Joseph Sadoc Alemany

The Most Reverend Joseph Sadoc Alemany
Archbishop of San Francisco
See	San Francisco
Installed	July 29, 1853
Term ended	December 28, 1884
Predecessor	None
Successor	Patrick William Riordan
Other posts	Bishop of Monterey (1850–1853)
Orders
Ordination	March 11, 1837
Consecration	June 30, 1850
Personal details
Born	(1814-07-03)July 3, 1814 Vic, Spain
Died	April 14, 1888(1888-04-14) (aged 73) Valencia, Spain
Nationality	Spanish
Denomination	Roman Catholic Church

Styles of Joseph Sadoc Alemany
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Monsignor
Posthumous style	none

Joseph Sadoc Alemany y Conill, O.P. (July 3, 1814 – April 14, 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.

Early Biography

Alemany was born in Vic, 60 km north of Barcelona, Spain (present-day autonomous region of Catalonia).

Formation

Alemany entered the Dominican Order in 1830 and made his solemn profession in September 1831, the same year that his protégé, Patrick Manogue was born in Ireland.

Alemany was ordained a priest on March 11, 1837.^[1]

During studies in Rome, he had an audience with Pope Gregory XVI.

Alemany was an alumnus of the College of St. Thomas in Rome, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum, where in 1840 he was made Lector in Theology.^[2]

Career

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.

Summoned to Rome, Alemany met on June 11, 1850 with Cardinal Giacomo Franzoni, informed of his appointment as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey in California. Alemany replied, "No." Pope Pius IX ordered Alemany to a private audience on June 16. Pius IX told Alemany, "You must go to California....Where others are drawn by gold, you must carry the Cross." Cardinal Franzoni consecrated Alemany, Bishop of Monterey on June 30, 1850, in Rome; thus, becoming the first American bishop in California.^[3]

Monterey

Before leaving Europe, Alemany determined that he would need the help of a community of religious women for the education of the children of his new territory. He traveled around, visiting various monasteries of Dominican nuns. When he arrived in Paris, he went to the Monastery of the Cross there, where he presented his request for volunteers among the Dominican Sisters. He had one recruit, Sister Mary of the Cross Goemaere, O.P., a Belgian novice. He soon set sail with her and a fellow Dominican friar, Francis Sadoc Vilarrasa, O.P., arriving in San Francisco on December 6, 1850. Goemaere then founded a community in Monterey which was to become the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael.^[4]

San Francisco

When the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco was erected July 29, 1853, Alemany was appointed by Pope Pius as its first archbishop. Alemany arrived in San Francisco finding three established Catholic parishes Mission Dolores (San Francisco de Asis) (1776), St. Francis of Assisi (1849) and St. Patrick (1851). As Archbishop of San Francisco, Alemany presided over what became a multinational diocese, owing to the influx of people during the California Gold Rush, and parishes were established for San Francisco's Italian, Irish, French, German and Mexican communities.^[5] Catholic religious institutes 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 in San Jose the Notre Dame de Namur University, and the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary establishing in Oakland the Holy Names University. He and Vilarosa 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.

As Bishop of Monterey Alemany filed a petition with the Public Land Commission on February 19, 1853 for the return of all former mission lands in California. As Archbishop of San Francisco he sought Fee Ownership of 1,051.44 acres (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 35,499.73 acres (143.6623 km²), and La Laguna in San Luis Obispo County, consisting of 4,157.02 acres (16.8229 km²).^[6] 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.

Retirement

Alemany's vault at Holy Cross

After his resignation, Archbishop Alemany left San Francisco in May 1885, he toured New York, was presented by Catholic General William Rosecrans to President Grover Cleveland. He arrived in Italy, having an audience with Pope Leo XIII and was appointed titular archbishop of Pelusium. Alemany returned to Catalonia. He died in Valencia, on April 14, 1888, and was buried in the Church of Sant Domènec in his native Vic. In 1965, his body was brought back to San Francisco after a funeral mass said by Archbishop Joseph T. McGucken at the Old Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception he was buried in the Archbishops' Crypt in the 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.

References

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.
• Robinson, W. W. (1948). Land in California. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA. 
• 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

Episcopal succession

Diocese of Monterey in California Ordinaries Bishop of Two Californias Francisco García Diego y Moreno José Maria González Rubio Bishop of Monterey Joseph Sadoc Alemany Thaddeus Amat y Brusi Bishop of Monterey-Los Angeles Thaddeus Amat y Brusi Francisco Mora y Borrell George Thomas Montgomery Thomas James Conaty John Joseph Cantwell Bishop of Monterey-Fresno John Bernard MacGinley Philip George Scher Aloysius Joseph Willinger Bishop of Monterey in California Harry Anselm Clinch Thaddeus Anthony Shubsda Sylvester Donovan Ryan Richard John Garcia Churches Cathedral Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo Parishes Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo Mission San Juan Bautista Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa Mission San Miguel Arcángel Holy Cross Church (the former Mission Santa Cruz) Education High school Mission College Preparatory High School, San Luis Obispo Notre Dame High School, Salinas Palma High School, Salinas Saint Francis Central Coast Catholic High School, Watsonville Santa Catalina School, Monterey Catholicism Portal

Archdiocese of Los Angeles Ordinaries of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Bishop of Two Californias Francisco García Diego y Moreno Bishop of Monterey Joseph Sadoc Alemany Bishops of Monterey-Los Angeles Thaddeus Amat y Brusi Francisco Mora y Borrell George Thomas Montgomery Thomas James Conaty John Joseph Cantwell Bishop of Los Angeles-San Diego John Joseph Cantwell Archbishops of Los Angeles John Joseph Cantwell James Francis Cardinal McIntyre Timothy Cardinal Manning Roger Cardinal Mahony José Horacio Gómez Auxiliary bishops, current Thomas John Curry Gerald Eugene Wilkerson Edward W. Clark Oscar Azarcon Solis Alexander Salazar Joseph Brennan David O'Connell Robert Barron Auxiliary bishops, former Juan Alfredo Arzube Alden John Bell Stephen Blaire Joseph Patrick Dougherty Carl Anthony Fisher William Robert Johnson William Levada Joseph Thomas McGucken Donald William Montrose Manuel Duran Moreno Armando Xavier Ochoa Sylvester Donovan Ryan Joseph Martin Sartoris Thaddeus Anthony Shubsda John J. Ward Gabino Zavala George Patrick Ziemann Priests who became bishops Justin F. Rigali Churches in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Archdiocese Cathedral Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral, former Cathedral of Saint Vibiana Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region Deanery 13 (Westside) Corpus Christi Catholic Church, Pacific Palisades St. Monica Catholic Church, Santa Monica St. Augustine Catholic Church, Culver City St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church, Brentwood St. Timothy Catholic Church, Los Angeles Church of the Good Shepherd, Beverly Hills St. Ambrose Church, West Hollywood Saint Victor Catholic Church, West Hollywood Deanery 14 (Central LA/Hollywood) Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, Hollywood Cathedral Chapel, Los Angeles Christ the King Catholic Church, Los Angeles St. Basil Catholic Church, Wilshire St. Brendan Catholic Church, Los Angeles Deanery 15 (Downtown/South) Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles Precious Blood Catholic Church,Los Angeles St. Cecilia Catholic Church, Los Angeles St. Patrick Catholic Church, Los Angeles St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, Los Angeles St. Vincent de Paul Church, Los Angeles Deanery 16 (South LA/Inglewood): Ascension Catholic Church, Los Angeles Spanish Mission La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles Note: This is not a Spanish Mission, but rather, a parish church. San Fernando Pastoral Region Deanery 5 (West San Fernando Valley) St. Cyril of Jerusalem Church and School, Encino Deanery 6 (Crescenta Valley, Glendale and Eagle Rock) Holy Family Catholic Church, Glendale Incarnation Catholic Church and School, Glendale Deanery 7 (Central San Fernando Valley and Burbank) Cathedral of St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Church, Sherman Oaks St. Charles Borromeo Church, North Hollywood St. Finbar Catholic Church and School, Burbank St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church, Burbank Deanery 8 (Santa Clarita Valley and Lancaster/Palmdale): Blessed Junipero Serra Catholic Church, Lancaster San Gabriel Pastoral Region Deanery 9 (East LA, Boyle Heights, City Terrace): All Saints Catholic Church, Los Angeles Assumption Catholic Church, Los Angeles Deanery 10 (Pasadena, Altadena, San Gabriel, Monterey Park, Montebello, Alhambra) All Souls Catholic Church, Alhambra Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church, Pasadena St. Andrew's Catholic Church, Pasadena Mission San Gabriel Parish, San Gabriel Deanery 11 (Arcadia, Covina, Glendora, Monrovia, La Puente): Annunciation Catholic Church, Arcadia Deanery 12 (San Dimas, Claremont, Pomona, Diamond Bar, La Puente, Valinda, Walnut): San Pedro Pastoral Region Deanery 17 (Downey, Compton, Huntington Park, Lynwood): Deanery 18 (Whittier, La Mirada, Pico Rivera, Norwalk): Beatitudes of Our Lord Catholic Church, La Mirada Deanery 19 (South Bay and San Pedro) American Martyrs Catholic Church, Manhattan Beach SS. Peter and Paul's Church, Wilmington Deanery 20 (Long Beach): Santa Barbara Pastoral Region Deanery 1 (Lompoc, Solvang, Santa Maria) La Purisima Mission, Lompoc Mission Santa Inés, Solvang Deanery 2 (Santa Barbara) Santa Barbara Mission, Santa Barbara Deanery 3 (Oxnard, Ventura, Ojai, Fillmore, Santa Paula) Mission San Buenaventura, Ventura Deanery 4 (Simi Valley, Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Camarillo): Blessed Junipero Serra Catholic Church, Camarillo Education in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Archdiocese Seminaries St. John's Seminary Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region Universities and Colleges Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles Mount St. Mary's College, Los Angeles High schools Bishop Conaty-Our Lady of Loretto High School, Harvard Heights Cathedral High School, Los Angeles (Boys) Immaculate Heart High School, Los Feliz (Girls) Loyola High School, Harvard Heights (Boys) Marymount High School, Bel Air (Girls) Notre Dame Academy, Los Angeles (Girls) St. Bernard High School, Playa del Rey St. Mary's Academy, Inglewood (Girls) St. Monica Catholic High School, Santa Monica Verbum Dei High School, Watts (Boys) High schools, closed Daniel Murphy High School, Los Angeles San Fernando Pastoral Region Universities and Colleges: High schools Bellarmine-Jefferson High School, Burbank Bishop Alemany High School, Mission Hills Chaminade High School, West Hills Crespi Carmelite High School, Encino Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, La Cañada Flintridge Holy Family High School, Glendale Louisville High School, Woodland Hills Notre Dame High School, Sherman Oaks Paraclete High School, Lancaster Providence High School, Burbank St. Francis High School, La Cañada Flintridge St. Genevieve High School, Panorama City San Gabriel Pastoral Region Universities and Colleges: High schools Ramona Convent Secondary School, Alhambra St. Lucy's Priory High School, Glendora Bishop Amat Memorial High School, La Puente Damien High School, La Verne Salesian High School, Los Angeles Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary High School, Montebello La Salle High School, Pasadena Mayfield Senior School, Pasadena St. Monica Academy, Pasadena Pomona Catholic High School, Pomona San Gabriel Mission High School, San Gabriel Alverno High School, Sierra Madre San Pedro Pastoral Region Universities and Colleges Marymount College, Palos Verdes High schools St. John Bosco High School, Bellflower Queen of Angels Academy, Compton St. Pius X / St. Matthias Academy, Downey Junipero Serra High School, Gardena St. Joseph High School, Lakewood St. Anthony High School, Long Beach Don Bosco High School, Rosemead Mary Star of the Sea High School, San Pedro St. Paul High School, Santa Fe Springs Bishop Montgomery High School, Torrance Santa Barbara Pastoral Region Universities and Colleges St. John's Seminary, Camarillo Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula High schools Bishop Garcia Diego High School, Santa Barbara La Reina High School, Thousand Oaks St. Bonaventure High School, Ventura St. Joseph High School, Santa Maria Santa Clara High School, Oxnard Villanova Preparatory School, Ojai Hospitals and Cemeteries in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region Hospitals Saint John's Health Center, Santa Monica Cemeteries Crypt Mausoleum of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City San Fernando Pastoral Region Hospitals Northridge Hospital Medical Center, Northridge Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, Mission Hills Cemeteries San Fernando Mission Cemetery, San Fernando San Gabriel Pastoral Region Hospitals: Cemeteries Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles San Pedro Pastoral Region Hospitals: Cemeteries: Santa Barbara Pastoral Region Hospitals: Cemeteries: Catholicism Portal