Preface

The Catholic Church has been Colorado's largest single denomination since 1857, yet it, unlike most other religions, has not received a detailed historical overview. At the request of the archdiocese of Denver, I have attempted to fill that gap with this book. Those wanting Colorado's Catholic experience tied to national and international trends will not find that here. My focus is on the Church's role in Colorado communities, on the interrelationship of the state's history and Catholicism.

Frederick Jackson Turner argued that the frontier transformed Americans. My investigation of one institution suggests the contrary: The wilder and more remote the frontier, the more some people--especially women--hungered for churches like those they had known "back home." True, the first churches, with their makeshift altars and pews, were shaped by frontier conditions; but even in primitive buildings, people prized statues and paintings, music and pageantry that were European in origin. Latin Masses and Gregorian chant were heard in even the crudest churches, and in the saloons, public halls, and fraternal lodges that often sheltered pioneer religious services. The striking thing is not how the frontier affected the early Church, but how quickly Westerners installed the old traditions.

In one way, the frontier did shape Bishop Machebeuf, who learned its reckless optimism and borrowed money to the hilt--at breathtaking interest rates. As much as any miner or town promoter, Machebeuf never doubted that Colorado would pay off. Although he died on the edge of bankruptcy, he left his diocese rich in land and institutions.

As in other dioceses around the world, many of the priests and nuns who came to Colorado were foreign-born. The first religious were Spanish and French, soon reinforced by Germans, Italians, and Irish. Today, differences among European immigrant groups are minimal: The primary split is between Anglo and Hispanic cultures. To this day, some in New Mexico regard Machebeuf as Bishop Lamy's hatchet man, who drove out Hispanic priests with petty accusations and lack of sympathy for the Hispanic culture. That view is perhaps best explored in Fray Angelico Chávez's book, But Time and Chance: The Story of Padre Martínez of Taos, 1793-1867.

In 1887, Rome authorized creation of the Diocese of Denver from what had been the vicariate apostolic of the missionary era. Under bishops Matz, Tihen, and Vehr, the diocese struggled to build not only a church but also a school in every community. A good number of the churches, schools, hospitals, and foster care facilities in Colorado today were founded during the pioneer era of bishops Machebeuf and Matz, but most churches and schools during the long reign of Archbishop Vehr who tried to keep pace with Colorado's post-World War II boom. This parish building process and the traditional Catholic lifestyle were reversed during the post Vatican II era of Archbishop Casey. That postwar boom ended with the oil bust of 1983--a replay of Colorado's familiar boom and bust pattern in gold and silver, coal and gravel, uranium and molybdenum, farming and ranching, oil and water. Colorado lost population for the first time in decades, and Archbishop Stafford has seen his role as preserving rather than creating parishes. Although it is too early to tell, the era of Archbishop Stafford, since 1987, seems to be something of a return to traditionalism and conservatism. Critics have labeled the archbishop "ultramontane," but he is praised as one of the key leaders of the modern church in George Weigel's 1989 book, Catholicism and the Renewal of American Democracy. Especially when covering these recent decades, I have tried to provide only overviews of what happened, not to explain or assess. That task will fall to later historians.

As this manuscript goes to the publisher, I am aware of neglected sources, topics, and perspectives. Nevertheless, I hope you will find it a useful preliminary survey of Colorado Catholicism. As Father Howlett warned at the beginning of his 1911 manuscript history of the parishes of the Denver diocese: "No one is more painfully aware of the difficulties of writing a competent history of the parishes of Colorado. . . .There will necessarily be some inaccuracies in this account, which I leave subject to correction."

Concerning the inevitable errors and shortcomings of this book, please send corrections, additions, and complaints to the Archdiocesan Archives, 1300 South Steele Street, Denver, Colorado, 80210-2599, where they can be kept on file. In the event that this book is reprinted, corrections will be made. If not, they will at least be saved for whoever writes the next history.