Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland

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The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon (Archidioecesis Portlandensis in Oregon) encompasses the western part of the State of Oregon from the summit of the Cascades to the Pacific Ocean, an area of about 29,717 square miles (76,967 km²). The Archbishop of Portland serves as the Ordinary of the archdiocese and Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Portland whose suffragan sees include Baker (Eastern Oregon), Boise (Idaho), Great Falls-Billings (Montana), and Helena (Montana).

According to 2005 statistics provided by the archdiocese, it serves nearly 400,000 Roman Catholics. There are 312 priests, 498 sisters, 124 parishes, and 24 missions in the archdiocese. There are 8,981 pupils in 42 parochial elementary schools, and 5,153 students in ten high schools. Nine hospitals served over 1.25 million patients.

1 Early history
2 Bankruptcy
3 Archbishops
4 See also
5 External links and references

[edit] Early history

The origins of the Catholic church in the Oregon Country derive from a July 3, 1834, petition by French Prairie settlers to priests in Canada. In response to this petition, missionary priests, Rev. Francis Xavier Norbert Blanchet and Rev. Modeste Demers arrived at Fort Vancouver on November 24, 1838. The first Mass was celebrated on January 6, 1839 at Saint Paul.

On December 1, 1843, the Vatican established the Vicariate Apostolic of the Oregon Territory with Rev. Msgr. Blanchet as its first Vicar Apostolic. A Vicar Apostolic is a bishop in a territory which has not yet been organized as a diocese. The following year, Rev. Pierre-Jean DeSmet, S.J., and fellow priests and Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur arrive in Astoria from Belgium.

On July 24, 1846, Pope Pius IX divided the existing vicariate apostolic into three dioceses: Oregon City (Oregonopolitanus); Walla Walla (Valle Valliensis); and Vancouver Island (Insula Vancouver). On July 29, 1850, the Diocese of Oregon City was elevated to an archdiocese with Archbishop Blanchet continuing to serve as its first archbishop.

Rapid growth in the Pacific Northwest lead to the loss of territory of the Archdiocese of Oregon City from which the Vatican created the Vicariate Apostolic of Idaho and Montana on March 3, 1868, and the Diocese of Baker City on June 19, 1903.

The Archdiocese was renamed by the Vatican as Portland in Oregon on September 26, 1928.

[edit] Bankruptcy

The church's sex abuse scandal led the archdiocese to file for Chapter 11 reorganization on July 6, 2004, hours before two abuse trials were set to begin. Portland became the first Catholic diocese to file for bankruptcy. An open letter to the archdiocese's parishioners explained the archbishop's motivation:

This is not an effort to avoid responsibility. It is, in fact, the only way I can assure that other claimants can be offered fair compensation. We have worked diligently to settle claims of clergy misconduct. In the last four years, we have settled more than 100 such claims. Last year alone the Archdiocese paid almost $21 million from its own funds. Major insurers have abandoned us and are not paying what they should on the claims.

Two cases are set for trials beginning today. One plaintiff seeks more than $130 million in compensatory and punitive damages, the other $25 million. We have made every effort to settle these claims fairly but the demand of each of these plaintiffs remains in the millions. I am committed to just compensation. These demands go beyond compensation. With 60 other claims pending, I cannot in justice and prudence pay the demands of these two plaintiffs.

The archdiocese had settled more than one hundred previous claims for a sum of over $53 million. The filing seeks to protect parish assets, school money and trust funds from abuse victims: the archdiocese's contention is that parish assets are not the archdiocese's assets. Plaintiffs in the cases against the archdiocese have argued that the Catholic church is a single entity, and that the Vatican should be liable for any damages awarded in judgment of pending sexual abuse cases.

After the filing, an April 29, 2005 deadline was set by the bankruptcy court to allow other people to file complaints. According to an October 2005 archbishop's column in the Catholic Sentinel, nearly 200 more claims of all kinds were filed as a result. That column also noted that the archdiocese has filed suit against insurance companies to compel them to contribute financially to the settlement expected to arise out of the reorganization.

[edit] Archbishops

From 1843 to 1846, the Oregon Country was an apostolic vicariate, led by Francis Norbert Blanchet. Once established as an archdiocese, it was led by the following:

Archbishops of Oregon City: