Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon

When the American expedition of 1810 entered the Willamette Valley of present-day Oregon, it included 13 French Canadian Catholics. Several of them, including the fur trader Étienne Lucier, decided to settle there.[2] By 1829, Lucier had established a permanent land claim next to the Willamette Fur Post near French Prairie.

In 1836, Lucier and 15 other Catholic settlers petitioned Bishop Norbert Provencher in present-day Winnipeg, Manitoba to send a priest to their settlement. They constructed St. Paul's Church, the oldest church in present-day Oregon, in St. Paul, Oregon that same year.[3] However, the Hudson's Bay Company objected to the establishment of a Catholic mission in the Willamette Valley. In a compromise, Provencher agreed to establish the mission north of the Columbia River in present-day Washington State. In 1838, he sent the missionary priests François Norbert Blanchet and Modeste Demers to Fort Vancouver.[3][4]

In 1843, the Vatican established the Vicariate Apostolic of the Oregon Territory with Blanchet as its first vicar apostolic.[5] Along with all of Oregon, the vicariate also included present day Idaho and Montana. The following year, Pierre-Jean DeSmet, along with other priests and a contingent of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, arrived in Astoria from Belgium.[3]

In 1846, the Vatican elevated the vicariate apostolic to the Archdiocese of Oregon City, designating the Dioceses of Walla Walla and Vancouver Island as suffragan dioceses.[6] It became the second archdiocese established in the United States, after the Archdiocese of Baltimore.[4] The pope named Blanchet as the first archbishop of Oregon City.[7]

In 1853, the first Catholic church in Salem, St. Joseph's, was founded.[8] The Vatican in 1868 erected the Vicariate Apostolic of Idaho and Montana, taking those territories from the Archdiocese of Oregon City.[6] In 1870, the Catholic Sentinel was founded as the official newspaper of the archdiocese.

Pope Leo XIII in 1878 named Bishop Charles John Seghers of Vancouver Island as coadjutor archbishop in Oregon City to assist Blanchet.[9] When Blanchet retired in 1880, Seghers automatically succeeded him as bishop. In 1884, Seghers successfully petitioned the Vatican to reappoint him as bishop of Vancouver Island so that he could continue missionary work in Alaska.

To replace Seghers in Oregon City, Leo XiII appointed Bishop William Gross from the Diocese of Savannah as archbishop in 1885.[10] During his tenure, Gross dedicated St. Mary's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland in 1885 and founded the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon order in 1886.[11] Gross opened a senior citizens home in 1896 and Mount Angel College in Saint Benedict in 1887. St. Boniface Church in Sublimity and a minor seminary were constructed 1889.[12] Gross presided over the Third Provincial Council of Oregon in 1891.[11] Gross died in 1898.

The next archbishop of Oregon City was Bishop Alexander Christie of Vancouver Island, named by Leo XIII.[13] In 1901, Christie, using financing from the Congregation of Holy Cross purchased the former campus of Portland University, a Methodist institution. He was able to purchase the campus itself in trade for a couple of properties owned by archdiocese in Portland and $1.[14] Christie reopened the school as Columbia University, which is today the University of Portland.[15][16]

In 1903, at Christie's request, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Baker City, covering all of eastern Oregon.[17] The Christie Home for Orphaned Girls was opened in 1907. St. Mary's Church in Mount Angel was dedicated in 1912. The Catholic Truth Society was established in 1922, and he successfully campaigned against an Oregon law that would eliminate parochial schools, which was eventually settled by the Supreme Court in Pierce v. Society of Sisters.[18] Following the death of Christie in 1926, Pope Pius XI named Auxiliary Bishop Edward Howard from the Diocese of Davenport as the fifth archbishop of Oregon City.[19]

Archdiocesan Pastoral Center in Portland

On September 26, 1928, the Vatican renamed the Archdiocese of Oregon City as the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon because Portland had become the larger of the two cities.[20] To avoid confusion with the Diocese of Portland in Maine, the Vatican added "in Oregon" to the archdiocese name. During his tenure as archbishop, Howard created a chancery in the cathedral rectory, later transferring it to a separate building.[21] He reorganized the St. Vincent de Paul and Holy Name Societies, fostered the growth of Catholic Charities, and removed the Catholic Sentinel from private ownership.[21]

In 1931, Howard led a successful campaign to repeal local zoning ordinances that prohibited the building of churches and parochial schools.[21] He convened the Fourth Provincial Council of the archdiocese in 1932, and held a synod for the clergy in 1935.[21] In 1939, he founded Central Catholic High School in Portland.[22] He convened the Fifth Provincial Council of the archdiocese in 1957.[21] Howard retired in 1966 after 38 years as bishop. Pope Paul VI appointed Bishop Robert Dwyer from the Diocese of Reno as the second archbishop of Portland in Oregon in 1966. Dwyer retired in 1974 due to poor health.[23] To replace Dwyer, Paul VI named Bishop Cornelius Power of Yakima in 1974.[24]

During his tenure in Portland, Power formed a five-year plan for the archdiocese and created an endowment fund. Power founded the Oregon Catholic Conference and held the first clergy and archdiocesan conventions. He reorganized the local curia, Catholic Charities, and reestablished Catholic Truth Society of Oregon as the Oregon Catholic Press. He also encouraged ministries to Spanish-speaking and Southeast Asian residents.[25] Power retired in 1986.

Auxiliary Bishop William Levada of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles was the next archbishop of Portland in Oregon, named by Pope John Paul II in 1986. During his tenure in Portland, Levada helped to revitalize Mount Angel Seminary;[26] He briefly taught at the seminary as well. He also reorganized Catholic Charities, worked in outreach to the Hispanic Catholic community, and renovated St. Mary's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.[26] Levada became archbishop of San Francisco in 1995.

On January 29, 2013, Bishop Alexander Sample was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to be the new Archbishop of Portland, succeeding John George Vlazny, whose resignation was accepted at the same time.[27]

The archdiocese's sexual abuse scandal prompted the archbishop to file for Chapter 11 reorganization on July 6, 2004. Portland became the first Catholic diocese to file for bankruptcy.[28][29][30] Vlazny described his actions by saying, "This is not an effort to avoid responsibility. It is, in fact, the only way I can assure that other claimants can be offered fair compensation."[29] In February 2009, the Oregon Jesuit Province also filed for bankruptcy as well.[31]

In April 2007, the archdiocese announced a settlement had been reached and the bankruptcy court had approved a financial plan of reorganization.[32] $71.45 million was paid to 169 victims, averaging $342,000 each; this is the 8th largest Roman Catholic clergy sexual abuse settlements in the history of the U.S. Diocesan bankruptcy filings list 11 priests as perpetrators.[33]

In March 2011, the Oregon Jesuit Province agreed to pay $166.1 million in damages to nearly 500 sex abuse victims.[34]

On August 6, 2016, World Spark, a retirement home provider run by Portland priest Michael Maslowsky, was forced to surrender documents showing that there had been numerous complaints of sex abuse against vulnerable residents at World Spark's St. Anthony Village elderly home, including some with dementia, between 2009 and 2016.[35] By order, the documents were given to a plaintiff from a lawsuit which began in 2014.[35] On October 1, 2018, it was revealed that Pope Francis had defrocked Maslowsky on June 4, 2018.[36]

In 2018, Sample acknowledged the history of sex abuse in the archdiocese which he described as an "institutional and spiritual" failure,[37] and issued an apology.[37] At the same time, it was reported that more than 100 sex abuse lawsuits were settled prior to the 2004 bankruptcy.[37] More settlements were later issued in August 2019 when the Archdiocese of Portland agreed to pay nearly $4 million to eight men who claimed they were sexually abused by Pius Brazaukus in the 1970s and the 1980s.[38][39]

Francis Norbert Blanchet, appointed Bishop of Oregon City

François Norbert Blanchet (1846-1850), elevated to Archbishop

1. François Norbert Blanchet (1850-1880)
2. Charles John Seghers (1880-1884)
3. William Hickley Gross (1885-1898)
4. Alexander Christie (1899-1925)
5. Edward D. Howard (1926-1928), title changed with title of archdiocese

1. Edward D. Howard (1928-1966)
2. Robert Dwyer (1966-1974)
3. Cornelius M. Power (1974-1986)
4. William J. Levada (1986-1995), appointed Archbishop of San Francisco and later Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (elevated to Cardinal in 2006)
5. Francis George (1996-1997), appointed Archbishop of Chicago (Cardinal in 1998)
6. John G. Vlazny (1997-2013)
7. Alexander K. Sample (2013–present)

Peter Leslie Smith (2014–present)

• Paul Edward Waldschmidt (1977-1990)
• Kenneth Steiner (1977-2011)

• Edward John O'Dea, appointed Bishop of Nesqually in 1896
• Charles Joseph O'Reilly, appointed Bishop of Baker City in 1903 and later Bishop of Lincoln
• Edwin Vincent O'Hara, appointed Bishop of Great Falls in 1930
• Francis Peter Leipzig, appointed Bishop of Baker City in 1950
• Liam S. Cary, appointed Bishop of Baker in 2012