Father Virgil Cordano, O.F.M. (December 3, 1919 – May 22, 2008) was the long-time pastor of the Santa Barbara Mission.

Biography

Born to a Roman Catholic Italian immigrant family in Sacramento, California

Sacramento, California

Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...

, Father Cordano came to Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...

 in 1934 to study at the adjacent St. Anthony's College Seminary, then the primary training ground in California for the Franciscan Order (Friars Minor, or OFM). Except for graduate work at The Catholic University of America

The Catholic University of America

The Catholic University of America is a private university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by the U.S. Catholic bishops...

, Washington, D.C., Cordano spent his entire priestly career at the Santa Barbara Mission. He was chosen to be the official Santa Barbara greeter of Queen Elizabeth II during her 1983 visit to the town.

Father Cordano died at age 89 on May 22, 2008.

Distinctions and Awards

The Virgil Cordano Chair for Catholic Studies and the Virgil Cordano, OFM, Endowment in Catholic Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) are named in honor of Fr. Cordano. Professor Ann Taves, PhD, currently serves as the Virgil Cordano Chair of Catholic Studies.