Peter Bourgade (October 17, 1845 – May 17, 1908) was a French-born American prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He served as Bishop of Tucson (1885–1899) and

Archbishop of Santa Fe The Archdiocese of Santa Fe ( la, Archidioecesis Sanctae Fidei in America Septentrionali, link=no, es, Arquidiócesis de Santa Fe, link=no) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the southwestern region of the United States in ...

(1899–1908).

Biography

Early life and priesthood

Bourgade was born on October 17, 1845, in Vollore-Ville,

Puy-de-Dôme Puy-de-Dôme (; oc, label=Auvergnat, lo Puèi de Doma or ''lo Puèi Domat'') is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the centre of France. In 2019, it had a population of 662,152.Brothers of the Christian Schools french: Frères des Écoles Chrétiennes , image = Signum Fidei.jpg , image_size = 175px , caption = , abbreviation = FSC , nickname = Lasallians , named_after = , formation ...

and completed his classical studies at the Jesuit college of

Billom Billom (; Auvergnat: ''Bilhom'') is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in central France. Population Notable natives Billom was the birthplace of the philosopher Georges Bataille. It was also the bir ...

. He studied for the priesthood at Saint-Sulpice Seminary, receiving his

minor orders Minor orders are ranks of church ministry. In the Catholic Church, the predominating Latin Church formerly distinguished between the major orders —priest (including bishop), deacon and subdeacon—and four minor orders—acolyte, exorcist, lec ...

during that time. In 1869, during his fifth year at Saint-Sulpice, Bourgade and five other seminarians were recruited by the newly-consecrated Bishop

Jean-Baptiste Salpointe Jean-Baptiste Salpointe (February 22, 1825 – July 15, 1898) was the first Bishop of Arizona and the second Archbishop of Santa Fe. Early life and education Salpointe was born in Saint-Maurice-près-Pionsat, Puy-de-Dôme, to Jean and Jeanne ( ...

for the missions in the

American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado ...

. The group sailed from

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

in September 1869 and traveled by railroad and stagecoach to Las Cruces,

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

, where Salpointe ordained Bourgade to the priesthood on November 30, 1869. Following his ordination, Bourgade was named pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Yuma,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. However, in the summer of 1873, ill health forced him to return to France for two years. He returned to the United States in 1875 and was sent to

San Elizario San Elizario is a city in El Paso County, Texas, United States. Its population was 13,603 at the 2010 census. It is part of the El Paso metropolitan statistical area. It lies on the Rio Grande, which forms the border between the United States an ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, where he served as pastor for six years and distinguished himself by opening a parochial school under the

Sisters of Loreto The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose members are commonly known as the Loreto Sisters, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women dedicated to education founded in Saint-Omer by an Englishwoman, Mary Ward, in 1609. The cong ...

in 1879. In 1881 he was transferred to St. Vincent de Paul Church in Silver City, New Mexico, where he built a convent, hospital, and academy for the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...

Episcopal career

On February 7, 1885, Bourgade was appointed

Vicar Apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

of Arizona and

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox ...

of '' Thaumacus'' by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

. He received his episcopal consecration on the following May 1 from Archbishop

Jean-Baptiste Lamy Jean-Baptiste Lamy (October 11, 1814 – February 13, 1888), was a French-American Roman Catholic prelate who served as the first Archbishop of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Willa Cather's novel ''Death Comes for the Archbishop'' is based on his life ...

, with Archbishop Salpointe and Bishop Joseph Projectus Machebeuf serving as co-consecrators. The vicariate was elevated to the

Diocese of Tucson The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson ( la, Dioecesis Tucsonensis, es, Diócesis de Tucson) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the southwestern region of the United States. It is a suffragan see of the Metrop ...

on May 8, 1897, and Bourgade became its first bishop. He there established twelve schools and an orphanage and also rebuilt the Cathedral of Saint Augustine. Bourgade was named the fourth

on January 7, 1899. He served as archbishop for nine years, and his last annual report to Rome showed the archdiocese contained a Catholic population of 167,000 people, 45 churches with resident priests, and 340 missions. He was in poor health for most of his tenure and received John Baptist Pitaval as an auxiliary bishop in 1902. In May 1908, due to his failing health, Bourgade was sent to Mercy Hospital in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and placed under the care of Dr.

John Benjamin Murphy John Benjamin Murphy, born John Murphy (December 21, 1857 – August 11, 1916) was an American physician and abdominal surgeon noted for advocating early surgical intervention in appendicitis appendectomy, and several eponyms: Murphy’s button, ...

. He died there two weeks later on May 17, at age 62. He is buried in the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourgade, Peter 1845 births 1908 deaths French expatriates in the United States People from Puy-de-Dôme French Roman Catholic missionaries French Roman Catholic bishops in North America Catholic Church in Arizona Roman Catholic archbishops of Santa Fe Roman Catholic bishops of Tucson Roman Catholic missionaries in the United States Seminary of Saint-Sulpice (France) alumni