- Feb 5, 2002
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Happy Friday, friends,
When the 49ers take the field on Sunday, there will be plenty of Catholics among the fans cheering them on for the Super Bowl.
But almost 200 years ago, there was a group of priests working as chaplains to the original gold rush 49ers then flooding into California, and theirs is a story far more interesting than what happens on any given Sunday.
The priests were led by Bishop Joseph Alemany of Monterey, who would go on to become the first archbishop of San Francisco. But Alemany was initially reluctant to take up the assignment.
In fact, he initially turned the appointment down flat.
But Pope Pius IX was having none of it. He summoned Alemany to an audience and told him, “You must go to California…Where others are drawn by gold, you must carry the cross.”
Under obedience, he agreed and was consecrated bishop in June 1850. Three years later, the Archdiocese of San Francisco was erected and Alemany became its first archbishop.
California was no Garden of Eden back then. It was rife with disease, anti-immigrant sentiment, brothels, and gambling. The mining towns were known for violence and lawlessness, and the bishop had a job getting workers for his new vineyard.
You can read all about Alemany and his story here.
And I’ll talk about the “football” later, I promise.
Continued below.
When the 49ers take the field on Sunday, there will be plenty of Catholics among the fans cheering them on for the Super Bowl.
But almost 200 years ago, there was a group of priests working as chaplains to the original gold rush 49ers then flooding into California, and theirs is a story far more interesting than what happens on any given Sunday.
The priests were led by Bishop Joseph Alemany of Monterey, who would go on to become the first archbishop of San Francisco. But Alemany was initially reluctant to take up the assignment.
In fact, he initially turned the appointment down flat.
But Pope Pius IX was having none of it. He summoned Alemany to an audience and told him, “You must go to California…Where others are drawn by gold, you must carry the cross.”
Under obedience, he agreed and was consecrated bishop in June 1850. Three years later, the Archdiocese of San Francisco was erected and Alemany became its first archbishop.
California was no Garden of Eden back then. It was rife with disease, anti-immigrant sentiment, brothels, and gambling. The mining towns were known for violence and lawlessness, and the bishop had a job getting workers for his new vineyard.
You can read all about Alemany and his story here.
And I’ll talk about the “football” later, I promise.
The News
The bishops of India’s three Catholic Churches sui iuris have warned that harassment and even violence have become the new normal for the country’s Christians.Continued below.
