Pasquale Tosi (27 April 1837 – 14 January 1898), known in English as Pascal Tosi, was an Italian

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

and co-founder of the Alaskan mission. He was one of the first two Jesuits missionaries (the other being Louis Robaut) to set foot in Alaska. As the first Superior of the Jesuits in Alaska (from 1886 to 1897) and first to have ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Alaska (Prefect Apostolic from 1894 to 1897), he is regarded as the founder and organizer of the Church in North-Alaska.

Early life and Northwest mission

Tosi was born on 27 April 1837 in

San Vito San Vito may refer to: Persons *Saint Vitus, saint, origin of all San Vito names Places Settlements in Italy * Bagnolo San Vito, province of Mantua * Celle di San Vito, province of Foggia *Monte San Vito, province of Ancona * San Vito, Sardinia ...

, a village near

Santarcangelo di Romagna Santarcangelo di Romagna () is a ''comune'' in the province of Rimini, in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, on the '' Via Emilia''. As of 2009, it had a population of some 21,300. It is crossed by two rivers, the and the Marecchia. The muni ...

northern Italy Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...

. He studied at the seminary in

Bertinoro Bertinoro () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Forlì-Cesena, in the Italy, Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. It is located on hill Mount Cesubeo, in Romagna, a few kilometers from the ''Via Aemilia, Via Emilia''. History There ...

. Ordained a (diocesan)

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in 1861, Tosi entered the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

in 1862. In 1865, he arrived in the United States to serve on the

Rocky Mountain The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

Mission. Tosi spent almost twenty years serving the

indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

of Colville and Cheney, in the state of Washington, and Coeur d'Alène,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

Alaskan mission

In 1886, Tosi and a French Jesuit, Louis Robaut, were commissioned to accompany

Charles John Seghers Charles John Seghers (also written as ''Charles-Jean Seghers''; 26 December 1839 – 28 November 1886) was a Belgian clergyman and missionary bishop. He is considered to be the founder of the Alaska Mission. Biography Early years and formation ...

, Archbishop of Victoria, on the first missionary expedition to northern Alaska. The two Jesuits were supposed to stay with the archbishop only on a temporary basis: the Society had no intention of opening a new field of missionary activity in Alaska. Tosi and Robaut spent the winter of 1886-87 in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

at the confluence of the

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

and Stewart rivers. In November 1886, Seghers was murdered by his guide, for unclear reasons, near

Nulato Nulato (; "chum salmon fish camp" in Koyukon; ) is a city in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 239. History Nulato was a location for trade between the Koyukon people and Inupiat peo ...

. Tosi and Robaut learned of Seghers' murder upon their entry into Alaska in early 1887. Tosi then founded the first Jesuit mission in Alaska. The following summer, he made a trip to the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

to consult with the Superior of the Rocky Mountain Mission, Joseph M. Cataldo , who formally appointed him Superior of the Alaska Mission and entrusted him with the task of developing that mission. In 1892,

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

was moved by an audience with Tosi in Rome, and told him to "go and make yourself the pope in those regions!" In 1893, Tosi returned to Italy to find help for his mission. On July 27, 1894, the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

separated Alaska from the Diocese of

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Island and made it a Prefecture Apostolic with Tosi as its

Apostolic Prefect An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

. By 1897, Tosi was physically worn out by a tough daily life and strenuous labours in an extreme climate. He was succeeded both as Superior of the Alaska Mission and as Prefect Apostolic in March 1897 by French Jesuit

Jean-Baptiste René Jean-Baptiste René (August 22, 1841 – April 6, 1916) was the second Roman Catholic Prefect Apostolic of Alaska. Born in France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its ...

Death

On September 13, 1897, Tosi sailed reluctantly from

St. Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...

for a short rest in

Juneau Juneau ( ; ), officially the City and Borough of Juneau, is the capital of the U.S. state of Alaska, located along the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle. Juneau was named the capital of Alaska in 1906, when the government of wha ...

. As the ship left the harbour, a four-gun salute demonstrated the esteem in which Tosi was held. On January 14, 1898, he died of a heart attack in Juneau. Juneau's ''Alaska News'' said of Tosi:

Bibliography

* LLORENTE, S.: ''Jesuits in Alaska'', Portland, 1969. * TESTORE, C.: ''Nella terra del sole a mezzanotte. La fondazione delle missione di Alaska. P. Pasquale Tosi S.J.'', Venice, 1935. * ZAVATTI, S., ''Missionario ed esploratore nell'Alaska: Padre Pasquale Tosi, S.I.'', Milan, 1950.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tosi, Pascal 1837 births 1898 deaths Apostolic prefects of Alaska Christian missionaries in Alaska Italian emigrants to the United States 19th-century Italian Jesuits Italian Roman Catholic missionaries Jesuit missionaries in the United States 19th-century American Roman Catholic priests