Pioneer Bishops of Arizona

This blog will discuss bishops that served in Arizona up to 1900.  For more information about Arizona, see my blog of September 3, 2018.

Father John Salpointe came to Tucson in 1866 and two years later, Pope Pius IX appointed him to be the first Vicar Apostolic of Arizona.  At the time, there were parishes only in Tucson and Yuma.  Pope Leo XIII created the Diocese of Tucson in 1897 and in 1969, Pope Paul VI created the Diocese of Phoenix.

John B. Salpointe was born in France in 1825 and was ordained a priest there in 1851.  He came to the United States in 1860 and was assigned to the parish in Mora, New Mexico—a parish that covered 200 miles north to south.  As pastor, he brought in the Sisters of Loretto and the De La Salle Christian Brothers to establish schools.  In 1864, the Jesuits, who had been serving in Arizona, were recalled by their Order leaving Arizona without clergy.  Bishop Lamy of Santa Fe sent Salpointe to Arizona with two other priests in 1866.  Arizona had about 6,000 settlers as well as an indigenous Native-American population.  Salpointe built churches, schools, and hospitals.  Salpointe was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Arizona in 1868.

Bishop Salpointe was successful in meeting the needs of his young diocese, which then included Arizona, southern New Mexico, and El Paso County in Texas.  He recruited French priests to open churches and missions and invited orders of nuns to open schools.  He finished construction of St. Augustine Cathedral in Tucson.  Salpointe was named coadjutor Archbishop of Santa Fe in 1884 and became Archbishop the following year.  He retired in 1894 and returned to Tucson.  Salpointe wrote a history of the Church in the Southwest and died in 1898.

Peter Bourgade was born in France in 1845 and received his education there.  While still in seminary in France, Bourgade was recruited (along with five other seminarians) by Bishop Salpointe to come to the United States.  He arrived in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1869, and was ordained by Salpointe.  Bourgade first served as pastor in Yuma, New Mexico, but ill health forced him to return to France in 1873.  He returned in 1875 and served in parishes in Texas and New Mexico.  Bourgade was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Arizona in 1885 and became Bishop of Tucson in 1897 with the creation of the Diocese.   Bourgade served only two years before becoming Archbishop of Santa Fe in 1899.  During his brief tenure in Tucson, Bourgade established schools and an orphanage and also rebuilt the Cathedral.  His Diocese was reduced somewhat to include Arizona and four and a half counties in New Mexico.  Bourgade died from heart failure in 1908.