Francisco García Diego y Moreno, OFM, (17 September 1785 – 30 April 1846) was the first

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

of the Diocese of the Californias.

Early episcopal appointments

In 1801, he received the

habit A habit (or wont as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.

of Francis at the missionary

College of Guadalupe de Zacatecas The College of Guadalupe de Zacatecas was a Roman Catholic Franciscan missionary college, or seminary (''Colegio Apostolico''), founded in Guadalupe, Zacatecas (Mexico) by the Order of Friars Minor between 1703 and 1707. The institution was establi ...

, made his vows the following year and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

at Monterrey, Nuevo León, 14 Nov., 1808. For the next twenty years Father Diego was mainly occupied in preaching missions, and during this period compiled a small work, ''Metodo de Misionar'', or "Method for Giving Missions". From 1816 to 1819 he was

master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

novices A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...

, in 1822 he was made ''discretos'', and in February 1832, guardian or superior of the missionary college.

Governmental influence

The Mexican government, which had resolved to expel all Spanish friars from Alta California, in April 1832, requested that the college send eleven native Mexican Franciscans members to California. Father Diego went as the

commissary A commissary is a government official charged with oversight or an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop. In many countries, the term is used as an administrative or police title. It often c ...

. They reached Cabo San Lucas in September 1832, and

Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bot ...

, the capital, in February 1833. The Guadalupan friars took charge of the missions from

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

to Sonoma. On 6 March, Father Diego chose

Mission Santa Clara Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

for his field of labor.Clarke, Richard Henry. "Rt. Rev. Francis Garcia Diego y Moreno, D.D. OFM", ''Lives of the Deceased Bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States'', Volume 2, P. O'Shea, 1872, pp. 157 et seq.
/ref>

Creation of diocese

He remained here until the end of 1835, when he visited

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

to induce the government to have a bishop appointed, in order to preserve the Church in California. On 19 Sept., 1836, the Mexican government decided to petition the pope to create California a

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

and congress at the same time decreed to pay the new bishop an annual salary of $6,000 until the diocese should have a sufficient income. Of the three candidates proposed by the metropolitan chapter on 22 June 1839, the Mexican government on 6 April 1840, recommended Father Francisco Garcia Diego. On 27 April

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He ...

withdrew California from the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Sonora, and at the same time appointed Father Diego first Bishop of Upper and Lower California with the see at

Mission San Diego de Alcalá Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá ( es, Misión San Diego de Alcalá) was the second Franciscan founded mission in The Californias (after San Fernando de Velicata), a province of New Spain. Located in present-day San Diego, California, it ...

Consecration as first diocesan bishop

Diego was consecrated at the Franciscan church of

Guadalupe, Zacatecas Guadalupe is the third-largest city in the state of Zacatecas in Mexico. It lies adjacent to the east side of the city of Zacatecas and is a component of the Zacatecas-Guadalupe metropolitan area. The town had a 2018 census population of 215,000 ...

, on 4 October 1840, and on 11 December 1841, landed at

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

. Owing to the poverty and insignificance of the place, he removed his residence ''DIOCESE OF MONTEREY AND LOS ANGELES (MONTEREYENSIS ET ANGELORUM)'' Retrieved: 2010-03-17.
/ref> to

Mission Santa Barbara Mission Santa Barbara ( es, link=no, Misión de Santa Bárbara) is a Spanish mission in Santa Barbara, California. Often referred to as the ‘Queen of the Missions,’ it was founded by Padre Fermín Lasuén for the Franciscan order on December ...

on 11 January 1842. When he arrived, there were only seventeen

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

Fathers, mostly aged and infirm, in charge of the twenty-one secularized

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

missions and six Spanish towns. The bishop began with great plans and a desire to promote the welfare of the church in his territory.

Governmental interference

The Mexican government had encouraged him by giving him a fixed salary and entrusted to him the management of the Pious Fund of the Californias. But, in February 1842, President Santa Anna confiscated the Fund. The bishop received no aid and he was obliged to depend upon the contributions from the few white settlers in the territory. Many of them refused to pay the

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

s which he had found it necessary to impose.

Achievements

Nevertheless, Diego opened the first

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

on the Pacific coast at the former Mission Santa Inés, about fifteen miles from the ocean and forty-five miles from Santa Barbara. He also made a first visitation of all the churches in the diocese, and to some places even went a second time. Worn out by hardships and disheartened at the deplorable conditions which he could not remedy, Bishop Diego died, and was buried in the old

. Bishop García Diego High School in Santa Barbara is named after him.[''About Bishop García Diego High School,History'' Retrieved: 2010-03-17.

References

External links

Diocese of Monterey
Retrieved: 2010-03-17.
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diego Y Moreno, F Roman Catholic missionaries in Mexico Mexican Friars Minor Priests of the Spanish missions in California 1785 births 1846 deaths 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Mexico People from Jalisco Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey in California Mexican Roman Catholic missionaries Spanish Roman Catholic missionaries Spanish Friars Minor Franciscan bishops