File consists of newspaper clippings regarding Bishop John T. Kidd’s arrival in Calgary, May 13, 1925. It also includes the draft text from Bishop Kidd's arrival. A welcoming committee met him at the train station, and an honor guard of Knights of Columbus accompanied him to St. Mary’s Cathedral, where he was enthroned as Bishop. Present for the enthronement were Archbishop Sinnott of Winnipeg, Archbishop O’Leary of Edmonton, and Bishop McNally of Hamilton (formerly of Calgary). The next day Pontifical High Mass was celebrated, after which a luncheon with the clergy was held at the Palliser Hotel.
That evening, a banquet was held at the same hotel, at which “men and women representative of the best citizenship of Calgary” were present (The Calgary Daily Herald, May 15, 1925). The guests at the banquet included Archbishop Sinnott, Archbishop O’Leary, Bishop O’Donnell of Victoria, Mayor George H. Webster, and Patrick Burns, prominent Calgarian and Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great. After a number of speakers had welcomed Bishop Kidd, the latter made a reply in which he stated: “As bishop, my office here will be to inculcate in the hearts of all, first, the love of God, that it may dominate you always, God always first; second, love toward your fellowmen, which has evidently been practiced here in Calgary. I trust that it may continue always, and I promise to do all in my power to increase that brotherly love in Western Canada.”
One newspaper clip (from The Catholic Record) contains the text of the homily preached by Bishop McNally at the Mass at which Bishop Kidd was consecrated to the episcopate in St. Michael’s Cathedral, Toronto, on May 6, 1925.
File also contains materials relating to a purse of gold given to Bishop Kidd by the Alumni of St. Augustine’s Seminary under the direction of Francis P. Carroll, Secretary-Treasurer of the St. Augustine’s Seminary Alumni Association and later Bishop of Calgary himself.
File also includes the draft text of an address to Bishop Kidd signed on behalf of the clergy of the Diocese and the draft text of an address signed on behalf of the laity.
See Reception in Calgary (16.657).