How did a Catholic bishop stop the riot of 1861? Which British monarch physically assaulted a priest in St. John’s? What ancient relics are kept at the Basilica? Did a British princess help build Newfoundland’s greatest Catholic church?
By mining Newfoundland’s history and folklore, Jack Fitzgerald answers these questions, and many more, in Hell’s Flames to Heaven’s Gate. From Newfoundland’s role as a sanctuary for the displaced immigrants of the Irish-Catholic diaspora to a Catholic Bishop’s plea to an English monarch, and from the stories of relics and cultural artifacts to the building of the magnificent Basilica-Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Jack Fitzgerald returns to chronicle the most socially and politically powerful institution in Newfoundland history.

Jack Fitzgerald was born and educated in St. John's, Newfoundland. During his career he has been a journalist, a feature writer and political columnist with the St. John's Daily News; a reporter and public affairs writer with CJON and VOCM News Services; editor of the Newfoundland Herald and the Newfoundland Chronicle. During the last years of the Smallwood administration he was assistant director of Public Relations with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. He has also worked as Assistance Officer with the Department of Social Services. Jack Fitzgerald also hosted a regular radio program featuring off-beat Newfoundland stories on radio station VOFM.

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