Fergus Patrick McEvay (December 8, 1852 – May 10, 1911) was a Canadian prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He served as

Bishop of London The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723. The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...

(1899–1908) and later

Archbishop of Toronto The archbishop of Toronto is the head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto, responsible for looking after its spiritual and administrative needs. As the archdiocese is the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province that encompasse ...

(1908–1911).

Early life and education

McEvay was born on December 8, 1852, in Lindsay,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, to Michael and Mary (née Lehane) McEvay. His father died in 1855 when McEvay was only two years old, and he received his early education at the

separate school In Canada, a separate school is a type of school that has constitutional status in three provinces (Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan) and statutory status in the three territories (Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut). In these Canadian ...

in Lindsay. He later went to live with an uncle in

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and initially pursued a business education. In 1874, McEvay entered St. Michael's College at

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, where he made his classical studies and won medals in literature. He began his preparation for the priesthood in 1879 at

Saint Francis de Sales Seminary Saint Francis de Sales Seminary is a seminary for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee, located in the Milwaukee suburb of St. Francis, Wisconsin. Its main building, called Henni Hall, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places ...

, near

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Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, and completed his theological training at the

Grand Séminaire de Montréal The Grand séminaire de Montréal (, "Major Seminary of Montreal") is the centre for priestly formation of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montreal. History The institution was founded by the Sulpicians in 1840 at the request of the then-Bis ...

Priesthood

McEvay was ordained a priest on July 9, 1882, by Bishop

James Vincent Cleary James Vincent Cleary (18 September 1828 – 24 February 1898) was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest and Archbishop of Kingston, Ontario. Biography Cleary was born on 18 September 1828, in Dungarvan, County Waterford, Ireland, to Thomas and ...

for the Diocese of Kingston. He was soon transferred to the Diocese of Peterborough and assigned to the missions at

Fenelon Falls Fenelon Falls is a village in Ontario, Canada, part of the city of Kawartha Lakes. Nicknamed the "Jewel of the Kawarthas," it has a population of 2,500 permanent inhabitants, which swells in the summer due to tourism and holiday cottages. Fenelon ...

and

Bobcaygeon Bobcaygeon is a community on the Trent–Severn Waterway in the Kawartha Lakes, City of Kawartha Lakes, east-central Ontario, Canada. Bobcaygeon was incorporated as a village in 1876, and became known as the "Hub of the Kawarthas". Its reco ...

. He was named rector of the Cathedral of St. Peter-in-Chains in 1887 by Bishop

Thomas Joseph Dowling Thomas Joseph Dowling (28 February 1840 – 6 August 1924) was a Canadian Catholic priest and the second Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Peterborough and the fourth Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Hamilton, Ontario. Biography He was bor ...

. During this time, he secured property for St. Joseph's Hospital in Peterborough and oversaw the initial construction. When Bishop Dowling was transferred to the Diocese of Hamilton in 1889, McEvay accompanied him and was appointed rector of St. Mary's Cathedral and

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of the diocese. While in Hamilton, he worked on renovations to the cathedral, built a mortuary chapel at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, and coordinated the establishment of two new parishes in the city. In 1892, he was named a

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Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

with the title of

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Episcopal career

Bishop of London

On May 27, 1899, Pope Leo appointed McEvay the fourth

, Ontario. He succeeded Bishop Denis O'Connor, who had been promoted to

. McEvay received his episcopal consecration on August 6, 1899, from Archbishop O'Connor, with Bishop Dowling and Bishop Richard Alphonsus O'Connor serving as co-consecrators. In 1900, the first full year of McEvay's tenure, the Diocese of London contained 78 churches and 53 parochial schools to serve 60,000 Catholics. By the end of his tenure in 1908, the Catholic population was unchanged but every parish now had a parochial school.

Archbishop of Toronto

Following the resignation of Archbishop O'Connor, McEvay succeed him again upon being appointed the fourth Archbishop of Toronto on April 13, 1908. He took formal charge of the archdiocese on the following June 17, when he was installed at St. Michael's Cathedral. Although his three-year tenure remains the shortest in the archdiocese's history, McEvay founded seven new parishes and ten new parochial schools. Among the parishes he founded were churches for the growing communities of Italian, Polish, and Ukrainian immigrants, also working to recruit priests who spoke their languages. Even as he strived to accommodate immigrant communities, McEvay established himself as a leader of English-speaking Catholics in Canada, and laid the cornerstone for St. Augustine's Seminary in 1910 as an alternative to American institutions and the

. In 1908, he helped organize the Catholic Church Extension Society of Canada, serving as its chairman and chancellor. McEvay suffered from

pernicious anemia Pernicious anemia is a disease where not enough red blood cells are produced due to a deficiency of Vitamin B12, vitamin B12. Those affected often have a gradual onset. The most common initial symptoms are Fatigue, feeling tired and weak. Other ...

and sought treatment at Mount Clemens,

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, and

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New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. He eventually succumbed to his illness and died at his residence in Toronto on May 10, 1911, at age 58.

References

External links

Biography at ''the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

Archbishop Fergus McEvay
{{DEFAULTSORT:McEvay, Fergus Patrick 1852 births 1911 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Canada Roman Catholic archbishops of Toronto Canadian people of Irish descent Burials at St. Augustine's Seminary Roman Catholic bishops of London, Ontario