Thaddeus Amat y Brusi
Encyclopedia
Thaddeus Amat y Brusi, C.M.
was a Roman Catholic
cleric who eventually became Bishop of Los Angeles
, California
.
capital of Barcelona
, Spain
on December 31, 1810. He was ordained a priest
of the religious order of the Congregation of the Missions (Lazarists)
in 1838 at Paris, France
. Subsequently, he came to the United States
as a religious missionary to Louisiana
; later serving as a novice master in Missouri
and Pennsylvania
.
. Monterey's previous bishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany
had been promoted to archbishop of the newly created Archdiocese of San Francisco
.
Amat was ordained bishop in Rome
in 1854. Recognizing the growth of Los Angeles
and the decline of Monterey
, he petitioned the Vatican
to move the see to Los Angeles and to be known as Bishop of Los Angeles. Amat arrived in the pueblo of Los Angeles in 1855. On July 7, 1859, the diocese was renamed Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles. St. Vibiana's Cathedral was founded and consecrated during the episcopacy of Amat, and Amat himself brought back from Rome
the remains (relic
s) of the saint that were housed in a sarcophogus above the cathedral's altar.
of the Mission Santa Barbara
over the control of the mission after the U.S. President Abraham Lincoln
returned the California missions to the Catholic Church. The Franciscans claimed on canonical and historical grounds that the missions were rightfully under their direct jurisdiction, and not that of the diocese, and that, in the case of Mission Santa Barbara, they should hold the deed.
, to open St. Vincent's College (now known as Loyola Marymount University
). It was the first institution of higher learning in Southern California
. He invited Franciscans into his diocese to work in the parochial schools, and also invited the Sisters of Charity
and Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
into his diocese.
, Francisco Mora y Borrell
who (like Alemany and Amat) was also Catalan. He is buried
in the Bishop's crypt of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
.
Bishop Amat Memorial High School
in La Puente, California
is named for him and his tombstone is located at the school's chapel.
Lazarists
Congregation of the Mission is a vowed order of priests and brothers associated with the Vincentian Family, a loose federation of organizations who claim St. Vincent de Paul as their founder or Patron...
was a Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
cleric who eventually became Bishop of Los Angeles
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the archdiocese comprises the California counties of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The diocesan cathedral is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the...
, 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...
.
Birth and Early Career
Amat was born in the CatalanCatalonia
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...
capital of Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
on December 31, 1810. He 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...
of the religious order of the Congregation of the Missions (Lazarists)
Lazarists
Congregation of the Mission is a vowed order of priests and brothers associated with the Vincentian Family, a loose federation of organizations who claim St. Vincent de Paul as their founder or Patron...
in 1838 at Paris, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Subsequently, he came to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as a religious missionary to Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
; later serving as a novice master in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
and Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
Appointed Bishop
In 1853, while serving as the rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, he was appointed bishop of Monterey in CaliforniaRoman 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...
. Monterey's previous bishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany
Joseph Sadoc Alemany
Joseph Sadoc Alemany y Conill, O.P. 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.-Background:Born in Vic, 60 km north of Barcelona, Spain , Alemany...
had been promoted to archbishop of the newly created 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...
.
Amat was ordained bishop 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...
in 1854. Recognizing the growth of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
and the decline of Monterey
Monterey, California
The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
, he petitioned the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
to move the see to Los Angeles and to be known as Bishop of Los Angeles. Amat arrived in the pueblo of Los Angeles in 1855. On July 7, 1859, the diocese was renamed Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles. St. Vibiana's Cathedral was founded and consecrated during the episcopacy of Amat, and Amat himself brought back from 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...
the remains (relic
Relic
In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
s) of the saint that were housed in a sarcophogus above the cathedral's altar.
Dispute over Californian Missions
Bishop Amat came into conflict with Friar José González RubioJosé González Rubio
José Norberto Francisco González Rubio, O.F.M., was a Roman Catholic friar prominent in the early history of California. His life encompassed the transition from Spanish colonial, to Mexican, and finally, American society....
of the Mission Santa Barbara
Mission Santa Barbara
In 1840, Alta California and Baja California were removed from the Diocese of Sonora to form the Diocese of Both Californias. Bishop Francisco Garcia Diego y Moreno, OFM, established his cathedra at Mission Santa Barbara, making the chapel the pro-cathedral of the diocese until 1849...
over the control of the mission after the U.S. President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
returned the California missions to the Catholic Church. The Franciscans claimed on canonical and historical grounds that the missions were rightfully under their direct jurisdiction, and not that of the diocese, and that, in the case of Mission Santa Barbara, they should hold the deed.
Schools founded
Bishop Amat founded some of the first schools in Los Angeles and invited the Congregation of the Mission, also known as Vincentians or LazaristsLazarists
Congregation of the Mission is a vowed order of priests and brothers associated with the Vincentian Family, a loose federation of organizations who claim St. Vincent de Paul as their founder or Patron...
, to open St. Vincent's College (now known as Loyola Marymount University
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola Marymount University is a comprehensive co-educational private Roman Catholic university in the Jesuit and Marymount traditions located in Los Angeles, California, United States...
). It was the first institution of higher learning in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
. He invited Franciscans into his diocese to work in the parochial schools, and also invited the Sisters of Charity
Sisters of Charity
Many religious communities have the term Sisters of Charity as part of their name. The rule of Saint Vincent for the Daughters of Charity has been adopted and adapted by at least sixty founders of religious orders around the world in the subsequent centuries....
and Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
The Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary are a Catholic teaching order for women...
into his diocese.
Death
Amat died on May 12, 1878, at Los Angeles, California, and was succeeded by his coadjutor bishopCoadjutor bishop
A coadjutor bishop is a bishop in the Roman Catholic or Anglican churches who is designated to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese, almost as co-bishop of the diocese...
, Francisco Mora y Borrell
Francisco Mora y Borrell
Francisco Mora i Borrell was a Catalan American Roman Catholic priest, serving as the Bishop of Monterey-Los Angeles from 1878 to 1896.Francisco Mora was born in Gurb , Spain on November 25, 1827...
who (like Alemany and Amat) was also Catalan. He is buried
Burial
Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...
in the Bishop's crypt of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, also called "COLA" and the Los Angeles Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church in Los Angeles, California, United States...
.
Bishop Amat Memorial High School
Bishop Amat Memorial High School
Bishop Amat Memorial High School is a co-ed Catholic high school serving the San Gabriel Valley in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and was founded in 1957. The campus is located in La Puente, California, approximately 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles in Los Angeles County...
in La Puente, California
La Puente, California
La Puente is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 39,816 at the 2010 census.* City flower: The Golden Hibiscus* City colors: Green and White.-History:...
is named for him and his tombstone is located at the school's chapel.