Volume III - ElectricCanadian.com

CANADA^T*\IGHT REV. PAUL DURIEN,f\ Bishop of New Westminster,""VsS>"* British Columbia, was bornDecember 3rd, 1830, at St. Pal-de-Mons,France. He received his primary educationat the Monistrol Seminary, afterwhich he joined the congregation ofO. M. I.Subsequently he studiedtheology at Marseille, and was ordainedpriest in March, 1854. He thenstarted for the Pacific Coast of America,going by the way of Liverpool, Philadelphia,Isthmus of Panama, San Francisco,and finally landed at Olympia,Wash., U.S., in December, 1854. During1855 and 1856, he was missionaryto the Indians in the Yakimacountry, and in 1857,was sent to the Puget Soundcountry. In 1861, he wentto Okanagan mission, B.C.,and in 1865, to Fort Rupert,B.C., on Vancouver Island,where he established a mission.During his labors asa missionary, he did successfulwork in bringingthe Indians, to know andexperiencethe comforts ofreligion. In January, 1868,he came to New Westminster,as Vicar General tothe Right Rev. BishopD'Herbomez, who was thenVicar Apostolic of the mainlandof British Columbia.Bishop Durien was createdcoadjutor Bishop, in June,1875, and consecrated Bishopof Marcopolis, October24th, 1875. As such, in1 88 1,he travelled on horsebackto Kootenay, startingat Hope, B.C., and passingthrough Colville and Spokane,Wash., and Bonner'sFerry, accompanied by twocompanions. The distanceis about 400 miles, and the time takenupon the journey was twenty-four days.The year previous, he went from NewWestminster by steamer, canoe, stage,horseback and on foot, to Stuart's Lakeand Babine Lake, in all about 500 miles,and did the work of an apostle, establishingand encouraging the men engaged inthe work of God. The Roman CatholicChurch has, at New Westminster, abeautiful church (St. Peter's Cathedral),St. Louis College, an academy for girls,St. Mary's Hospital, an orphanage andSt. Charles Church, for the RomanCatholic Indians, all of which owe theirsuccess largely to Bishop Durien.