Pablo de Mugártegui, O.F.M., was a Basque

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

and

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

of the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

Order, and a missionary in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

during the 18th century. Along with Father

Gregório Amúrrio Father Gregório Amúrrio, O.F.M. was a Catholic priest of the Franciscan Order, and a Spanish missionary in California during the 18th century. A member of the Franciscan Province of Cantabria, Spain, he was one of twenty Franciscans who set out ...

, Mugártegui was a member of the Franciscan

Province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

of Cantabria before he joined the missionary

College of San Fernando de Mexico The College of San Fernando de México was a Roman Catholic Franciscan missionary college, or seminary (''Colegio Apostólico''), founded in Spanish colonial Mexico City by the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor on October 15, 1734. The institution w ...

When Father President

Junípero Serra Junípero Serra y Ferrer (; ; ca, Juníper Serra i Ferrer; November 24, 1713August 28, 1784) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Order , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size ...

returned to California from Mexico on March 13, 1777, he brought Mugártegui with him. However, due to illness, Mugártegui had to remain at the

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 w ...

for some six months to recuperate. From that point forward he divided his duties between the

Mission San Gabriel Arcángel Mission San Gabriel Arcángel ( es, Misión de San Gabriel Arcángel) is a Californian mission and historic landmark in San Gabriel, California. It was founded by Spaniards of the Franciscan order on "The Feast of the Birth of Mary," September ...

Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa ( es, Misión San Luis Obispo de Tolosa) is a Spanish mission founded September 1, 1772 by Father Junípero Serra in San Luis Obispo, California. Named after Saint Louis of Anjou, the bishop of Toulouse, the m ...

, and Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo until November 1776 when he was called to the newly founded

Mission San Juan Capistrano Mission San Juan Capistrano ( es, Misión San Juan Capistrano) is a Spanish mission in San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, California. Founded November 1, 1776 in colonial ''Las Californias'' by Spanish Catholic missionaries of the Franciscan O ...

. The friar performed his first

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

at the new site on December 25 of that year. Mugártegui had long been considered a worthy successor to then Father President

Fermín Lasuén Fermín or Fermin may refer to: * Fermin Fermin (also Firmin, from Latin ''Firminus''; Spanish ''Fermín'') was a legendary holy man and martyr, traditionally venerated as the co-patron saint of Navarre, Spain. His death may be associated with e ...

and to that end the Missionary College elected him Vice-President (with authority to administer

Confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

) in an emergency on August 16, 1786. Mugártegui continued in residence at Mission San Juan until November 13, 1789, at which time he retired to Mexico. By order of the Commissary General, Mugártegui presided at the Chapter of the College that had convened to elect a Guardian and Councillors on May 23, 1795.

References

*, pp. 213–214. 18th-century Spanish Roman Catholic priests Roman Catholic missionaries in New Spain Spanish Friars Minor Priests of the Spanish missions in California Spanish Roman Catholic missionaries Basque Roman Catholic priests 18th-century American Roman Catholic priests Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown {{US-reli-bio-stub