|
Brought to you from the forthcoming book by renowned historian
Dr. Lennox Honychurch.
Poirier, Charles Marie ()
The third Bishop of Roseau (1859-1878). A member of the Eudist Congregation, he was the most influential in the expansion of the Roman Catholic Church in Dominica after Emancipation. The two previous bishops, Michael Monaghan (1850-1854) and Michael Vesque (1856-1858), died too soon after their appointments to carry out any extensive work in the diocese which had been established in 1850. Poirier divided Dominica into twelve parishes, providing each with a church, a parish priest and an elementary school. He secured the help of the Fathers of the Congregation of Mary Immaculate (FMI) to serve here. He organized the RC churches in Montserrat (1860), St. Kitts (1867) and Antigua (1868). Once, during his term, the Roseau congregation split violently over official support for French or Breton priests as opposed to those supporting a popular Italian priest. At one point in 1869 a guard of special constables were stationed around the presbytery, an emergency was declared and the bishop had to be escorted by police from the altar to his residence.
 Search for more.
|
