Jean Baptiste Lamy
Encyclopedia
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Roman Catholic clergyman and the first Archbishop of Santa Fe
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the southwestern region of the United States in the state of New Mexico. While the motherchurch, the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, is in the City of Santa Fe, its administrative center is in...
(New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
), United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. American writer Willa Cather
Willa Cather
Willa Seibert Cather was an American author who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, in works such as O Pioneers!, My Ántonia, and The Song of the Lark. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours , a novel set during World War I...
's novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
Death Comes for the Archbishop
Death Comes for the Archbishop
Death Comes for the Archbishop is a 1927 novel by Willa Cather. It concerns the attempts of a Catholic bishop and a priest to establish a diocese in New Mexico Territory.The novel was included on Time's 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005...
is based on his life and career.
Ordination as a priest
Lamy was born in LempdesLempdes
Lempdes is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France.-Sights:The parish church of St Stephen is in the Romanesque style and dates from the 12th century. It is first recorded in a document of the beginning of the 13th century.-Further reading:*Lempdes: mémoire d'un village...
, Puy de Dôme, in the Auvergne
Auvergne (province)
Auvergne was a historic province in south central France. It was originally the feudal domain of the Counts of Auvergne. It is now the geographical and cultural area that corresponds to the former province....
region of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. He completed his classical studies in the preparatory seminary
Minor seminary
A minor seminary is a secondary boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming priests. They are generally Roman Catholic institutions, and designed to prepare boys both academically and spiritually for vocations to the priesthood...
of Clermont
Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...
and theological
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
coursework in the grand seminary (major seminary) of Montferrand
Montferrand
Montferrand may refer to the following places in France:* Montferrand, Puy-de-Dôme, a former town, now part of Clermont-Ferrand* Montferrand, Aude, a commune in the department of Aude* Montferrand-du-Périgord, a commune in the department of Dordogne...
, where he was ordained
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
a priest in December 1838.
Elevation to Bishop
After a few months as an assistant priest in his native dioceseDiocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
, in 1839 Lamy asked for and obtained permission to answer the call for missionaries
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
of Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
John Baptist Purcell
John Baptist Purcell
John Baptist Purcell was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Cincinnati from 1833 until his death in 1883, and was elevated to the rank of Archbishop in 1850.-Biography:...
, of Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
. As a missionary in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Lamy labored in several missions of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, when, to his surprise, he was notified of his appointment as bishop of the recently created Vicariate of New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
on July 23, 1850. After an arduous journey due to the primitive transportation of the period, Lamy reached Santa Fe
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
in the summer of 1851.
Bishop Lamy
Lamy’s early efforts as Bishop were directed to reforming the New Mexico church, the building of more churches in the territory, the creation of new parishParish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
es and the establishment of school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s. He ended the marriage of priests, and suppressed religious brotherhood societies
Penitentes (New Mexico)
Los Hermanos de la Fraternidad Piadosa de Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno is a lay confraternity of Roman Catholic men active in Northern New Mexico and southern Colorado.Accounts of the roots of Los...
within individual communities.
On February 12, 1875, the Diocese of Santa Fe was elevated to an Archdiocese with Bishop Lamy as its first Archbishop.
Lamy was responsible for the construction of the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi
The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, commonly known as Saint Francis Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe....
(commonly known as St. Francis Cathedral) and Loretto Chapel
Loretto Chapel
The Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA is a former Roman Catholic church that is now used as a museum and wedding chapel. It is known for its unusual helix shaped spiral staircase , that may have been created by French carpenter Francois-Jean "Frenchy" Rochas, although the Sisters of...
. Both buildings were built in the style of the Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
churches of France familiar to Lamy.
Lamy died of pneumonia in 1888 and is buried under the sanctuary
Sanctuary
A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...
floor of the Basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
. A bronze statue, dedicated in 1925, stands in his memory outside the front entrance of the Basilica and the town of Lamy, New Mexico
Lamy, New Mexico
Lamy is a census-designated place in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States, to the south of the city of Sante Fe. The community was named for Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy, and lies within the Bishop John Lamy Spanish Land Grant, which dates back to the eighteenth century.Lamy is part of the...
was named after him.
Lamy was succeeded as Archbishop of Santa Fe by Jean-Baptiste Salpointe, also from Auvergne, France.
See also
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa FeRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa FeThe Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the southwestern region of the United States in the state of New Mexico. While the motherchurch, the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, is in the City of Santa Fe, its administrative center is in...
- Roman Catholic ChurchRoman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
- Loretto ChapelLoretto ChapelThe Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA is a former Roman Catholic church that is now used as a museum and wedding chapel. It is known for its unusual helix shaped spiral staircase , that may have been created by French carpenter Francois-Jean "Frenchy" Rochas, although the Sisters of...