History: Jesuits in Oregon, Introduction ************************************************************************ ********************************************************************************* USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE: ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm ********************************************************************************* Transcribed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: W. David Samuelsen - April 2002 ************************************************************************ "Jesuits in Oregon" 1844-1959, Rev. Wilfred P. Schoenberg, S.J., published June 1959 by the The Oregon-Jesuit to commemorate the Centennial Year in Oregon. No copyright, not registered. Introduction In the ecclesiastical history of the United States, Jesuits have quite generally been first-corners. They were the first priests in New York, Maryland, and other eastern states. They were first in Michigan. Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois, and much of mid-America, the first to found missions in the Californias. They were the first in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and the larger part of Washington. One notable exception is Oregon. Diocesan Pioneers The diocesan clergy came to Oregon four years before DeSmet s first trip there and six years before any Jesuit foundation. The general development of Jesuit activity in Oregon has consistently followed this pattern. Jesuits were not so much pioneers in Oregon as "pinch hitters," called in by the Archbishops to fill emergency needs. Humanly speaking, it would be pleasant for a Jesuit to recall the history of the Columbia River the way he recalls the history of the Mississippi, another Marquette in the prow of a canoe, the first to arrive. In a way, a Jesuit is expected to be there; people express surprise because he was not. This, of course, is no reflection on many other orders in the Church, for these, too, have pioneered some of them long centuries before St. Ignatius Loyola founded his Jesuits. On reflection, it seems that the Jesuit role in Oregon has been more noble. Shedding the glory, he came late not too late and found the humbler task of carrying on with the developments a 1 r e a d y under way. He had been summoned to fill in gaps in the ranks when others were lacking. If this appears to be an inversion of what normally happens, it surely implies that often late-corners have had nobler tasks to perform and that more credit should be granted to those who followed in the Californias, Montana, Wyoming, etc. By the same standard, Jesuit history in Oregon is not less glorious because DeSmet and his confreres arrived late. The first Jesuit foundation in Oregon was made at the request of the highest ecclesiastical authority there, the Vicar General, Father Blanchet, to fill an already recognized need. Subsequently, Jesuits took over St. Andrew s Mission, Pendleton s St. Mary s Church, and all of Urnatilla County, St. Michael's Church in Portland, and many o t h e r s from the diocesan clergy. These missions and churches are still administered by members of the Jesuit Order. In the past, there have been many more which were taken over temporarily by Jesuit pastors then restored to the diocesan clergy when Jesuit assistance was no longer needed. In the following brief sketches of the history of Jesuit activity in these parishes, it will b.e observed that all of these temporary pastorships fall within a decade, 1905-16, precisely during the period in which Archbishop Christie governed the See of Oregon City, immediately following the establishment of the new Baker City Diocese (1903), and during the administration of Fr. George de ha Motte, S.J., when the Rocky Mountain Mission was evolving into a full-fledged Jesuit Province. Undoubtedly, the temperamental characteristics of these two men both very devout and zealous - the Archbishop s warm regard for the Society of Jesus, and Fr. de la Motte s deep personal friendship for the Archbishop, all greatly influenced developments along parish lines. Jesuits Sought Indians Other factors which were far more important entered into the issue; for example, the nature of the Church in Oregon. Its first Catholic mis sionaries came to Oregon primarily to serve whites. A distinguishing mark of the Oregon frontier was an early concentration of whites and a scarcity of Indian missions or reservation systems. Jesuits, on the other hand, were mostly concerned with Indians. They had been officially designated by the Second Council of Baltimore in 1835 to undertake the care of Indians in the United States, and their men were recruited from Europe explicitly for this purpose. Fr. DeSmet readily fell in with Fr. Blanchet s plan for an Oregon Jesuit Mission because it did involve Indians, those in Oregon and, indirectly, those of the upper Columbia who would be attended by priests supplied from Oregon. In view of these circumstances, it is not one bit surprising that Jesuits in early Oregon were scarce as Indian missions and that, as the golden era of the missions faded away in the Pacific Northwest, they were free in limited numbers to assist the diocesan clergy in all northwest dioceses. Population Grows Another interesting feature of Oregon demography which helped to place Jesuits in the role of "pinch hitters" was the growth of the Archdiocese. From 1900 to 1910, Oregon s total population increased from 413,536 to 672,765, an increase of approximately 62 percent. The Catholic population during the same period increased from about 40,000 for the whole state to about 60,000 for the Oregon City Archdiocese and 6,400 for the Baker City Diocese, an increment of approximately 66 percent. In other words, with so great an increase of the Catholic population to cope with (4 percent higher than even the state s very heavy increase) the Archbishop was extremely hard pressed for priests to supply his growing needs. After a period of adjustment, he was better able to provide his own priests, and Jesuits withdrew to concentrate on educational work, though they retained some of the parishes committed to them. These then are the circumstances which determined the course of history for Jesuits in Oregon. If in the past it has appeared to be aimless or intermittent unlike the history of the Society of Jesus in other states it has, nevertheless, been indispensable to the Church and greatly useful to the commonwealth. The 164 Jesuits presently resident in Oregon give ample reason to believe that the Order s usefulness will not diminish.