File relating to the complaints made by John Joseph Mitty, Archbishop of San Francisco, against the Irish Capuchins. Includes a documentary statement outlining the charges made by Archbishop Mitty in respect of the general conduct of the friars and a refutation of the same by Fr. Stephen Murtagh OFM Cap., Custos Provincial. The file includes testimonial letters (in favour of the Irish Capuchins) from John Joseph Cantwell, Archbishop of Los Angeles, outlining the service of the Capuchin fathers in Mendocino County in California. Also includes a letter from Fr. James P. Cantwell, Pastor, St. Brigid’s Church, San Francisco, California and notes from Sister M. Beata OP and Sister M. Rufina OP, The Albertinum Boarding School, Ukiah, California. A letter (26 March 1940) from Fr. Stephen Murtagh OFM Cap. to Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, reads:
‘The fact is, although I have not said it in so many words, that the Archbishop [John Joseph Mitty] wants to get us out of Burlingame. It is just too good a plum for the Capuchins or for any other Religious Order. On March 28, when he informed me that he would not let us build there, he said, “Why can’t you build somewhere else?” – clearly showing that it was not a question of injury to religion but to the finances of the secular clergy. It is a well known fact that he does not like the Religious Orders. Some of them have brought their case to Rome already. And the Jesuit Provincial has mentioned our work in a letter to his Father General who is continually kept informed of the attempted encroachments of the Archbishop on their rights in San Francisco’.
