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.^[2]

During the Dutch and British rule of the Province of New York in the 17th and 18th centuries, Catholics were banned from the colony.^[3] 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:

“...in New York, one may find a Catholic here and there, but they have no opportunity of practicing their religion as no priest visits them, and … there is not much likelihood that Catholic priests will be permitted to enter these provinces."^[3]

However, much of the North Country was still disputed territory between France and Great Britain, allowing Catholics more freedom to reside there. In 1749, the Sulpician Abbé François Picquet traveled from Montreal to establish the Mission of The Holy Trinity at Fort de La Présentation near present-day Ogdensburg. The mission fort was established to evangelize the Haudenosaunee as well as to raid British settlements. Bishop Henri-Marie de Pontbriand of Quebec visited the fort in 1752. During the French and Indian War, Fort de La Présentation was garrisoned by French-Canadian military, but later abandoned in favor of Fort Lévis.^[4]

1777 to 1808

Anti-Catholic bias in New York abated during the American Revolution when Catholic France provided its support to the American rebels. 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, Pope Pius VI erected the Apostolic Prefecture of United States of America, including all of the new United States. In 1789, the same pope raised this prefecture to the Diocese of Baltimore.^[5]

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.^[4]

1808 to 1872

In 1808, Pope Pius XII erected the Diocese of New York, covering all of New York State.^[6] 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 his immigrants as well as for an existing Irish settlement.s. At the same time, Irish and French Canadian immigrants began to arrive, prompting the diocese to found missions for them.^[4] In Potsdam, the first mass was celebrated in a private home in 1832.

By 1833, the Diocese of New York had established congregations in Ogdensburg, Carthage, and Plattsburgh. Each of them served a number of mission stations. The village of Minerva was served by Reverend J. Quinn, who travelled there from Troy, 100 miles away. The first Catholic church in Malone was constructed in 1837.^[2] In Watertown, the first Catholic church was opened in 1838.^[7]

In 1847, Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Albany, removing all of Upstate New York from the Diocese of New York.^[8] 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.^[9]

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 Reverend Edgar Wadhams of Albany as the first bishop of the new diocese.^[10]

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. Wadham wanted to establish a school for each parish, but the economics and distances were against him. He founded and improved schools in Carthage, Plattsburgh, Ogdensburg, Keeseville, Hogansburg and Brasher Falls.^[9] Wadhams invited several women's religious orders to the diocese, where they opened orphanages, schools and hospitals. He held three diocesan synods. In 1885, Wadhams acquired a former mansion in Ogdensburg to create the Ogdensburg City Hospital and Orphans Asylum.^[9] Wadhams died in 1891.

The second bishop of Ogdensburg was Reverend Henry Gabriels of Albany, appointed by Pope Leo XIII in 1891. Gabriels was responsible for the growth and development of the Catholic Summer School at Cliff Haven near Plattsburgh, serving 10,000 people annually.^[11] In 1894, the Gabriels Sanitarium for tuberculosis patients opened in Gabriels, New York.^[12] Gabriels died in 1921. To replace Gabriels as bishop, Pope Benedict XV named Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Conroy.^[13] In 1936, Monaghan was appointed coadjutor bishop of Ogdensburg to assist Conroy by Pope Pius XI.

1939 to 1993

Conroy served in Ogdensburg until his death in 1939. After he died, Monaghan automatically succeeded him as the next bishop of Ogdensburg. Monaghan died three years later in an accident. Pope Pius XII then selected Reverend Bryan McEntegart from the Archdiocese of New York to replace Monaghan. Shortly after his installation, the Cathedral of Ogdensburg was destroyed by fire; however, McEntegart constructed a new edifice within months.^[14] McEntegart resigned his position in 1953 to become rector of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.^[15]

Pius XII appointed Auxiliary Bishop Walter P. Kellenberg of New York 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.^[16] 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.^[17] He founded Mater Dei College in Ogdensburg in 1960.^[18]

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.^[19] Pope Paul VI in 1964 then named Monsignor Thomas Donnellan of New York to replace Smith.^[20][21] 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.^[22] 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.^[23] 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.^[24][25] While in Ogdensburg, Loverde started vocation and evangelization initiatives. In 1999, he closed Mater Dei College.^[26] 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.^[27] 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.^[28]

The current bishop of Ogdensburg, the 14th bishop since 1872, is Terry R. LaValley, named by Benedict XVI in 2010.^[29] The diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2023.

Sex abuse

In 1979, Reverend Liam O’Doherty of St. Ann's Church in St. Regis Falls was indicted on sexual abuse charges involving three 14 year old girls. However, the charges were dismissed six months later and the diocese returned O'Doherty to ministry. He was put on permanent sick leave in 1999. A woman from Antwerp, New York, sued the Diocese of Ogdensburg in 2002. She said that O'Doherty, falsely claiming to be a medical doctor, examined her genitals on one occasion in 1998. The woman said that the diocese was negligent in covering up his accusations from 1979. Other women in Syracuse and Oswego had accused O'Doherty of the same crimes.^[30]

Reverend John J. Fallon 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.^[31] 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.^[32] 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.^[33]

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, LaValley made this comment about the scandal:^[34]

"The Church screwed up big time and people have been hurt immeasurably. How many times can I say I'm sorry for all that happened? What else can I do, I don't know."^[34]

In February 2019, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Child Victims Act. The law created a one-year lookback period in which victims of child sex abuse could file civil lawsuits against abusers that were previously barred by the statute of limitations.^[35] By the time that the Child Victims Act has passed, the diocese had already paid nearly $5.5 million to settle previous lawsuits, and held in healing masses and reconciliation therapy as well.^[36] However, twenty-three more lawsuits were filed immediately after the bill's signing.^[36] On law firm alone stated it already had 30 more lawsuits in waiting.^[36] In February 2020, diocesan communications director Darcy Fargo revealed that the diocese was considering Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to dozens of pending sex abuse lawsuits. She stated that

"Chapter 11 reorganization has been a positive vehicle through which other dioceses have been able to address the needs of claims while continuing to undertake their vital mission as church."^[36]

In May 2020, Cuomo extended the Child Victims Act's statute of limitation deadline to file sex abuse lawsuits from August 2020, to January 2021.^[37] By July 2020, two more law firms announced that they had filed 20 additional sex abuse lawsuits against the diocese.^[38] In July 2023, the diocese stated that it could no longer afford to pay settlements for the lawsuits and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Utica.^[39]

Bishops of Ogdensburg

1. Edgar Philip Prindle Wadhams (1872–1891)
2. Henry Gabriels (1892–1921), former rector of St Joseph's Seminary in Troy, New York
3. Joseph Henry Conroy (1921–1939)
4. Francis Joseph Monaghan (1939–1942; coadjutor bishop 1936–1939)
5. Bryan Joseph McEntegart (1943–1953), appointed rector of The Catholic University of America and later Bishop of Brooklyn and Archbishop (ad personam)
6. Walter P. Kellenberg (1954–1957), appointed in 1957 Bishop of Rockville Centre
7. James Johnston Navagh (1957–1963), appointed Bishop of Paterson
8. Leo Richard Smith (1963)
9. Thomas Andrew Donnellan (1964–1968), appointed Archbishop of Atlanta
10. Stanislaus Joseph Brzana (1968–1993)
11. Paul Stephen Loverde (1994–1999), appointed Bishop of Arlington
12. Gerald Michael Barbarito (2000–2003), appointed Bishop of Palm Beach
13. Robert Joseph Cunningham (2004–2009), appointed Bishop of Syracuse
14. Terry R. LaValley (2010–present)

Former auxiliary bishops

Joseph Henry Conroy (1912-1921), appointed bishop of this diocese

Other diocesan priest who became bishop

Douglas John Lucia, appointed Bishop of Syracuse in 2019

Stained glass window in the cathedral