The First Thousand Years: A Brief History of the Catholic Church of Canada

Clint MacNeil teaches history, geography, and world religion at St.
Charles College in Sudbury, Ontario.

Bishop Raymond J. Lahey traces Canada’s intimate relationship with the
Catholic Church as far back as the Vikings in the year 1000. His slender
history of the church concludes with the recent mission of Pope John
Paul II.

According to Lahey, Norse explorers were among the first to bring
Christianity to Canada. The earliest known settlement is L’Anse aux
Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland. The Gospel was spread in
later years by the priests who accompanied explorers Columbus, Cabot,
Cartier, and Champlain.

The author describes the struggles of Catholic clergy who established
missions to educate and convert the Aboriginal people. Among these
struggles were isolation, climate, epidemics, expulsion of both the
Jesuits in 1629 and the Acadians in 1755 by the English, frequent
Iroquois attacks, and martyrdom. Following the Quebec Act in 1774, a
climate of anti-Catholic feeling would only be exacerbated by the
activities of Louis Riel, separate schools, papal infallibility, and a
wave of immigrant Irish “papists” a century later.

Lahey acknowledges current troubles involving sex abuse and residential
schools. At the same time, he credits Fr. Brebeuf, Marguerite Bourgeoys,
and Marguerite d’Youville with establishing early religious education
and health care in Canada. His highly readable book is recommended for
novice researchers and those who want to acquire a general understanding
of Catholicism in Canada.