"For half a millennium there has been a Roman Catholic ministry in Newfoundland.

In early times the clergy

attended to their congregations while sharing their isolation, harsh living conditions and disease. And it did not stop there: the early settlers were deeply religious and one can imagine the lone clergyman being the trusted authority on civility. Indeed they performed many of the essential functions that we automatically expect of modern-day government. Over the centuries they were involved in adoptions, orphanages, education, health, charity, labour unions and politics.

Lives Recalled forms a framework for church history. It is the most comprehensive and diligently factual account of places, dates, education, careers, and anecdotal commentary that is humanly possible: an invaluable reference for any historical account mentioning a priest.

Some 475 priests who served between 1627 and 2010 are listed in this anthology. An essential dictionary of, and tribute to, those that served the Newfoundland community over the years."

• - Hedley Pinsent