 Monsignor Gerard -
Bishop Bourgade
The Rev. Msgr. Edward Gerard came to Arizona from France as a deacon and was ordained by
Bishop John B. Salpointe in Tucson in 1877. He was the first priest to be ordained in
Arizona. In those days before the Church was established in Phoenix, Father Gerard would
ride horseback from Florence, where he was pastor to make sick calls in Phoenix. Though he
went blind in his later years, he continued to serve the Church as Chaplain for the
Sisters of Mercy, first in Silver City, New Mexico and then in Prescott, where he died in
1936. Gerard High School in Phoenix was named for this priest who was so dedicated to the
early Church in Arizona.
The Most Rev. Peter Bourgade was made the Vicar Apostolic of Arizona in 1885 and the first
Bishop of Tucson in 1897, which meant that he was the first Bishop of Arizona. He invited
Franciscan missionaries to take over St. Mary's Parish in Phoenix and the Indian missions
of southern Arizona. In 1899 he was made the fourth Archbishop of Santa Fe, New Mexico. He
died in Chicago in 1908 and is buried in the crypt under the sanctuary of the Cathedral in
Santa Fe. Bourgade High School in Phoenix is named for this pioneer in the establishment
of the Church in Arizona.
|Home|Life Is...|Pictures|Calendar|Parents|Extras|Contact Us|
Last updated on Saturday, May 14, 2005 |
The Vatican
Diocese of Phoenix
College LIFE
ALIVE!
LifeTeen.org
|
