Neil McNeil

{{for multi|the Australian businessman|Neil McNeil (businessman)|the American judge|Neil E. McNeil}}

{{Infobox Archbishop

| honorific-prefix = The Most Reverend

| name =Neil McNeil

| honorific-suffix =

| archbishop_of = Archbishop of Toronto

| image = Neil McNeil.png

| caption =

| province =

| diocese = Toronto

| see =

| enthroned = December 22, 1912

| ended = May 26, 1934

| predecessor = Fergus Patrick McEvay

| successor = James Charles McGuigan

| ordination = 1879 - Priest

| consecration = 1895 - Bishop

| previous_post = {{unbulleted list|Vicar Apostolic of Western Newfoundland (St. George’s) (1895–1904)|Titular Bishop of Nilopolis (1895–1904)|Bishop of Saint George’s (1904–1910)|Archbishop of Vancouver (1910–1912)}}

| birth_name = Neil McNeil

| birth_date = {{birth date|1851|11|23}}

| birth_place = Hillsborough, Nova Scotia

| death_date = {{death date and age|1934|05|25|1851|11|23}}

| death_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada

| buried = St. Augustine's Seminary

| nationality = Canadian

| religion =Roman Catholic

| residence =

| parents =

| spouse =

| children =

| occupation =

| profession =

| alma_mater =

| signature =

}}

Neil McNeil (November 23, 1851 – May 25, 1934) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver from 1910 to 1912 and Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto from 1912 to 1934.

Early life

McNeil was born in Hillsborough, Inverness County, Nova Scotia. He attended Propaganda College in Rome.{{Cite web |url=https://www.archtoronto.org/about-us/history/mcneil |title=Archbishop Neil McNeil (Archdiocese of Toronto biography) |access-date=January 18, 2018 |archive-date=March 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303113210/https://www.archtoronto.org/about-us/history/mcneil |url-status=dead }}

Career

In 1879, McNeil was ordained as a priest. In 1880 he was appointed vice-rector of College of St. Francis Xavier in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and had risen to rector by the end of his service in 1891. He was pastor in Arichat and D'Escousse, Nova Scotia before becoming Vicar Apostolic of Western Newfoundland (St. George's) and Titular Bishop of Nilopolis in 1895.{{Cite web |url=http://www.rcav.org/About_Us/Default.aspx?id=1286 |title=Archbishop Neil McNeil (Archdiocese of Vancouver biography) |access-date=2010-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706053037/http://www.rcav.org/About_Us/Default.aspx?id=1286 |archive-date=2010-07-06 |url-status=dead }}

In 1904, McNeil was appointed Bishop of St. George's, Newfoundland.

From 1910 to 1912, McNeil was Archbishop of Vancouver, British Columbia. After only two years, he became Archbishop of Toronto, Ontario, where he served from 1912 to 1934.

Shortly after being appointed as Archbishop, NcNeil was charged with completing St. Augustine's Seminary and the Canadian Catholic Church Extension Society created by his predecessor Fergus Patrick McEvay. Image:St Augustine's Seminary.jpg

Under McNeil, thirty more parishes were established, including those with non-English speaking immigrants in Toronto. He lobbied for fair taxation for Catholic schools.

McNeil founded the Federation of Catholic Charities when, in 1927, Toronto's umbrella Federation for Community Service refused to continue to fund Roman Catholic charitable institutions.{{Cite web |url=http://www.catholiccharitiestor.org/About_us/history.asp |title=Catholic Charities of the Archbishop of Toronto: Our History |access-date=2010-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100125061233/http://www.catholiccharitiestor.org/About_us/history.asp |archive-date=2010-01-25 |url-status=usurped }}

McNeil died in 1934, while serving as Archbishop of Toronto. He is buried at St. Augustine's Seminary.