1600 to 1777 The North Country of New York was inhabited by the
Iroquois/
Haudenosaunee Native Americans when the first French, Dutch, and English fur-traders arrived in the 1600s. The few Catholics in the area were served by missionary priests from the
Diocese of Quebec in the French colony of
New France. During the Dutch and British rule of the
Province of New York in the 17th and 18th centuries, Catholics were banned from the colony.
Richard Coote, the first colonial governor, passed a law at the end of the 17th century that mandated a life sentence to any Catholic priest. The penalty for harboring a Catholic was a £250 fine plus three days in the
pillory. In 1763, Catholic Bishop
Richard Challoner of London stated that "there is not much likelihood that Catholic priests will be permitted to enter these provinces."
1777 to 1808 The New York Legislature passed a constitution in 1777 that guaranteed freedom of worship for Catholics. At this time, the state was technically under the jurisdiction of the Vicariate of London. In 1784, when the
Apostolic Prefecture of United States of America was erected, it included all of the new United States. In 1789, this prefecture became the
Diocese of Baltimore. The first new settlers in the North Country were Protestants from
New England. It was only towards 1790 that Acadian Catholic immigrants began settling around Corbeau, now
Coopersville, near Lake Champlain. They were occasionally visited by French missionaries from
Fort Laprairie in the British
Province of Lower Canada. In 1818, Jacques Leray, son of Count
Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont, established a colony of French and German Catholics in Jefferson County. Leray built several churches for the immigrants as well as for an existing Irish settlement. At the same time, Irish and French Canadian immigrants began to arrive, prompting the diocese to found missions for them. In 1847,
Pope Pius IX erected the
Diocese of Albany, removing all of Upstate New York from the Diocese of New York. The establishment of mills and factories in the North Country attracted a large influx of Irish Catholic immigrants. The diocese then established new missions at
Antwerp, Belleville, and
Canton; and parishes at
Cape Vincent, Hogansburg, and
Keeseville. In 1860, Bishop
John McCloskey of Albany placed the parish at Carthage under interdict for two years when violent confrontations erupted among the parishioners.
1872 to 1939 On February 16, 1872, Pius IX erected the Diocese of Ogdensburg, taking the entire North Country region from the Diocese of Albany. The Pope named
Edgar Wadhams of Albany as the first bishop of the new diocese. One of Wadham's first projects was to expand the small St. Mary's Church in Ogdensburg into a proper cathedral, adding a
sacristy, stained glass windows, and a
sanctuary. He also recruited priests from Quebec and Europe for the new congregations. He founded and improved schools in
Carthage, Plattsburgh, Ogdensburg,
Keeseville, Hogansburg and
Brasher Falls. In 1894, the Gabriels Sanitarium for
tuberculosis patients opened in
Gabriels, New York. Gabriels died in 1921. Auxiliary Bishop
Joseph Conroy replaced Gabriels as bishop. In 1936, Monaghan was appointed
coadjutor bishop of Ogdensburg.
1939 to 1993 Conroy served in Ogdensburg until his death in 1939. After he died, Monaghan succeeded him as the next bishop of Ogdensburg. Monaghan died three years later in an accident.
Bryan McEntegart replaced Monaghan. Shortly after his
installation, the Cathedral of Ogdensburg was destroyed by fire; McEntegart oversaw construction of a new edifice that was completed in less than a year. McEntegart resigned in 1953 and become rector of the
Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Pius XII appointed Auxiliary Bishop
Walter P. Kellenberg as the next bishop of Ogdensburg. During his short tenure, Kellenberg expanded the diocese's Departments of Education and
Catechetics and increased the number of parochial schools. Kellenberg was named by the same pope as the first bishop of the
Diocese of Rockville Centre in 1957. Pius XII then selected Auxiliary Bishop
James Navagh of the
Diocese of Raleigh that same year to serve as bishop of Ogdensburg. He founded
Mater Dei College in Ogdensburg in 1960. In May 1963, Pope John XXIII selected Auxiliary Bishop
Leo Smith of the
Diocese of Buffalo as bishop of Ogdensburg. However, Smith died later that year.
Pope Paul VI in 1964 then named Monsignor
Thomas Donnellan of New York to replace Smith. Four years later in 1968, the pope elevated Donnellan to bishop of the
Archdiocese of Atlanta. Paul VI named Auxiliary Bishop
Stanislaus Brzana of Buffalo in 1968 as the next bishop of Ogdensburg. He also established several churches and education centers, and was active in regional civic and social activities, including caring for striking
miners and their families. Brzana served 25 years as bishop in Ogdensburg, retiring in 1993.
1993 to present In 1993,
Pope John Paul II appointed Auxiliary Bishop
Paul Loverde of the
Archdiocese of Hartford as the eleventh bishop of Ogdensburg. In 1999, he closed Mater Dei College. Loverde in 1998 was named by John Paul II as bishop of the
Diocese of Arlington. John Paul II replaced Loverde in Ogdensburg with Auxiliary Bishop
Gerald Barbarito of the
Diocese of Brooklyn that same year. In 2003, John Paul II selected Barbarito as the next bishop of the
Diocese of Palm Beach. The next bishop of Ogdensburg was Monsignor
Robert J. Cunningham of Buffalo, named by John Paul II in 2004. Pope Benedict XVI appointed Cunningham as bishop of the Diocese of Syracuse in 2004. The current bishop of Ogdensburg, the 14th bishop since 1872, is
Terry R. LaValley, named by Benedict XVI in 2010. The diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2023.
Sex abuse John J. Fallon, pastor of Holy Angels Parish in
Altona, was arrested in September 1985 on charges of mailing
child pornography. A film processing lab had discovered 15 images of nude boys on a
film disc that Fallon sent them and reported it to the
US Postal Service. Police found more pornographic images at his residence. He pleaded guilty to charges in December 1985 and was sentenced to five years
probation along with inpatient treatment. In 1988, the diocese placed him as chaplain at St. Joseph's Home in Ogdensburg. In a July 2020 lawsuit against the diocese, four men accused Fallon of sexually abusing them during the 1970s and 1980s at three parishes in the diocese. In May 2018, Bishop LaValley expressed his opposition to the proposed New York Child Victims Act, which created a one-year window for adults to sue for
sexual abuse crimes. That same year, LaValley started a compensation program for sexual abuse victims within the diocese. In an interview, the bishop made this comment about the scandal: "The Church screwed up big time and people have been hurt immeasurably." By the time that the Child Victims Act has passed, the diocese had already paid nearly $5.5 million to settle previous lawsuits. However, twenty-three more lawsuits were filed immediately after the bill's signing. By July 2020, two more law firms announced that they had filed 20 additional sex abuse lawsuits against the diocese. In July 2023, the diocese stated that it could no longer afford to pay settlements and filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in the
U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Utica. ==Bishops==