Stuk 39 - Letter from Fr. Stephen Murtagh

4 pp; typescript

Letter from Fr. Stephen Murtagh OFM Cap. to Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, reporting on the recent official visitation by the Father General and his subsequent meeting with Archbishop Mitty of San Francisco. During their meeting, Archbishop Mitty asked the Father General to replace ‘foreign born’ friars with native-born Capuchins. He argued that while native clergy were once scarce in San Francisco, they now make up two-thirds of the local priesthood.

Father Stephen also affirms that Archbishop McIntyre is ‘quite opposed’ to developing Santa Inés as a House of Studies, unlike his predecessor, Archbishop Cantwell. McIntyre allegedly wants the friars there ‘merely on sufferance, or not at all’. He notes that the Father General advises against building at Santa Inés while the Archbishop is hostile, noting that ‘the term of an Ordinary is short, whereas the life of an Order is long’. Because Santa Ines lacks ‘week end work’ to financially support students, the Father General suggests using the $40,000 loan intended for Santa Inés to build at McKenzie Bridge, Oregon, instead. Father Stephen agrees, noting they already have three parishes in Oregon. Reference is also made in the letter to the High School in Flintridge, California.