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FUNERAL AND INTERMENT IN THE CATHEDRAL CRYPT
Bishop Fleming’s Death and Funeral
On Sunday night, the 14th of July, 1850, Dr. (Bishop Michael Anthony) Fleming expired, at the Franciscan Monastery in St. John's, after a prolonged illness of two years, which he bore with patience and resignation to the Divine will.
When Bishop Fleming died, the Patriot, the local newspaper that provided wide coverage of Catholic and Irish news, published with black borders.
" The remains of the Right Rev. Dr. Fleming, after lying in state in the cathedral this day and tomorrow, will, on Thursday next, at half-past one o'clock, be borne to his vault in that edifice, (now the Basilica) after having been carried in procession through the city by his congregation."
On this day July 18, 1850 if you were in St. John’s most likely you would be part of the procession.
Legacy of Bishop Fleming
Fleming upon arrival in Newfoundland embarked on a systematic expansion of institutional Catholicism in Newfoundland. This included the construction of new parish churches, the subdivision of existing parishes into new parishes, the recruitment of Irish priests, and the introduction of two religious orders (Presentation and Mercy) of Irish women to teach young female children.
He took pains to visit outport Newfoundland and during the winter of 1835 lived in a fishing room at Petty Harbour, administering smallpox vaccine to the whole community of Catholics and Anglicans, and remaining in quarantine with them when no physician or other clergyman would go there.
Fleming is also credited with creating the "Pink, white and green" tricolour flag of Newfoundland. During annual wood hauls for the Anglican cathedral and Roman Catholic cathedral, considerable rivalry developed between the two groups involved. The Protestant English marked their wood piles with the pink flag of the Natives' Society, while the Catholic Irish used green banners. The threat of violence was such that Bishop Fleming intervened, and persuaded them to adopt a common flag , on which the pink and green would be separated by a white stripe to symbolize peace. The pink symbolized the Tudor Rose of England (The Protestants) and the Green symbolized St. Patrick’s Emblem of Ireland (The Catholics). The White is taken from St. Andrew's Cross (St Andrew is the Patron Saint of Fishermen and Scotland.
Building the Cathedral
 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.
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 Bishop Fleming as a person of Canadian National Historic Significance.
For more information on this and other related subjects contact the Archives of the R.C. Archdiocese.
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