Save the date! The Roman Catholic Diocese of Peterborough is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the first Mass known to have been celebrated in Peterborough this June, and has arranged for a Bicentennial Mass and Procession to take place on Sunday, June 7 at 10:30am at St. Peter-in-Chains Cathedral to commemorate the occasion. The Mass will be held with the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič and Archbishop Michael Mulhall of the Diocese of Kingston.

This historical event is significant to the Peter Robinson Emigration, as most of the emigrants were Catholic and would have attended this Mass, celebrated by Father Ahearn on June 5, 1825 in Government House, Peter Robinson’s headquarters at the corner of Simcoe and Water Streets. After they had settled into their new home, one of their next priorities, as expressed in their address to Governor General Maitland during his visit to the Peterborough area, was for priests “for the consolations of our holy religion.” This request was accommodated and before long both the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peterborough and St. Peter-in-Chains Cathedral (built thanks to the hard work of the emigrants themselves) were established.

If you’re curious to learn more about the importance of faith to the Peter Robinson emigrants and the history of the Diocese and of St. Peter-in-Chains Cathedral, we highly encourage you to check out the two-part interview with Father Tom Lynch, Rector at the Cathedral, on our YouTube Channel.