Colin Francis MacKinnon (July 20, 1810 – September 26, 1879) was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 Roman Catholic Archbishop and founder of St. Francis Xavier University

St. Francis Xavier University

St. Francis Xavier University is a post-secondary institution located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. The school was founded in 1853, but did not offer degrees until 1868. The university has approximately 5000 students.-History:...

.

Born in William's Point, in the County of Antigonish

Antigonish County, Nova Scotia

Antigonish County, Nova Scotia is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is located in northern Nova Scotia on the Northumberland Strait and its county seat is the town of Antigonish.-History:...

, Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

, the son of John MacKinnon and Eunice MacLeod, MacKinnon's father came to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 from Eigg

Eigg

Eigg is one of the Small Isles, in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. It lies to the south of the Skye and to the north of the Ardnamurchan peninsula. Eigg is long from north to south, and east to west. With an area of , it is the second largest of the Small Isles after Rùm.-Geography:The main...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 in 1791 and soon settled in Nova Scotia.

MacKinnon made his theological studies in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, where he was ordained priest by Archbishop Giacomo Filippo Fransoni

Giacomo Filippo Fransoni

Giacomo Filippo Fransoni was an Italian Cardinal who served from 1834 to 1856 as Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith....

 on June 4, 1837. Returning to Nova Scotia, he was appointed the first resident pastor at St Andrews, Sydney County, Nova Scotia.

On November 9, 1851, he was appointed Bishop of Arichat

Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish is a Latin Rite diocese in Nova Scotia, Canada covering the counties of Pictou, Antigonish, Guysborough, Inverness, Victoria, Richmond and Cape Breton. It had previously existed under the name of the diocese of Arichat....

by Pope Pius IX. On February 27, 1852 he was consecrated bishop by Bishop William Walsh, at St. Mary's Cathedral, Halifax and this was the first consecration of a Catholic bishop in Halifax. In 1853, he founded a seminary, St. Francis Xavier College, which grew into St. Francis Xavier University.

He resigned in 1877 and was then made an Archbishop. He died in 1879, aged 69.