The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1895-05-22
THE CATHOLICISM SAN DIEGO.

st. Patricis Church.
'It is a mistake to suppose that the
people here, out on the shore of the Pa
cifc. are irreligiOus," writes John Allyn
from San Diego, May s, 1895. John may
have heard such a statement made,
namely that the people out there are
irreligious, and no doubt did hear 1t, for
he undertakes in his letter headed
Churches in San Diego" to prove the
falsity of such statement. So far, John'
so good. Your zeal is certainly COM
mendable. However, John, it seems to
me your zeal, if it possess a true and
honest ring to it, should have prompted
you to investigate little more before
undertaking to create bit of history.
Had you taken the trouble to call upon
Rev. Anthony D. Uback, catholic rector
of the 'church of the patronage CT st.
Joseph" ;" he would gladly have given you
some information as to the present status
of cathOlicity out ION the shore OF the
Pacific" Since however you have neg
lected to do SO, permit me to cnlight9n
you little on the history of cathOlicity
in that section; and then you will be
better able to give an estimate OF the
religious belief of the people in that Sec
tiOn.
But first of all, John, first and fore
most bear this in mind, thatw when estim-
ating the religious belief of any people,
it is necessary to take into consideration
every element composing that pOpula-
tiOn. "KnOw the truth, John, and the
truth" will make you free and at the
same time will render you more capable
of accurately discussing such questions.
To begin then John, 'the catholic mis-
sionary trayersed the soil of California
two and half centuries before the greedy
gold hunter directed his steps towards
it," So says J. OKane Murray in his
history of the catholic church in the
United States. In 1902 Father PicOla, a
Jesuit missionary, wrote to the govern
ment OF Mexico, that valuable mines
might be located in the country in QueS-
ti0n. In 1869 the renowned Father
Juniper Sierra, all Italian-Franciscan
priest, reached the port OF the present
city of San Diego, and there established
his first mission. IN I'LL the lonely val
leys of Monterey resOunded with catholic
hymns and anthems sung by catholic
Indians and catholic priests. Thus
eathOlicity was the pioneer mark we'll,
John, the word 'piOneer'') in the Pacific
states, as it was in those bordering on
the Atlantic, on the gulf Of Mexico, on
the great lakes, and on the Mississippi"
And yet Notwithstanding all this. We
meet everyday with those Ioud-mouthed,
shallOw-brained members of the A. P. A.
and Irish-0range Societies, who while
bending and crawling to foreign pOten-
tate, have the effr0ntery to rise up and
ask intelligent, patriotic and lawabiding
catholic citizens what right they have on
the free soil of America. These wOuld-be
called patriots! Eternal shame be on
them! These are the men that are pOis
Oning the well-springs of patriotism il
this country, just as they would poison
every honest catholic, openly if they
dared. These are the men that wOult
burn churches, openly if they dared.
Pardon this little digressiOn, John
and will proceed with my bit of history
still quoting from j. 0Kane Murray
"At the very time when the fathers Of
the republic were drafting the declara
tiOn of independence, the humble and
sanity Juniper Sierra was founding the
great city of SanFranciscO. On the 9th
Of June, 1776, says western writer, San
Francisco became known in history
Father Juniper Sierra, whose name and
deeds in California have secured the
prOudest niche in its history, whose mon.
ument should stand in the FIRST place in
our public square as testimonial of re-
spect, landed at this place accompanied
by few settlers from Sonora. San Fran
cisco has at least this to boast Of-tha'
the first building erected within it wa.
dedicated to Gods worship under the pat
rOnage of st. Frances. The venerabl,
Sierra died in 1884" 1t would take tOC
long, dear John, to trace the progress o
cathOlicity in those parts from 1884 t
1895. You can rest assured however tina
during all that period the catholics con
stituted no small per cent. of the pOpula
tiOn.
And so | shall content myself will
giving you an idea of the present statu,
of cathOlicity in your section, ''out on thu
shore of the Pacific" 1t would be wei
if you were to insert in one corner Of
your memory the statistics am about tt
give, since they might be of some service
to you in showing that at least gOOdly
number of people "Out on the shore OI
the Pacific" are not irreligiOus.
Besides the archdiocese of San Fran.
cisco created in 1853, there is the diocese
Of Monterey established In 1850, together
with that Of Sacramento established in
1886. According to Sadler's directory Of
1894, the archdiocese of San Francisco
had population 100000 with sixty-fvt
churches NOT inclndinn fnrtu-ninh1