was moved to Bathurst, New Brunswick, in 1938. The Bishop at the time was Bishop Chaisson. The local lore has it that the move took place in the middle of the night so that the local residents would not know. Following the move of the See from Chatham to Bathurst, the Church was petitioned by local residents to be removed from the Diocese of Bathurst. They wanted to become part of the Diocese of Saint John, New Brunswick. A circle around the Parish of Chatham still designates it as part of the Diocese of Saint John, not Bathurst. A Catholic religious order, the Religious Hospitaliers of St. Joseph, established the Hotel Dieu and nursing home, as well as the large elementary/secondary school (St. Michael's Academy). While the nuns are still present as of 2005, their numbers have been much reduced. The Basilian Fathers operated a small liberal arts college, which was later taken over by the Diocese. It evolved into St. Thomas University, now located in Fredericton. The last convocation ceremony held in Chatham for St. Thomas University was in May 1964. Ethnic and religious composition Historically, Chatham has been a majority-Catholic town, with smaller United Church, Anglican, and Presbyterian congregations. Various other Protestant denominations have come and gone, though the Pentecostals have been relatively strong. When it was more of a business centre, the town long had several Jewish families; their numbers have declined. Ethnic backgrounds are Irish, Scottish, English, and French, with the latter gaining somewhat in recent years. Catholic Lebanese immigrants settled here, originally calling themselves Assyrian. Several Norwegian families also immigrated. Slow decline Chatham achieved peak prosperity during the years immediately prior to World War I, but even then its main export was people. During the war, many young men from Chatham joined the 132nd Battalion of the North Shore Regiment. Many were killed or wounded at Vimy Ridge and on the Somme. The postwar depression of 1919 hit the town, resulting in a major employer, the Snowball sawmill, closing permanently. Young men and women moved to New England to seek work where many had relatives. World War II saw the opening of RCAF Station Chatham, providing an economic stimulus for the town until its closure in 1996. RCAF Station Chatham was established as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. After the war, many different aircraft were deployed at Chatham. RCAF Station Chatham was