Michael Anthony Fleming

Styles of
**Michael Anthony Fleming**
Styles of; Michael Anthony Fleming
Reference style	The Right Reverend
Spoken style	Your Lordship / Your Excellency
Religious style	Monsignor
Posthumous style	none

The Right Reverend

Michael Anthony Fleming,
Basilica of St. John the Baptist, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
The Right Reverend; Michael Anthony Fleming, Basilica of St. John the Baptist, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
Nationality	Ireland
Denomination	Roman Catholic

Michael Anthony Fleming, O.S.F. (c. 1792 – July 14, 1850) was an Irish-born

Colony of Newfoundland

in the 19th century. He was the principal creator of the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in St. John's.

Biography

Early life

Fleming was born about three miles from

Newfoundland.^{[citation needed}

]

Mission to Newfoundland

In 1823, at the invitation of

Vicar Apostolic for Newfoundland, and the Benevolent Irish Society, Fleming was recruited to come and serve as a priest in the colony. From the outset, Fleming proved to be of a very different temperament from Scallan. His ideas about the place of the Irish and Catholicism in Newfoundland were informed by his experience of his close friend Daniel O'Connell's nationalist politics in Ireland.^{[citation needed}

]

Despite their very different perspectives on many matters, Fleming was promoted by Scallan as his successor, and he was appointed

Carpasia.^{[citation needed}

]

Bishop

Soon after Fleming was consecrated as a

Anglicans

, and remaining in quarantine with them when no physician or other clergyman would go there.

Fleming's influence was not limited to the religious sphere. As

Emancipation Act

for Irish Catholics in Newfoundland in 1832. In addition, with the parallel granting of Representative Government for the colony, Fleming was outspoken in the political process, lending support to candidates, both Catholic and Protestant, who furthered the rights and privileges he felt were important for the Irish Catholic population in the colony. Whether in church administration, education or political activities, Fleming's bold actions and attitude marked a significant departure for the Catholic clergy in the Newfoundland colony.

Because of his deliberate political influence, Fleming, himself an "Irish nationalistic", was viewed by many English and Protestants as a disruptive force in Newfoundland politics, and by many of his supporting Irish congregants as a constructive force in Newfoundland politics. He saw himself as the leader of the Irish community and was not shy about taking on the local British establishment, much as his friend and countryman Daniel O'Connell was doing at home, especially since he felt threatened by the Church of England's attempts to counteract growing Catholic influence. The struggle spilled over into inflammatory newspaper editorials, and lawsuits between increasingly bitter rivals. Tensions were made worse by the actions of partisans on both sides of the divide. Fleming intervened to get particular men elected, raising in the Tory minds the specter of a "priests' party" dominating the Assembly. From this point, church influence remained a dominant factor in Newfoundland politics from the 1830s onward.[1]

Newfoundland tricolour

In popular legend, Fleming is credited with creating the "Pink, white and green"

St. Andrew is the Patron Saint of Fishermen and Scotland). This legend, its symbolism and origins, have all been disproven by historical evidence. In reality, the Newfoundland "pink, white and green" tricolour did not appear until at least 41 years after the inception of the Irish tricolour and was almost certainly based on the Irish flag.^[2]

There is no primary source documentary historical evidence contemporary to Fleming's time linking Fleming with the creation of the tricolour. Any such associations are purely fanciful, and can be seen to have largely originated in the writings of the entertainer and writer Paul O'Neill.

Expansion

Fleming's greatest domestic projects, the ones for which he became best remembered, were the recruiting of two orders of Irish religious women to work as teachers, and the construction of a new cathedral for St. John's. In 1833 at Fleming's request, the Presentation Sisters came to Newfoundland from Galway and opened a school for children. Within weeks the sisters were inundated with new pupils, the children of the Irish of St. John's, who saw education as the best means of economic and social advancement. In 1842, Fleming invited the Sisters of Mercy to come to teach girls and to help create a Catholic middle class. Through Fleming's influence, the Education Act of 1836 introduced the precedent of granting state funds to denominations for educational purposes. In 1847, Bishop Fleming recruited four brothers of the order of Irish Franciscasns to come to Newfoundland to teach at the Benevolent Irish Society's school. Through the 1830s, Fleming pursued a grant of land on which to build a cathedral. By 1838 the land was awarded, and construction began, continuing until 1855. The cathedral was the largest building project in 19th century Newfoundland, and thereafter became the definitive icon of Newfoundland Catholicism.

Fleming died in 1850 and was buried in his cathedral.

Honors

On 9 September 2005, the 150th anniversary of the consecration of Fleming's cathedral, a plaque was unveiled by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada designating Fleming as a person of Canadian National Historic Significance. At the time of its consecration, the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. John's was the largest Irish Neoclassical cathedral in the New World.

References

^ "Representative Government, 1832-1855". Retrieved 29 June 2010.
^ Newfoundland Tricolour

External links

[Representative_Government,_1832-1855-1] "Representative Government, 1832-1855". Retrieved 29 June 2010.

[Newfoundland_Tricolour-2] Newfoundland Tricolour

[2]

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF
National	Vatican