Pioneer Bishops of Colorado

This blog will discuss bishops that served in Colorado up to 1900.  For more information about Colorado, see my blog of February 20, 2017.

Spanish explorers likely came to Colorado as early as 1541, but it was not until 1706 that Juan de Ulibarri claimed the land for Spain.  A fur trader, James Purcell, was the first American to come to Colorado in 1803.  More American explorers and fur traders followed, but the first permanent settlement was not made until 1851 at San Luis.  The discovery of gold in 1858 led to increased settlement—several towns were established over the next three years, including Denver.  Eastern Colorado had become a part of the United States as a result of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, but it was not until 1848 that the Nation gained full control of Colorado.  Congress created the Territory of Colorado in 1861 and Colorado became the 38th State in 1876.

Part of Colorado came under the jurisdiction of the Vicariate Apostolic (a missionary diocese) of the Indian Territory East of the Rocky Mountains in 1850—a territory covering all or part of 8 future states—and the first Catholic church was built in Canejos in 1858.  Colorado was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Santa Fe in 1860 who that same year sent Fathers Joseph Machebeuf and John Raverdy to Denver.  Pope Pius IX established the Vicariate Apostolic of Colorado and Utah in 1868 and appointed Machebeuf as the Vicar Apostolic.  Colorado became the Vicariate Apostolic of Colorado two years later with Machebeuf remaining in charge.  Colorado’s population grew from 34,000 in 1860 to 412,000 in 1890 and the Church served many ethnic groups including Mexicans, Irish, Italians, Germans, and Slovaks.

Pope Leo XIII created the Diocese of Denver in 1887, consisting of the State of Colorado, and appointed Machebeuf as the first Bishop.  Denver was Colorado’s capital and largest city with a population of about 100,000.  By 1940, Colorado’s population had grown to 1.1 million.  Pope Pius XII created the Province of Denver the following year, thus raising Denver to an Archdiocese, and also created the Diocese of Pueblo for the Catholics in the southern half of the State.  Pueblo was then Colorado’s second largest city.  By 1980, Colorado’s population had risen to 2.9 million and Pope John Paul II created the Diocese of Colorado Springs in 1983. 

Joseph Projectus Machebeuf was born in France in 1812 and ordained a priest there in 1836.  At the invitation of the Bishop Purcell of Cincinnati, Machebeuf came to Ohio in 1839 and established and served at parishes in northern Ohio.  At the request of his friend, Bishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy, of Santa Fe, Machebeuf moved to New Mexico in 1851.  There he served in Albuquerque and Santa Fe before in 1860 he was sent by Lamy to minister to the few Catholics who then lived in Colorado and Utah.  He traveled throughout these territories in a covered wagon which served as both chapel and home.  (At one point, he was thrown from his carriage and was lame for the rest of his life.)  He was appointed first bishop of the Vicariate Apostolic (a missionary diocese) of Colorado and Utah in 1868.  He became Vicar Apostolic of Colorado in 1870 (after Utah was split off) and he was named the first Bishop of Denver in 1887.

Machebeuf built St. Mary’s Church in Denver in 1860—the first Catholic church in the town—and he went on to build over 100 churches and chapels.  He increased the number of priests from 3 in 1860 to 64 in 1889 and invited religious orders to establish schools.  He also invited the Jesuits to take charge of many of the parishes in southern Colorado in 1871.  Machebeuf established St. Vincent Orphanage, Sacred Heart College (now Regis University), St. Joseph Hospital in Denver and 10 other hospitals.  He died in 1889 and was known as the Apostle of Colorado.  His life was the basis for the character of Joseph Vaillant in Willa Cather’s 1927 novel Death Comes for the Archbishop, which was primarily about Lamy’s life.

Nicholas C. Matz was born in France in 1850 and attended seminary there before coming with his family to Cincinnati in 1868.  He briefly attended seminary in Cincinnati before going to Colorado in 1869.  He was ordained a priest in 1874 for the Apostolic Vicariate of Colorado and Utah.  He served at parishes in Denver and in Georgetown, Colorado, until 1887 when he was named coadjutor bishop of Denver.  Matz became Bishop of Denver upon the death of Bishop Machebeuf in 1889.

The Catholic population increased from 40,000 to 110,000 under Bishop Matz and he increased the number of parishes from 49 to 88.  These new Catholics were not only Irish and Spanish, but Italian, German, and Polish as well, and Bishop Matz opened several ethnic parishes to serve them.  He also welcomed St. Frances Xavier Cabrini who opened a school at an Italian parish, an orphanage, and what is now known as the Mother Cabrini Shrine in Golden.  He also built St. Thomas Seminary and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and started The Denver Catholic Register.  He convened the first diocesan synod in 1890.  He opposed the formation of a miner's union and faced opposition from some of his priests for the debt incurred for his building program.  He died in 1917 following a period of poor health, including strokes and a nervous breakdown.