Jean-Baptiste Lamy | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Santa Fe | |
 | |
| Church | Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi |
| Archdiocese | Santa Fe |
| In office | July 29, 1853 – July 19, 1885 |
| Successor | Jean-Baptiste Salpointe |
| Other posts | Vicar Apostolic of New Mexico (1850–1853) Bishop of Santa Fe (1853–1855) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1814-10-11)October 11, 1814 Lempdes,Puy-de-Dôme, France |
| Died | February 13, 1888(1888-02-13) (aged 73) Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States |
| Signature | .png) |
Ordination history of Jean-Baptiste Lamy | |||||||||||||||
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Jean-Baptiste Lamy (French pronunciation:[ʒɑ̃batistlami]; October 11, 1814 – February 13, 1888), was a French-AmericanRoman Catholicprelate who served as the firstArchbishop of Santa Fe,New Mexico.Willa Cather's novelDeath Comes for the Archbishop is based on his life and career (albeit renamed to "Jean-Marie Latour" forartistic license), as isPaul Horgan's nonfiction workLamy of Santa Fe. He sometimesanglicised his name toJohn Baptist Lamy.
Lamy was born inLempdes, Puy-de-Dôme, in theAuvergne region of France, 10 km east of the main regional city ofClermont-Ferrand. He completed hisclassical studies in theminor seminary atClermont andtheological coursework in the Major seminary atMontferrand, where he was trained by the Sulpician Fathers (Society of Saint-Sulpice).
He wasordained a priest on December 22, 1838.[1] After a few months as an assistant priest in his nativediocese, in 1839 Lamy asked for and obtained permission to answer the call formissionaries of BishopJohn Baptist Purcell, ofCincinnati, Ohio. From 1839 to 1847 he served as the primary missionary priest forDanville inKnox County, Ohio, establishing that town's first Catholic church as well as that ofMount Vernon, Ohio.[2]
While serving as a missionary in North America, serving at several missions in Ohio andKentucky, on July 23, 1850, he was notified thatPope Pius IX was appointing him as bishop of the recently createdApostolic Vicariate ofNew Mexico, created as a result of the outcome of theMexican American War, which created a need for the American Catholic Church to replace prelates and leadership previously provided by the Church in Mexico. At the same time, he was appointedTitular Bishop ofAgathonice. He wasconsecrated a bishop on November 24, 1850, by ArchbishopMartin Spalding ofLouisville; BishopsJacques-Maurice De Saint Palais ofVincennes andLouis Amadeus Rappe ofCleveland served as co-consecrators.[1]
After an arduous journey on primitive transportation, Lamy reachedSanta Fe in the summer of 1851.[3] As such, Lamy was joining a long list of French people who explored, traded and settled in New Mexico since the 16th century; specifically, French priests dominated New Mexico's Catholic Church from 1841 to 1914.[4]
Lamy entered Santa Fe on 9 August 1851, and was welcomed by the Governor of the territory,James S. Calhoun, and many other citizens. However, Juan Felipe Ortiz, a Spanish priest who was responsible for administration of the Catholic Church in New Mexico, told Lamy that he and the local clergy did not recognize his authority and would remain loyal to BishopJosé Antonio Laureano de Zubiría of theDiocese of Durango, Mexico, who had visited Santa Fe just a few months before.[5] Lamy wrote to Zubiría asking him to explain the change of responsibility to the New Mexico priests. When his request was unanswered, he went in person to Durango to meet with Zubiría, showing him the papal document that appointed Lamy. In light of this, Zubiría had to agree to inform the priests of the change.[6]
On July 23, 1853, the Vicariate of New Mexico was raised to theDiocese of Santa Fe, and Lamy was appointed its first bishop.[1] His early efforts as bishop were directed to reforming the New Mexico church, the building of more churches in the territory, the creation of new parishes, and the establishment of schools. He ended the practice ofconcubinage widely practiced by the local priests and he suppressedreligious brotherhood societies within individual communities. He participated in theFirst Vatican Council from 1869 to 1870.[1]Joseph Projectus Machebeuf served as his vicar-general.[7]Lamy was responsible for the construction of theCathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi (commonly known as St. Francis Cathedral) andLoretto Chapel. Both churches were built in French styles familiar to Lamy — the cathedral isRomanesque Revival, while the chapel isNeo-Gothic. On February 12, 1875, the Diocese of Santa Fe was elevated to anarchdiocese with Lamy as its first archbishop. On May 1, 1885, Lamy consecratedPeter Bourgade as bishop; Bourgade would later become the fourth Archbishop of Santa Fe.[1]
Lamy ended his tenure as bishop when he resigned in 1885. He was appointedTitular Archbishop ofCyzicus later that year.[1]
He died ofpneumonia in 1888 and is buried under thesanctuary floor of thebasilica. A bronze statue, dedicated in 1915, stands in his memory outside the front entrance of the Basilica,[8] and the village ofLamy, New Mexico,[9] was named after him near the source[where?] of thesandstone for the cathedral.
Lamy was succeeded as Archbishop of Santa Fe byJean-Baptiste Salpointe, also fromPuy-de-Dôme, France.
TheArchbishop Lamy's Chapel in Santa Fe, built in 1874, survives and is listed on the U.S.National Register of Historic Places.
Willa Cather's novelDeath Comes for the Archbishop fictionalizes his life, missionary journeys, and erection of the Santa Fe cathedral.
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Vicariate Created | Vicariate Apostolic of New Mexico 1850–1853 | Succeeded by Vicariate Changed to Diocese |
| Preceded by | Titular Bishop ofAgathonice 1850–1853 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Diocese Created | Archbishop of Santa Fe 1853–1885 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Titular Diocese Created | Titular Archbishop of Cyzicus 1885–1888 | Succeeded by |
