St. Finnan's Basilica is a

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

and former cathedral in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

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 ...

. The basilica served as the cathedral of the Diocese of Alexandria–Cornwall from 1890 to its suppression in 2020.

History

The church's history began in 1832 when Alexander Macdonell established a mission in Priest's Mill (later to be renamed to Alexandria, in honour of Macdonnell ) the following year, a church was built and in 1840, the mission was elevated to a parish. During the pastorate of Fr. Alexander Macdonell the basilica was constructed from 1883 to 1885. In 1890,

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 ...

established the

Diocese of Alexandria in Ontario In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

and named Macdonnell as bishop. On October 28, 1890, he was consecrated bishop at St. Finnan. He chose St. Finnan's as his episcopal seat, elevating the church to a cathedral. The basilica houses a Casavant organ, Opus 284, installed in 1907. On May 6, 2020,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

united the Diocese of Alexandria–Cornwall with the

Archdiocese of Ottawa In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

to create the Archdiocese of Ottawa–Cornwall, reverting the cathedral to a parish. On February 19, 2021, Cardinal Robert Sarah,

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

of the

Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments () is the dicastery (from , from δικαστής, 'judge, juror') of the Roman Curia that handles most affairs relating to liturgical practices of the Latin Church as distin ...

, on behalf of Pope Francis, designated the church as a minor basilica.

References

External links

* {{Basilicas in Canada Roman Catholic churches in Ontario Basilica churches in Canada Former cathedrals in Canada 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Canada