Death of two Vincentian pioneer bishops

FamVin notes that on this Day in Vincentian History: May 12 marks the death of two Vincentian pioneer bishops who left their mark on the Vincentian Family. One founded Niagara University. The other was Rector of  St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia. He was also responsible for the beginnings of the Daughters of Charity ministries in southern California.

On May 12, 1888, John Joseph Lynch, C.M., the first Archbishop of Toronto, Canada, died. He was born at Clones, County Monaghan, Ireland, 6 Feb. 1816. He attended Castleknock College and College of St. Lazare, Paris. He did missionary work in Ireland, throughout the United States, and in Canada. Father Lynch tended to wounded and sick American soldiers of the Mexican War. He also founded The College or Seminary of Our Lady of the Angels which later became Niagara University. An illustrated timeline of his life was posted in a previous .famvin article.

Also, on this day in 1878, Thaddeus Amat y Brusi, C.M., died. Amat was born in Barcelona, Spain, on December 31, 1810. He was sent to Louisiana as a missionary, served as rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, then was appointed bishop of Monterey in California. (At the time of Amat y Brusi’s appointment, the Diocese of Monterey extended from San Jose to the Mexican border.) With the growth of Los Angeles and the decline of Monterey, Amat y Brusi petitioned the Vatican to move the episcopal see to Los Angeles. He became the first Bishop of Los Angeles on 29 July 1873. He founded some of the first schools in Los Angeles, and was involved in founding St. Vincent’s College (now known as Loyola Marymount University). He also wrote to the Daughters of Charity in Emmitsburg, Maryland and asked for Sisters to come to Santa Barbara to start a school and orphanage, which marked the beginning of the Daughters’ establishment in southern California.