A Brief History of the Diocese of Prince Albert

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The Diocese of Prince Albert (est. 1891) is the oldest of three Roman Catholic dioceses in Saskatchewan. 

 

The Diocese of Prince Albert was separated from the Diocese of St. Albert, Alberta., on Oct. 21, 1890, as the Vicariate Apostolic of Prince Albert, under the leadership of Bishop Albert Pascal, OMI, who was consecrated on June 29, 1891. It was then established as a diocese in 1904. The diocese became smaller in subsequent years with the creation in 1910 of the Vicariate of Keewatin, in 1921 of the Abbacy of Muenster, and in 1933 of the Diocese of Saskatoon. In 1915 Prince Albert became a suffragan diocese of the newly created Archdiocese of Regina. 

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The diocese is located in the north-central part of the province, it stretches east-west from the Manitoba to the Alberta border and north-south from Prince Albert National Park to the Wakaw area. It includes 87 rural and urban parishes including 17 on First Nations reserves, with a total Catholic population of approximately 40,000. Bishop Emeritus Blaise Morand was ordained in 1983 and Bishop Emeritus Albert Thévenot, M. Afr in 2008 as our seventh bishop. Bishop Stephen Hero was ordained June 11, 2021 as our eighth bishop.