Earliest Dominicans
in California |
1772 |
Dominican missions begin in Baja California. |
| 1772 |
Dominican missions begin in Baja California. |
| 1849 |
Fr. Ignacio Ramirez settles in Monterey after the U.S. takes over
California. |
| 1849 |
Fr. Peter Augustine Anderson is sent from the Province of St. Joseph
(East Coast), to serve the needs of "Gold Rush" Catholics and to explore
bringing the Order to Northern California. |
| 1849 |
Fr. Joseph Sadoc Alemany, while in Italy for a General Chapter, is
appointed Bishop of Monterey. He asks permission to establish a new Dominican province in
California. |
| 1850 |
Fr. Joseph Sadoc Alemany, Fr. Francis Sadoc Vilarrasa, and Sr. Mary
Catherine Goemaere, a Belgian Dominican sister and two other sisters from Tolouse, who
will eventually form the Dominican congregation of San Rafael, arrive in California. |
| The Order in the Bay Area |
1851 |
Fr. Vincent Jandel, Master of the Order, appoints his former Novice
Master, Fr. Francis Sadoc Vilarrasa, "Commissary General" of California with the
authority of a Prior Provincial to erect houses of the Order. |
| 1851 |
Six young Spaniards arrive to enter the newly established novitiate of
St. Dominic at Monterey. |
| 1853 |
Archdiocese of San Francisco is erected and Bishop Alemany is named it's
first Archbishop. |
| 1854 |
St. Dominic's parish and convent are erected in Benicia, the new state
capital. Mother Goemaere also moves her sisters to Benicia. |
| 1855 |
St. Vincent Ferrer parish is established in Vallejo. Served by Dominicans
until 1967. |
| 1864 |
Dominicans begin to staff St. Bridgid's parish in San Francisco until
1875. |
| 1864 |
Dominicans begin to staff St. Francis of Assisi parish in San Francisco
until 1872. |
| 1869 |
St. Patrick's Mission is established in Porta Costa. Served by Dominicans
until 1900. |
| 1873 |
St. Catherine's parish is established in Martinez. Served by Dominicans
until 1967. |
| 1873 |
Archbishop Alemany dedicates St. Dominic's Church in San Francisco, which
is raised to a Priory in 1876 with Fr. Pius Murphy as its first prior. |
| 1883 |
St. Patrick's parish is established in Port Costa. Served by Dominicans
until 1923. |
1888 |
Archbishop Alemany dies. Fr. Vilarrasa dies and Fr. Vincent Vinyes, one
of the six first novices, succeeds him as Vicar General of California. |
| Beyond the Bay Area |
1892 |
Fr. Pius Murphy becomes the 3rd Vicar General. He extends the Dominican
sphere of influence beyond the Bay Area into the Pacific Northwest. |
| 1894 |
The Priory of the Holy Rosary is established in Portland, Oregon. |
| 1901 |
Dominicans begin to staff St. Anthony's in Brentwood, CA, until 1925. |
| 1908 |
Dominicans accept the challenge of Archbishop John O'Dea to open Blessed
Sacrament parish in the university district of Seattle, Washington. It becomes the 5th
oldest Newman center in the U.S. |
1912
-1927 |
The Dominican Congregation of California is raised to its former status
of Province of the Holy Name of Jesus. Fr. Lawrence Arthur McMahon, son of the Province of
St. Joseph, serves as Prior Provincial. |
| 1921 |
Priory of St. Dominic established in Los Angeles. |
| 1923 |
St. Mary Magdalen parish is established in Berkeley, California. |
1927
-1931 |
Fr. Pius Francis Driscoll serves as Prior Provincial. |
1931
-1934 |
Fr. Bertrand James Connolly, a son of the Province of St. Joseph, serves
as Prior Provincial. |
| House of Studies |
1932 |
House of Studies moves from Benicia to the Perry Mansion in north
Oakland, which is blessed as the College of St. Albert the Great. |
1934
-1940 |
Fr. Leonard John Callahan, son of the Province of St. Joseph/St. Albert,
serves as Prior Provincial. |
1940
-1952 |
Fr. Benedict Augustine Blank serves as Prior Provincial. |
| 1949 |
St. Albert's College is elevated to
the status of Studium Generale by Master of the Order Fr. Emmanuel Suárez. This
distinction has been reserved for only 10 other Dominican houses in the world. |
1952
-1960 |
Fr. Joseph John Fulton serves as Prior Provincial. |
| 1957 |
Dominicans begin to serve at Daniel Murphy High School in Los Angeles
until 1981. |
1960
-1964 |
Fr. Joseph Maria Agius serves as Prior Provincial. |
| 1963 |
The Province begins work in Chiapas, Mexico until 1979. |
1964
-1969 |
Fr. Francis Humbert Ward serves as Prior Provincial. |
| 1966 |
House of Studies becomes the first Catholic school to join the Graduate
Theological Union in Berkeley under the name of Dominican School of Philosophy and
Theology. St. Thomas Aquinas Priory is established on campus. |
| Newman Ministry |
1967 |
St. Thomas More University Parish at the University of Oregon is
established in Eugene, OR, beginning a new ministry direction for the Province. |
| 1968 |
St. Thomas More Newman Center at the University of Arizona is established
in Tucson, AZ. |
1969
-1977 |
Fr. Paul Scanlon serves as Prior Provincial. |
| 1969 |
All Saints Newman Center at Arizona State University is established in
Tempe, AZ. |
| 1970 |
Provincialate is transferred from San Francisco to Siena House in
Oakland, CA. |
| 1971 |
St. Andrew's Newman Center at the University of California and St.
Vincent Ferrer House are established in Riverside, CA. |
| 1974 |
Dominicans begin to serve at Holy Family Cathedral in Anchorage, Alaska. |
| 1977 |
Our Lady of the Mountain Parish is established in Ashland, OR. |
1977
-1981 |
Fr. Chrysostom Thomas Paul Raftery serves as Prior Provincial. |
| 1979 |
Dominicans begin to minister in Mexicali, Baja California, until 1993. |
| 1981 |
St. Catherine of Siena University Parish at the University of Utah is
established in Salt Lake City. |
1981
-1985 |
Fr. Stephen Terence Chrysler McCabe serves as Prior Provincial. |
1985
-1994 |
Fr. John Charles Flannery serves as Prior Provincial. |
| 1988 |
Dominicans begin to serve at Most Holy Trinity Parish in Phoenix, AZ. |
| 1994 |
Fr. Daniel Syverstad becomes the 14th Prior Provincial. |
| 1996 |
Dominicans return to Mexicali, Baja California. |
| 1996 |
Dominicans take over campus ministry at Stanford University in CA. |
| 1998 |
Dominicans take over campus ministry at UNLV in Las Vegas, NV; at the
same time, a new community is established in Las Vegas. |
| 1998 |
Dominicans take over campus ministry at UC San Diego;
at the same time, a new community is established in San Diego, CA. |
| 1999 |
Fr. Daniel Syverstad re-elected the Prior Provincial. |
