston, Michael Mulhall, chose a phrase from St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians for the 200th anniversary theme, “To know Christ and the power of His resurrection” (Phil 3:10).
Archbishop Mulhall stated, “Let us embrace these words for ourselves during this anniversary. May our souls express and strengthen a desire to know Christ, to listen to His words in the Gospels, to receive in faith, His precious body and blood in the Eucharist, and in our prayer grow into a deep personal relationship with the Risen Christ.”
The Archdiocese of Kingston launched a twelve-month program to mark the 200th anniversary on December 8, 2025, with a Holy Mass at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception.
A year-long liturgy guide for parishes animating the chosen theme, a summer speakers’ forum in August for spiritual reflection, and pilgrimages to historic churches throughout the archdiocese are among the special events scheduled for 2026.
The anniversary year will conclude on December 8, 2026, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Patronal Feast of the Archdiocese of Kingston.
In a recent letter to the faithful of the archdiocese, Archbishop Mulhall wrote, “On January 27, 1826, Pope Leo XII erected the Diocese of Kingston and nominated Alexander MacDonnell as the first Bishop of Kingston. With this Papal act, Kingston became the second diocese in what is now known as Canada and the first Roman Catholic diocese erected in the British Empire since the Reformation.
