History
The Roman Catholic Church in present-day Santa Clara County dates to the founding of Mission Santa Clara de Asís (a Spanish mission) in 1777, during the era of the Provincias Internas of New Spain. Originally a part of the Diocese of Sonora in Mexico, in 1840 San Jose and the rest of the Californias became part of the Diocese of Alta and Baja California, headquartered in Santa Barbara.
In 1850, two years after the Mexican Cession, the Diocese of Alta and Baja California was split between the American and Mexican territories, and San Jose became a part of the Diocese of Monterey. In 1853, the northern half of the county became part of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, while the areas around Gilroy and Morgan Hill remained in the Diocese of Monterey. In 1922 the American Catholic Church decided to use county boundaries for dioceses, and the southern half of the county was transferred to the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
Pope John Paul II granted the See of San Jose independence on January 27, 1981; the diocese was canonically erected later that year by archbishops Pio Laghi, Apostolic Delegate to the United States, and John R. Quinn, Metropolitan Archbishop of San Francisco, on March 18, the vigil of the feast of Saint Joseph. The first Bishop of San Jose was Pierre DuMaine, and the first cathedral of the diocese was Saint Patrick Proto-Cathedral Parish.
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged St. Joseph's Cathedral, resulting in the need for $22 million in repairs; it also damaged Saint Joseph's Seminary of Mountain View, resulting in the death of someone working in the tower. St. Joseph's, a Sulpician seminary at one time affiliated with Saint Patrick Seminary, was subsequently closed and demolished, with the intent to sell part of the land to build luxury homes and use the proceeds to repay a $20 million loan used to repair the cathedral. As part of the deal with the Cupertino City Council, 138 acres (0.56 km2) were donated to the county park system, to be added to Rancho San Antonio County Park.
Read more about this topic: Roman Catholic Diocese Of San Jose In California
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