Joseph Sadoc Alemany
Encyclopedia
Joseph Sadoc Alemany y Conill, O.P.
(3 July 1814 - 14 April 1888) was a Catalan American
Roman Catholic archbishop
and missionary
. He served as the first Bishop of Monterey from 1850 until 1853, and as the first Archbishop of San Francisco
from 1853 until 1884.
, 60 km north of Barcelona, Spain (present-day autonomous region of Catalonia
), Alemany entered the Dominican Order
in 1830 and made his solemn profession in September 1831, the same year that Alemany's protege, Patrick Manogue
was born in Ireland.
Alemany was ordained a priest
on 11 March 1837. During studies in Rome
, he had an audience with Pope Gregory XVI
. The Dominicans sent him to the United States
in 1840. For the next eight years, he engaged in missionary activity in the Eastern and Southern United States
, eventually becoming a naturalized United States citizen.
In 1848, he was appointed prior-provincial
of the Dominican province of St. Joseph the Worker. On a trip to Rome
, Alemany was consecrated as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey in California
on 30 June 1850; thus, becoming the first American bishop in California. When the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco
was erected in 1853, Alemany was appointed by Pope Pius IX as its first archbishop
.
, and parishes were established for San Francisco's Italian
, Irish
, French
, German and Mexican
communities. Catholic religious orders were also active during his tenure, with the Society of Jesus
establishing Santa Clara University
and the University of San Francisco
, the De La Salle Christian Brothers
taking over the diocesan Saint Mary's College
, and the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur
establishing the College of Notre Dame
, and the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary
establishing in Oakland the Holy Names University
. He and fellow Dominican priest, Fr. Francis Sadoc Vilarrasa also founded the Dominican Province of the Most Holy Name in 1851, and the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael and Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose were established in the archdiocese in 1851 and 1876, respectively.
One of Alemany's first acts as Archbishop was to file a petition with the Public Land Commission
on February 19, 1853 for the return of all former mission
lands in California. Ownership of 1,051.44 acre
s (for all practical intents being the exact area of land occupied by the original mission buildings, cemeteries, and gardens) was subsequently conveyed to the Church, along with the Cañada de los Pinos
(or College Rancho) in Santa Barbara County comprising 35499.73 acres (143.7 km²), and La Laguna in San Luis Obispo County, consisting of 4157.02 acres (16.8 km²). The scope of his authority was large, as the Diocese of Monterey originally encompassed the entire area of the former Mexican
province of Alta California
, while the Archdiocese of San Francisco encompassed all of the state of California
north of Monterey Bay
as well as territories that would become Nevada
and Utah
. However, Alemany wished to return to missionary work and requested a coadjutor bishop. In 1883, Bishop Patrick William Riordan
was appointed by Pope Leo XIII coadjutor, and would succeed Alemany upon the latter's resignation as archbishop in 1884.
and was appointed titular archbishop
of Pelusium. He died in Valencia, on 14 April 1888, and was buried in the Church of Sant Domènec in his native Vic. In 1965, his body was brought back to San Francisco and buried in the Archbishops' mausoleum in Holy Cross Cemetery
in Colma, California
.
He was an author, publishing his The Life of St. Dominick.
Alemany Boulevard
and the Alemany Maze
in San Francisco, Bishop Alemany High School
in
Mission Hills, California
and the Archbishop Alemany Library at Dominican University of California
in San Rafael are all named in his honor.
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
(3 July 1814 - 14 April 1888) was a Catalan American
Catalan American
Catalan Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who acknowledge ethnic Catalan ancestry and self-identify with it. The group is formed by Catalan-born naturalized citizens or residents, their descendants and, to a lesser extent, citizens or residents of Catalan descent who came...
Roman Catholic archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
and missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
. He served as the first Bishop of Monterey from 1850 until 1853, and as the first Archbishop of San Francisco
Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco is the Archbishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, the Roman Catholic Church in San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties in California, the United States...
from 1853 until 1884.
Background
Born in VicVic
Vic is the capital of the comarca of Osona, in the Barcelona Province, Catalonia, Spain. Vic's location, only 69 km far from Barcelona and 60 km from Girona, has made it one of the most important towns in central Catalonia.-History:...
, 60 km north of Barcelona, Spain (present-day autonomous region of Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
), Alemany entered the Dominican Order
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
in 1830 and made his solemn profession in September 1831, the same year that Alemany's protege, Patrick Manogue
Patrick Manogue
Patrick Manogue was a miner '49er, pioneer priest and the founding Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, California.-Early life:...
was born in Ireland.
Alemany was ordained a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
on 11 March 1837. During 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...
, he had an audience with Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI , born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari, named Mauro as a member of the religious order of the Camaldolese, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1831 to 1846...
. The Dominicans sent him to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1840. For the next eight years, he engaged in missionary activity in the Eastern and Southern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, eventually becoming a naturalized United States citizen.
In 1848, he was appointed prior-provincial
Provincial superior
A Provincial Superior is a major superior of a religious order acting under the order's Superior General and exercising a general supervision over all the members of that order in a territorial division of the order called a province--similar to but not to be confused with an ecclesiastical...
of the Dominican province of St. Joseph the Worker. On a trip to 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...
, Alemany was consecrated as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey in California
Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey in California
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey in California is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese in the United States of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in the Central Coast region of California...
on 30 June 1850; thus, becoming the first American bishop in California. When the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the northern California region of the United States. It covers the City and County of San Francisco and the Counties of Marin and San Mateo...
was erected in 1853, Alemany was appointed by Pope Pius IX as its first archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
.
San Francisco
As Archbishop of San Francisco, Alemany presided over what became a multinational diocese, owing to the influx of people during the California Gold RushCalifornia Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
, and parishes were established for San Francisco's Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
, German and Mexican
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
communities. Catholic religious orders were also active during his tenure, with the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
establishing Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University is a private, not-for-profit, Jesuit-affiliated university located in Santa Clara, California, United States. Chartered by the state of California and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, it operates in collaboration with the Society of Jesus , whose...
and the University of San Francisco
University of San Francisco
The University of San Francisco , is a private, Jesuit/Catholic university located in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1855, USF was established as the first university in San Francisco. It is the second oldest institution for higher learning in California and the tenth-oldest university of...
, the De La Salle Christian Brothers
Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools
The Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools is a Roman Catholic religious teaching congregation, founded in France by Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle and now based in Rome...
taking over the diocesan Saint Mary's College
Saint Mary's College of California
Saint Mary's College of California is a private, coeducational college located in Moraga, California, United States, a small suburban community about east of Oakland and 20 miles east of San Francisco. It has a 420-acre campus in the Moraga hills. It is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church...
, and the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur
Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur
The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, is the name of a Roman Catholic order of religious sisters, dedicated to providing education to the poor.The order was founded in Amiens in 1803, but the opposition of the local bishop to missions outside his diocese led to the moving of headquarters to then...
establishing the College of Notre Dame
Notre Dame de Namur University
Notre Dame de Namur University — formerly the College of Notre Dame — is a private, Catholic University located in Belmont, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. Notre Dame de Namur University is an accredited university in San Mateo County, and the fifth-oldest university in California...
, and the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary
Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary
The Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary is a teaching order founded at Longueuil, Québec, Canada in 1843 by Blessed Mother Marie-Rose for the Christian education of young girls.Their motto is: "Jésus et Marie, Ma Force et Ma Gloire" .Since 1843, the...
establishing in Oakland the Holy Names University
Holy Names University
Holy Names University is a private, coeducational university located in Oakland, California. It is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church and is administered by the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary.-History:...
. He and fellow Dominican priest, Fr. Francis Sadoc Vilarrasa also founded the Dominican Province of the Most Holy Name in 1851, and the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael and Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose were established in the archdiocese in 1851 and 1876, respectively.
One of Alemany's first acts as Archbishop was to file a petition with the Public Land Commission
Public Land Commission
The Public Land Commission, a former agency of the United States government, was created following the admission of California as a state in 1850 . The Commission's purpose was to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican land grants in California.California Senator William M...
on February 19, 1853 for the return of all former mission
Spanish missions in California
The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to...
lands in California. Ownership of 1,051.44 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s (for all practical intents being the exact area of land occupied by the original mission buildings, cemeteries, and gardens) was subsequently conveyed to the Church, along with the Cañada de los Pinos
Rancho Cañada de los Pinos
Rancho Cañada de los Pinos or College Rancho was a Mexican land grant in present day Santa Barbara County, California. The grant extended along the north bank of the Santa Ynez River opposite Rancho Lomas de la Purificacion and encompassed Mission Santa Inés and present day Santa Ynez, in the...
(or College Rancho) in Santa Barbara County comprising 35499.73 acres (143.7 km²), and La Laguna in San Luis Obispo County, consisting of 4157.02 acres (16.8 km²). The scope of his authority was large, as the Diocese of Monterey originally encompassed the entire area of the former Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
province of Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
, while the Archdiocese of San Francisco encompassed all of the state of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
north of Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean, along the central coast of California. The bay is south of San Francisco and San Jose, between the cities of Santa Cruz and Monterey....
as well as territories that would become Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
and Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. However, Alemany wished to return to missionary work and requested a coadjutor bishop. In 1883, Bishop Patrick William Riordan
Patrick William Riordan
Patrick William Riordan was a Canadian-born clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of San Francisco from 1884 until his death in 1914.-Early life and education:...
was appointed by Pope Leo XIII coadjutor, and would succeed Alemany upon the latter's resignation as archbishop in 1884.
Retirement
After his resignation, Alemany returned to CataloniaCatalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
and was appointed titular archbishop
Titular bishop
A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese.By definition a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop the tradition of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches is that he be ordained for a specific place...
of Pelusium. He died in Valencia, on 14 April 1888, and was buried in the Church of Sant Domènec in his native Vic. In 1965, his body was brought back to San Francisco and buried in the Archbishops' mausoleum in Holy Cross Cemetery
Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma
Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma, California is an American Roman Catholic cemetery operated by the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Established in 1887 on of a former potato farm, it is the oldest and largest cemetery established in Colma to serve the needs of San Francisco...
in Colma, California
Colma, California
Colma is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, at the northern end of the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 1,792 at the 2010 census. The town was founded as a necropolis in 1924....
.
He was an author, publishing his The Life of St. Dominick.
Alemany Boulevard
Alemany Boulevard
Alemany Boulevard is an east–west street in San Francisco, California. The boulevard was named for Archbishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany, the first bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco....
and the Alemany Maze
Alemany Maze
Alemany Maze is the name given to the interchange between the James Lick Freeway and the John F. Foran Freeway in the city of San Francisco...
in San Francisco, Bishop Alemany High School
Bishop Alemany High School
Bishop Alemany High School is a Roman Catholic secondary school located in the Mission Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. It is located within the San Fernando Pastoral Region of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles...
in
Mission Hills, California
Mission Hills, California
Mission Hills is a census-designated place in Santa Barbara County, California, a short distance north of Lompoc on Highway 1. The population was 3,576 at the 2010 census, up from 3,142 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
and the Archbishop Alemany Library at Dominican University of California
Dominican University of California
Dominican University of California is a four year, accredited, private, Catholic-heritage, and co-educational institution located in San Rafael, California. Founded in 1890 as Dominican College, Dominican is one of the oldest universities in California. The U.S. News and World Report ranks...
in San Rafael are all named in his honor.
Sources
- Mc Gloin, S.J., John B. California's First Archbishop: The Life of Joseph Sadoc Alemany, O.P., 1814-1888. New York: Herder and Herder, 1966.
- Parmisano, Fabian Stan. Mission West: The Western Dominican Province, 1850-1966. Oakland, California: Western Dominican Province, 1995.
- Catholic-Hierarchy.org biographical profile
- Who Was Who in America: Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1967.
- Dominican Friars: Pioneers in the Archdiocese
- Presentation Sisters to celebrate 150 years