page_title: Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Burlington Vermont
context_page_description: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the New England region of the United States, comprising the entire state of Vermont. The Diocese of Burlington was canonically erected on July 29, 1853 by Pope Pius IX. Its territories were taken from the former Diocese of Boston. The Burlington See is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Boston. Bishop Christopher J. Coyne has been the diocesan bishop since 2015. The cathedral church is Saint Joseph's in Burlington. In August 2019, the Diocese unveiled a list of priests who were accused of sex abuse.
context_section_description: Originally Vermont was included within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Baltimore, established in 1789. The bishops of Quebec continued, as they had in the past, to look after the spiritual interests of the Catholic settlers and Indians. When the Diocese of Boston was formed in 1810 Vermont became part of its territory.
  In 1801, Bishop John Carroll of the Diocese of Baltimore accepted the offer of Bishop Denault of the Diocese of Quebec to care for French-speaking Catholics in Vermont.
  In the early years of the nineteenth century, there were no priests residing in Vermont. Father Matignon, of Boston, visited Burlington in 1815 and counted about 100 Catholic Canadians. About 1818 Father Migneault from Chambly, Quebec, looked after the spiritual needs of the settlers on the shores of Lake Champlain for several years. He was appointed vicar-general of this part of the diocese by the Bishop of Boston and continued in that capacity until 1853.
  Father Fitton, of Boston, came to Burlington for a short time in the summer of 1829. Bishop Fenwick, second Bishop of Boston, visited Windsor in 1826. The first resident priest in Vermont was Rev. Jeremiah O'Callaghan from 1830 until 1847. He was sent by Fenwick to Vermont, and visited successively Wallingford, Pittsford, Vergennes, and Burlington. He settled at Burlington, where he ministered for nearly a quarter of a century. His field of labor extended from Rutland to the Canadian line, a distance of about 100 miles (160 km), and from the shores of Lake Champlain to the Connecticut River.
  Fenwick made his first pastoral visit, as Bishop of Boston, to Vermont in 1830, and in 1832 he dedicated the first church built in Vermont in the nineteenth century. This was erected at Burlington under the supervision of Father O'Callaghan.
  In 1837 Rev. John Daley came to the southern part of the state. He is described as an "eccentric, but very learned man". During the time of his zealous labors in Vermont, he had no particular home. He usually made his headquarters at Rutland or Middlebury. He acted as a missionary, traveling from place to place wherever there were Catholics, and stopping wherever night overtook him. He remained in the state until 1854 and died in New York in 1870.
  A census of the Catholic population of Vermont, taken in 1843, showed the total number to be 4940. At about this time emigration from European countries, particularly from Ireland, increased. The Catholic population increased.
  During 1837 to 1854, Father John B. Daly performed missionary work in southern Vermont.
  In 1852 a meeting of the bishops of the province of New York decided to ask the Holy See to erect Vermont into a diocese, with Burlington as the see city. Bishop Fitzpatrick of Boston proposed for Bishop of Burlington, Louis de Goesbriand, Vicar-General of Cleveland, Ohio. On 29 July 1853, the Diocese of Burlington was created and Father De Goesbriand named as bishop. He was consecrated at New York by the apostolic delegate, Mgr Bedini, on October 30, 1853. On November 5, he arrived at Burlington. He was installed the following day by Bishop Fitzpatrick. Bishop De Goesbriand visited the entire diocese. He found about 20,000 Catholics scattered throughout Vermont. In 1855 he visited France and Ireland for the purpose of securing priests for the Diocese of Vermont. He brought to the diocese in the succeeding years, several priests who helped build the Church in Vermont.
  The first diocesan synod was held at Burlington, October 4, 1855. Rev. Thomas Lynch was appointed vicar-general in 1858. The gothic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was built in Burlington starting in 1861 under the supervision of Bishop De Goesbriand. It was completed and dedicated on December 8, 1867. By 1881 DeGoesbriand had a dozen priests to serve 6,000 congregants scattered throughout the state.
  In the 1870s, the diocese bought about 25 acres (10 ha) of land on North Avenue from a former Burlington Free Press editor. It built a Victorian house there, where it maintained an orphanage for nearly a century. In 1945, it bought about 7 a
caption: Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (1977-2018)
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