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CHAPTER 2
Alemany and Vilarrasa: Uneasy Partnership
Continued
Vilarrasa speaks of some Protestants present at the church services,
but "they do not make any disturbance, nor do they give the least sign of
scandal." Mutual respect reigns, at least among the laity, who uphold the spirit of
liberty. The clergy and the media are another matter. "All the agitation here against
religion is caused by the gazettes, sermons and disputes..." Vilarrasa, however,
relates an incident heard or read by him that would seem, to say the least, exceptional
(!):
A few days ago in Philadelphia two men were mocking the Catholic
religion and in particular the Sacrament of Penance. They used to go to a tavern and there
mimic the confessional. One of the two kneeling in the act of confessing when suddenly he
went crazy and ran through the streets like a wild beast and dropped dead. They were
carrying his body to the grave in a wagon when on passing the location of a church that
was burnt last year, the axle of solid iron broke and the corpse fell to the ground. This
happening caused much terror. The gazettes, though Protestant, published it.
Two weeks after his arrival at St, Joseph's, Vilarrasa was "again
in the novitiate" having been put in charge of eight novices. He did not remain long
as novice master, however, for before the end of the year 1845 Fr. Joseph T. Jarboe
resigned as prior of St. Joseph's and Vilarrasa was chosen to take his place.
As prior, Vilarrasa attended the provincial chapter held at St. Rose,
Kentucky, in the fall of 1847.[4] At the chapter Alemany
was chosen to be master of novices at St. Rose. Accordingly, at the end of November he
left Memphis, Tennessee, where he had been laboring and came to St. Rose to take up his
new position. However, unexpected things began to happen which soon ended his tenure as
novice master. At this same chapter a deadlock had been reached with regard to the
election of a prior provincial. Fr. George Wilson, writing to the newly elected Master
General, Vincent Ajello, reported from the chapter that the friars, not being able to
elect a provincial, had agreed to send to the Generalate a list of those they considered
eligible for the office. First on the list was Fr. Charles Bowling, who had received the
highest number of votes. Second and third respectively were Frs. Alemany and Cubero. Fr.
Wilson adds an emphatic note of his own: "I earnestly beg of you... not to name
Father Bowling... but to name either Father Alemany or Father Cubero, who are both men
animated with great zeal for the good of the Order and will be tempted by nothing that is
not for its best interest..." Fr. Pozzo, who was one of Alemany's companions on the
voyage from Europe to the new world, and who had returned to Italy after serving six years
in America, added his recommendation. He wrote to the Master General from Turin that if
Fr. Alemany were appointed provincial, he would like to return to America. He further
testified that he knew of seven other friars who would like to join him in order to serve
under Alemany.
Evidently Alemany had, in a relatively short time, risen high in the
estimation of his brethren. However, some demurred, and among the dissenters Vilarrasa was
the most vocal. He wrote his own letter to the Master General, claiming to voice the mind
of almost the whole of the province. He wrote that the province was "unanimous"
in the opinion that were either Thomas Grace (Alemany's pastor at St. Peter's in Memphis)
or Alemany named, "it will be the ruin of the province." For six years,
Vilarrasa continued, Alemany had lived outside his convent on the missions until his
recent assignment to St. Rose as confessor of nuns and master of novices. "In these
last eight months," continues the indictment, "he has shown he has lost all the
spirit of and desire for regularity and has clearly indicated that, if he becomes
Provincial, he will change everything." Vilarrasa also added that he did not think
that Alemany was an effective confessor of nuns either! He reminded the Master General
that two convents of the province had already written to Rome against the appointment of
either Alemany or Grace. He concluded by asking and answering a question surely in the
Master General's mind:
"Why, then, was Alemany recommended in the first place? Because of
what was known of him before he went on the missions! No one could then realize that his
attitude towards regular life had so changed. Today, he would not receive one
vote..."
To understand this last claim of Vilarrasa, namely that
"today" Alemany would not receive a single vote, we must remember the slowness
of the mails at this time and keep in mind the chronology of the letters and notations
involved. Fr. Wilson wrote his letter to the Master General requesting Alemany or Cubero
October 22, 1847. A notation of the appointment of Alemany as Provincial found in the
Dominican Archives in Rome is dated May 2, 1848, almost seven months later. Five months
further down the line, on September 16, 1848, confirmation of this appointment appears in
the register of the prior provincial of the American Province. All told almost a year had
passed between Wilson's letter and the arrival of Alemany's confirmation. Vilarrasa's
letter is dated July 5, 1848. We may imagine, then, that Vilarrasa may have been a
supporter of Alemany initially, i.e. in October or November of 1847 when Alemany had begun
his service as novice master. But by the summer of the following year, eight or nine
months later, he may well have come to be disappointed in Alemany's religious observance
and therefore thought him harmful for the province. So he expressly says in his letter:
"In these last eight months" Alemany's conduct as a religious has been found
wanting. Therefore he should not be appointed provincial.
One wonders if Vilarrasa made his criticisms known to Alemany directly.
We may also wonder if Alemany knew of this particular letter or ever learned of it.
Certainly there appears to have been no animosity on the part of Alemany toward Vilarrasa.
Quite the contrary, the fact that Vilarrasa was Alemany's choice as companion in
establishing the Western Dominican Province argues friendship and trust on the part of
Alemany rather than hostility. As for Vilarrasa's feelings, all along he seems to have had
some misgivings about Alemany, but he also admired him, as religious, missionary, and
bishop, and through many years in California cooperated with him, though sometimes, as we
shall see, reluctantly. We should not, perhaps, make too much of Vilarrasa's letter and
others that were soon to follow. It was written at a time of division within the province,
as evidenced by the fact that its members were stalemated over who should lead them. At
such times vision is limited, tempers rise and fears are exaggerated. Once the final
decision is made, however, all must accept the fait accompli and so settle
down to the work that must go on no matter who is in charge. So Vilarrasa obviously came
to respect Alemany anew, otherwise he would never have ventured to be his partner in such
a long and final journey to found the new province. And there is no indication whatsoever
that Alemany had anything but the greatest respect for Vilarrasa as a Dominican confrere.
Once the politics were over, their cooperative work in the Lord could be resumed.
However, the politics were not completely laid to rest. One year into
his provincialate Alemany received a written formal warning, dated September 18, 1849,
from three of the brethren -- Vilarrasa not among them this time -- that the intermediate
chapter required by the then current Dominican Constitutions must be held. At this chapter
the brethren would vote on his retention or dismissal as provincial. These same three
friars wrote another letter to Alemany ten days later informing him that in virtue of
authority granted them in the General Chapters of 1629 and 1647 they had taken it upon
themselves to convoke the chapter. It was "to meet on the Saturday before the third
Sunday of October." Alemany was not pleased. He displayed his Catalan temper and
stubbornness when he replied, October 6, 1849, that he now used "the authority,
granted me by the Master General, to cancel the Intermediate Chapter proposed by you and
transfer it to the first Sunday after Epiphany, 1850." If dates were to be set it
would be of his choosing. And he added a final rumble of thunder: "Beware to
oppose your private judgment to the authority of your Superior!"
But the battle continued, now with Vilarrasa visibly back in the fray.
On October 23, 1849, a report went off to Rome signed by Fr. Montgomery, the former
provincial, Fr. Wilson, who had originally petitioned for Alemany as provincial, Fr.
Pozzo, who, it will be recalled, had offered to return to the States should Alemany be
made provincial, and Fr. Vilarrasa. The report listed six conditions that Alemany must
fulfill if he were to continue in office, the most revealing, perhaps, being: "He
should admit that, as provincial, he does not enjoy such inspiration from the Holy Ghost
as to make him infallible." It seems the cosigners had little hope that Alemany would
comply, for they end the letter with a recommendation that he be removed from office. Less
than a week later another letter, in the distinctive handwriting of Fr. Vilarrasa, and
signed by several of the fathers, was sent to Rome accusing Alemany of failing to observe
the Constitutions as regards the observances of the common life, and asking for his
suspension from office because of his failure to convoke the intermediate chapter.
However, all complaints, whatever their justice, had no effect in Rome.
Fr. Vincent Ajello, the Master General who had appointed Alemany, seems to have had
implicit faith in him, or a lack of faith in his opposition. He took no action that is on
record. What is on record, however, is a notation in the Master General's Register
for July 21, 1851, with reference to the charges leveled against Alemany. It reads:
"...all of these matters are declared null and void by the Master General." Fr.
Victor O'Daniel, O.P. suggests that although Alemany had succumbed to the pressure to hold
the intermediate chapter, when ordained Bishop in Rome he had Fr. Gigli, Vicar General of
the Order, annul its Acts. Alemany, says O'Daniel, "was not above all
retaliation." Such conduct by him "was all the more uncalled for because they
[the Acts] contained nothing but what was most reasonable..."[5]
Throughout this conflict, accusations and counter-accusations had
nothing to do with the personal morals or characters of those involved. All were good and
well-intentioned men and, apparently, regarded as such by each other. Perhaps each was too
serious about his particular ideals, ideas, and work, and not sympathetic enough with
those of the others. Alemany, for instance, though a good and conscientious religious, was
much more in tune with the active ministry and so might well have been viewed as
neglecting, on its behalf, religious observance. On the other hand, Vilarrasa, though
certainly apostolic, was more of a contemplative, accentuating the value and need of
prayer, study, community living and traditional religious and monastic life. Clash here
between the restless energetic missionary and the more retiring prayerful contemplative
would seem to have been inevitable. Again, Alemany, as demonstrated throughout his
religious life, believed in absolute obedience to one's superiors; he himself practiced
such obedience toward his superiors and so expected the same obedience paid to him when he
was in authority. Others, however, appear to have been of a more democratic bent. Thus
those like Wilson and Pozzo who related well with Alemany when they were all subjects
together may well have been unpleasantly surprised when they found Alemany their superior,
no longer working with but over them, demanding their loyalty and service.
But there was much more to Alemany's brief tenure as provincial than
clash and confrontation with the brethren. There is evidence enough demonstrating that he
was a listener as well as talker, one who looked for leadership from below as well as
valuing it from above. Within six months of his provincialate, as we have seen, Fr. Peter
Anderson had enough liking for and trust in Alemany to come to him with his desire to
bring the Order to the western United States. The request was granted, apparently with
enthusiasm. Also early in his provincialate another of the friars spoke to him of his
difficulties. There is nothing either authoritarian or lax in Alemany's response, but
rather trust in internal grace and initiative:
... In regard to the vow of poverty, do as Fr. General Ancarani told me
to do himself when in Nashville -- i.e. to act according to the direction of the
confessor. In everything else, allow me to advise you to go on with prudence, edifying all
with good example, kind and charitable to all, principally to the poor to the sick and to
the children -- instructing these with all patience and perseverance for, if the children
be neglected, religion must go down...
Alemany, as provincial, was also responsible for the reconciliation of
Fr. Samuel Mazzuchelli, missionary par excellence, with St. Joseph's province, and thereby
healing wounds within the province itself. Mazzuchelli in order the better to fulfill his
missionary aspirations had broken from St. Joseph's and established his own (short-lived)
province of St. Charles in the "mid-west." His ambition was to set up a
novitiate and college for the training of Dominicans who would not be bound by the
monastic severities of the Order but would be free to spend their days, and nights if need
be, in the pressing missionary demands of a new and pagan country. He received his
permissions not just from the Master General but the Pope himself. The opposition at home,
however, was formidable. Bitterness grew between him (and his few followers) and St.
Joseph's and within St. Joseph's between his supporters and those of more traditional
bent. Alemany handled the situation delicately and with genuine sympathy for this
missionary after his own thinking and heart, and in his brief tenure as provincial made of
Mazzuchelli an associate of St. Joseph's once again, though one who still maintained his
radical independence in thought and activity.[6]
Perhaps the clearest testimony as to Alemany's character and passion
for religion, and certainly the single most significant positive event in his
provincialate, for himself, Order, and Church in the United States, was his presence, as
ordinary of his province, at the Seventh Provincial Council of Bishops in Baltimore in
1849. Here the U.S. bishops came to know him, to recognize and remember his talents,
energy, and missionary zeal. The bishops had long been considering the grave problems of
the Church in the west, particularly those of The Californias. As we have seen, the
missions of both Upper and Lower California had, by the Mexican law of secularization,
been taken from the care of the religious and placed in the hands of the secular clergy,
which because of the scarcity of that clergy and other factors, had led to the gradual
abandonment and disintegration of the missions and the confiscation of religious
properties by the Mexican government. Although with the annexation by the U.S. of Upper
California at the conclusion of the War with Mexico, February 2, 1848, the properties of
the northern missions no longer belonged to Mexico and had been restored to the Church,
they lay dormant and a prey to squatters. Further, Protestants were now in the land,
threatening to put an end to the Catholic faith among the Indians and Spaniards, and
infect other Catholics who were populating the territory at a rapid rate. Add to all this
the sorry fact that since the death in 1846 of the Franciscan Bishop of both Californias,
Francisco Garcia Diego y Moreno, the huge diocese lacked ecclesiastical leadership.
Letters and petitions from people on the scene addressed to the eastern
bishops, particularly to Archbishop Samuel Eccleston of Baltimore, described the sad
situation. Joseph Warren Revere, nephew of the famous Paul Revere and a concerned
Catholic, wrote of his observations of the Church in California while on naval duty there
in the 1840s. In a letter addressed to Eccleston he argued that due to the expanding
California population "it will become more necessary than ever to send to the country
many enlightened and liberal priests and to appoint a bishop, or even two, at the earliest
predictable moment. Those Fathers and Sisters whose vocation it is to teach youth should
be sent immediately." He noted that even though the majority of native Californians
were Catholic there was not now "one single Catholic clergyman of education,
intelligence or superior virtue." There were only a few scattered Mexican priests,
"none professing the respect of the population, apart from their clerical character,
for reasons, which notorious as they were in the country, I should hesitate to name."
He mentions that in Sonoma, with a population of 2,000, Mass had been offered only twice
in six months. Revere concludes: "Anyone of education and personal dignity of
character, appearing as priest of the Roman Catholic Church, no matter what his country or
his language, would be warmly received."
Colonel Jonathan Stevenson, the American Commandant of the Southern
Military District of California, wrote to Eccleston from Los Angeles on May 1, 1848.
Though himself a non-Catholic, he notes with sincere concern that since the abandonment of
the Franciscan missions many priests had died and "of the few that remain, some are
aged, sick and infirm and others, by a careless and dissolute life, have forfeited the
respect of their parishioners." He deemed it "an act of humanity and an
imperative duty to use my best efforts to rescue these people [Californians] from their
present ignorance and degradation which must follow if no relief be afforded them, and I
know of no channel through which relief can flow except it be through the ministers of
that faith they have been taught to venerate and live by and in which they hope to
die..." In early 1848 Edward H. Harrison, a Catholic employee of the Quartermasters
Department in California, wrote to a friend in Baltimore and asked him to relate his
letter to Archbishop Eccleston. He had found only about 200 Catholics in San Francisco and
not an English-speaking priest -- their most pressing need -- among them. Mission Dolores,
he testified, besides being an inconvenient three miles from the town itself, was
completely inadequate for worship, and the cleric in charge commanded little or no respect
from either foreigners or native Californians. The mission structures, formerly beautiful,
were now a mass of ruins and "beautiful plains, once under cultivation, have now
become a barren waste and the Indian, who looked up to his padre with reverence, has again
returned to his native wilds and has become the terror of the Californias." In
November of 1848 another Navy man, Frederick Chatard, also wrote to Eccleston his concerns
about the California Church. San Francisco morals were of the worst, he lamented, but what
could you expect "when the Golden Calf alone is worshipped." A good priest, he
insisted, would be most welcome, for at the present time there were only thirteen priests
in all of Upper California, some of whom were "very old, others very ignorant and
others again, I am sorry to say, but it is true, very bad; none of them, I expect,
suitable for the present population emigrating to Upper California." Chatard also
speaks of the squatters -- emigrants who cared nothing for Church rights or the rights of
private property, and he mentions specifically a Mexican Alcalde of Monterey who, against
the remonstrances of the local priest, sold Church property adjacent to the mission.
>>>
Partial Endnotes
Click Endnote Number to Resume Reading
[4] Cf. R. Coffey, The American
Dominicans..., pp. 220-270, for the political situation in St. Joseph's Province at
the time of the 1847 chapter and the conflicts centered around Alemany's appointment as
provincial. (Click Endnote Number to Resume Reading)
[5] O'Daniel, p. 170
[6] For Mazzuchelli, cf. Coffey, The
American Dominicans..., passim, esp. pp. 170-72, 228-36, 250-51, 393-95.
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