Jose Sadoc Alemany

Background

Joseph Sadoc Alemany was born on July 13, 1814, a native of Vic, Catalonia, Spain.

Education

Alemany was educated partly in his native country, and, after taking the habit of the order of St. Dominic, studied in Italy.

Career

On March 27, 1837 Alemany was ordained priest at Viterbo. Four years later he became a missionary to the western states of America, where the Dominicans were established in Kentucky and Ohio. The extension of the West, at the close of the Mexican War, brought the former Mexican province of Upper California into the jurisdiction of the United States, while the secularization of the Franciscan missions in that region created a serious problem for the Catholic Church. While Alemany was at Rome on a pilgrimage he was consecrated bishop of Monterey, June 30, 1850. He immediately left for his diocese, taking with him a priest and nun of his order to begin educational institutions. Since he went by way of the Isthmus of Panama, then crowded with gold seekers, it was December before he reached San Francisco, where the Irish pioneers gave him a hearty welcome. At Monterey he found that his diocese contained about twenty-one adobe churches; some of them in the ruined mission premises, served by twelve secular and fourteen regular clergy. His knowledge of Spanish assisted him with the older population; while the white cassock of his order, which he always wore, was a harbinger of peace wherever he went.

After two and a half years at Monterey, Alemany was called to the more exacting duties of the newly erected see of San Francisco, of which he was the first archbishop. The problem of support for the many churches needed to serve the rapidly growing population was a pressing one. While still bishop, Alemany had appeared before the United States commission for settling private land claims, and had successfully supported the cause of the missions, obtaining their land in fee simple. This emboldened him to a further effort to obtain church property. At the Monterey bishopric he had found a bundle of papers and documents relative to the "Pious Fund of the Californias, " which had been begun in the seventeenth century for the benefit of the missions of lower and upper California. Upon the suppression of the Jesuits, the fund passed into the hands of the State, which held it in trust, and as such upon the independence of Mexico, it continued.

In 1842 President Santa Anna sequestered the fund, promising to pay the interest thereafter to the missions. This had been paid rather irregularly until the cession of California to the United States in 1848. Alemany submitted the documents to a San Francisco lawyer, who aided him in an appeal to the Mexican government, which was denied. The case was then presented to the State Department at Washington, which after several years submitted the matter to the arbitration of the Mixed Commission. Sir William Thornton, the third arbitrator, then made a large award to the California church, consisting of one-half of the amounts of interest from 1848 to the date of the award. The successful issue of this case enabled Alemany to promote the cause of Catholicism on the Pacific coast, and to develop educational and charitable institutions. When Mexico refused to continue annual payments the final settlement of the case by the Hague Tribunal in 1902 did not come within the administration of Alemany; nevertheless it was due to his insistence that the case was presented and finally brought to a successful issue. In 1883 he received Father Patrick Riordan of Chicago as his coadjutor, and the next year, at his own earnest solicitations, he was permitted to retire and spend his last days in his native land.

Achievements

• Alemany is particularly known as the first Bishop of Monterey and as the first Archbishop of San Francisco, who managed to provide both care and education to the people entrusted into his hands, fulfilling the goal of proving to be an excellent leader for both church and community in the history of California. Laying the cornerstone of what is today known as Old St. Mary's Church on California Street and Grant Avenue, he founded St. Mary's College in 1863 as a college for boys, originally located above the avenue the presently carries his name at St. Mark's Park.

Personality

Alemany was singularly gentle and reposeful in manner. He had the reverence of his subordinates, the affection of his people, and the respect of the entire community.

Connections

Alemany was unmarried.

References

• California's first archbishop;: The life of Joseph Sadoc Alemany, 1814-1888 (Makers of American Catholicism)
• Mission West: the Western Dominican Province, 1850-1966