Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John's, Newfoundland
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John's, Newfoundland () is an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is the Metropolitan see of the Ecclesiastical Province of St. John's, which also includes the suffragan dioceses of Grand Falls, and Corner Brook and Labrador. The current archbishop is Peter Hundt. The Archdiocese of St. John's is the oldest Roman Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in English-speaking North America. History. The future Archdiocese of St. John's was established 30 May 1784 as Catholics  in Newfoundland gradually gained religious liberty, made explicit by a public declaration by Governor John Campbell. After a request from Irish merchants in St. John's to Bishop William Egan, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, James Louis O'Donel was appointed Prefect Apostolic of Newfoundland, as a pre-diocesan jurisdiction entitled to a titular bishop and exempt, "i.e.", directly subject to the Holy See, not part of any ecclesiastical province. In addition to O'Donel's personal popularity, one of his qualifications for the position was an ability to preach in Gaelic. It was promoted to a Vicariate Apostolic on 5 January  1796 and on 4 June 1847 was elevated to diocese. In 1904, St. John's was elevated to an archdiocese and presently contains 40 parishes, 39 active diocesan priests, 33 religious priests, and 120,135 Catholics. It also has 220 Women Religious, and 42 Religious Brothers. Sex abuse scandals. For decades, the Archdiocese of St. John's has been tied to sex abuse scandals. In July 2020, Rev. Peter Power, who was originally from the Archdiocese of Toronto, was charged with charges of sexual touching, sexual assault and committing an indecent act involving two teenaged boys, aged 18 and 16 years  old at a residence in a small Newfoundland community earlier in the year. Though officially retired, Power was still occasionally active in Catholic ministry when he relocated to Newfoundland. The same month, the Court of Appeal of Newfoundland and Labrador unanimously reversed a 2018 Canadian Supreme ruling and ruled that the Archdiocese of St. John's was liable for the sexual abuse committed at the Mount Cashel Orphanage in the 1950s and 1960s.