A Province of Their Own: Dominique-Ceslas Gonthier and the First Canadian Dominican Communities

Abstract

This article explores the growth of the Canadian province of the friars of the Order of Preachers in the midst of major shifts in the social-political reality and in the church through the leadership of one of the first Canadian friars, Dominique-Ceslas Gonthier. In his own unique and particular way he is implicated in, and sheds light on, significant social and ecclesial issues: the Manitoba schools question; the growth of the ultramontane church in Canada; the redaction of the papal encyclical Mirari Vos; and the establishment the Holy See’s permanent delegation to Canada. Due to his activity in these social and political issues, Gonthier leveraged himself to facilitate the establishment of new communities in the Canadian Dominican province and simultaneously its indigenization.