Acadian nationalism and the episcopacy of Msgr. Edouard-Alfred LeBlanc, Bishop of Saint John, New Brunswick (1912-1935): a Maritime chapter of Canadian ethno-religious history

By the beginning of the nineteenth century the Acadian community in the Maritime Provinces had once again taken root in the area after its break-up and near destruction caused by the deportation of 1755. The nascent community struggled marginally during the first half of the century but by the end of the 1800s Acadians had become much more self-confident and self-assertive. With the ferment of Acadian national enthusiasms after 1880 there arose a movement to undermine what Acadians saw as Irish and Scottish hegemony within the regional Catholic Church. Those efforts culminated in 1912 with the naming of Edouard-Alfred LeBlanc as Acadian bishop, the first to occupy an episcopal see in Maritime Canada. In their lobby for a bishop, Acadians had insisted that their status within regional society would be greatly enhanced by the presence of this figure who would afford much needed leadership. Bishop LeBlanc's twenty-three year career as prelate of the Saint John See resulted in an expansion of Acadian religious institutions within Roman Catholic society often causing bitter resentment among the English-speaking clergy and hierarchy. Yet at the same time LeBlanc's leadership, when called upon to act on broader issues confronting Maritime society as a whole, tended to lose its innovation and conform with popular opinion, even at the expense of Acadian ambitions. That cautious approach not to challenge the views of the majority nor those of its elected officials made LeBlanc a man motivated by the accepted conventions of his time.