Patrick William Riordan
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Patrick William Riordan (August 27, 1841 – December 27, 1914) was a Canadian-born American prelate of the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
who served as
Archbishop of San Francisco The Archdiocese of San Francisco (Latin: ''Archdiœcesis Sancti Francisci''; Spanish: ''Arquidiócesis de San Francisco'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the northern California region of the Unit ...
from 1884 until his death in 1914. He served during the
1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...
, and he was a prominent figure in the first case submitted to the
Permanent Court of Arbitration The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered at the Peace Palace, in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides administrative support in international ...
.


Early life

Patrick Riordan was born on August 27, 1841, in Chatham,
New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...
, to Matthew and Mary (née Dunne) Riordan. His parents were both natives of Ireland, his father from
Kinsale Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork (city), Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a populatio ...
,
County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...
, and his mother from
Stradbally Stradbally () is a town in County Laois, Ireland. Overview It is located in the midlands of Ireland along the N80 road, about from Portlaoise and from Dublin. It is a townland, a civil parish, and historic barony. It is known for its annu ...
,
County Laois County Laois ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medieval kingdom. Hist ...
. Soon after the birth of his sister Catherine in 1844, his parents returned to Ireland with their children and there his brother Dennis was born in 1846. However, the family was soon compelled to flee Ireland due to the Great Famine. After a brief return to New Brunswick, they settled in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
, in 1848. As a boy in Chicago, Riordan established a lifelong friendship with
John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian-American actor and film director. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia and raised in New York City, he came to prominence with film audiences for his supporting roles i ...
, the future Archbishop of Saint Paul. The Riordan family were parishioners at St. Patrick's Church in Chicago. Patrick's uncle, Rev. Dennis Dunne, served as pastor there as well as
vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...
of the
Archdiocese of Chicago The Archdiocese of Chicago () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church located in Northeastern Illinois, in the United States. The Vatican erected it as a diocese in 1843 and elevated it to an ar ...
.


Education

Riordan received his early education at the
University of Saint Mary of the Lake The University of Saint Mary of the Lake (USML) is a private Roman Catholic seminary in Mundelein, Illinois. It is the principal seminary and school of theology for the formation of priests in the Archdiocese of Chicago in Illinois. USML was ...
, which functioned as a
parochial school A parochial school is a private school, private Primary school, primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathem ...
as well as a
seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
at the time. In 1856, he enrolled at the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...
in
South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...
, where he remained for two years. While at Notre Dame, Riordan decided to become a priest. In 1858, the Archdiocese of Chicago sent Riordan to Rome to study at the
Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide The Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide ( English: Pontifical Urban College for the Propagation of the Faith), also known as the Collegium Urbanum or Urban College, was a Catholic seminary established in 1627 for the purpose of training ...
. In December 1859, the
Pontifical North American College The Pontifical North American College (NAC) is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic educational institution in Rome, Italy, that prepares seminarians to become priests in the United States and elsewhere. The NAC also provides a residence for Prie ...
opened in Rome. The bishops in the United States established the college to serve as a residence for American seminarians studying at the pontifical universities in that city. Riordan was one of the first twelve students to enter the college. That group included the future prelates
Michael Corrigan Michael Augustine Corrigan (August 13, 1839May 5, 1902) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the third archbishop of New York from 1885 to 1902. Early life Michael Augustine Corrigan was born August 13, 1839, in N ...
and Robert Seton, along with the author Reuben Parsons. Edward McGlynn, later a social reformer, served as their prefect. In August 1860, after contracting
malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...
, Riordan was forced to withdraw from the college. The archdiocese then sent him to recover and continue his studies at the colonial seminary in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, operated by the
Holy Ghost Fathers The Congregation of the Holy Spirit (officially the Congregation of the Holy Spirit under the protection of the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary; ) is a religious congregation for men in the Catholic Church. Members are often known as Holy ...
. After finishing his studies of philosophy in Paris in 1861, Riordan enrolled at the American College of Louvain in
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
to complete his theological studies. His brother Dennis later studied at Louvain and become a priest in 1869.


Priesthood

While in Belgium, Riordan was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago on June 10, 1865, by Cardinal Engelbert Sterckx. He received a
licentiate in theology Licentiate may refer to: * Licentiate (degree), a degree below a PhD granted by universities in some countries; may indicate a medical doctor qualification in the UK and other countries. * Licentiate (Pontifical Degree), second cycle of ecclesiast ...
from Louvain in 1866. On his return to Chicago the same year, he was appointed to the faculty of the seminary department at the University of St. Mary of the Lake, first as professor of
canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...
and Church history before filling the chair of
dogmatic theology Dogmatic theology, also called dogmatics, is the part of theology dealing with the theoretical truths of faith concerning God and God's works, especially the official theology recognized by an organized Church body, such as the Roman Catholic Chu ...
. In 1867, he baptized his newborn cousin,
Finley Peter Dunne Finley Peter Dunne (born Peter Dunne; July 10, 1867 – April 24, 1936) was an American humorist, journalist and writer from Chicago. In 1898 Dunne published ''Mr. Dooley in Peace and in War'', his first collection of the nationally syndicated M ...
, who would become a well-known humorist and journalist; Dunne later remarked, " iordanis a creditable member of the family. We need a few archbishops to keep up the average now that the Bill has come in." When the university was closed in 1868, Riordan was assigned to pastoral work, serving at St. Patrick's Church in
Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...
and later at St. Mary's Church in Joliet. Meanwhile, the mental health of Chicago's Bishop
James Duggan James Duggan (May 22, 1825 – March 27, 1899) was an Irish-born American Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Chicago from 1859 until his resignation in 1880. However, from 1869 to 1880, he was held in a sanatorium in Missouri due to insan ...
had begun to deteriorate and Rev. Dennis Dunne, Riordan's uncle, informed Rome of Duggan's instability. In retaliation, the bishop suspended Dunne from his duties as the diocese's vicar general and pastor of St. Patrick's Church. Following Dunne's death in December 1868, Duggan's refusal to attend the funeral drew sharp criticism from Catholics across the city and he appointed Riordan as pastor of St. Patrick's "in order to make some reparation." However, only four days later, the bishop rescinded Riordan's appointment after receiving reports that the priest "had spoken badly of him." Duggan was placed in a mental institution in 1869 and Bishop Thomas Foley was given charge of diocesan affairs. Riordan's brother Dennis would serve as Foley's secretary and
chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
of the diocese (1873–1881). In June 1871, Foley named Patrick as pastor of St. James Church in Chicago. Four months into his tenure, the
Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago, Illinois during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left mor ...
devastated the city but missed St. James. Bishop Foley sent Riordan and another Chicago priest, Rev. John McMullen, to travel across the United States and Canada to collect funds for the city's restoration. This would unwittingly prepare Riordan for dealing with another disaster 35 years later in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. As pastor of St. James, Riordan erected a new church building on Wabash Avenue to accommodate his growing congregation, laying the cornerstone in 1876 and dedicating the building in 1880. His cousin, Rev. Patrick W. Dunne, later served as pastor of St. James (1911–1927) after beginning his priestly ministry at St. Mary's Church in Joliet, where Riordan had also served. Riordan's construction of the new church caught the attention of several bishops, and in 1882 his name was included on a list of three candidates for Bishop of Charleston,
South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
, being the preferred choice of Archbishop
James Gibbons James Cardinal Gibbons (July 23, 1834 – March 24, 1921) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina from 1868 to 1872, Bishop of Richmond from 1872 to 1877, and as Archbishop of Baltimore from 1877 unti ...
of Baltimore. Although the Charleston appointment ultimately went to Henry P. Northrop, Riordan would receive his own appointment as a bishop the following year.


Coadjutor Archbishop and Archbishop of San Francisco


Coadjutor Archbishop

On July 17, 1883,
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 ...
appointed Riordan to be
coadjutor archbishop The term "coadjutor" (literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadjutor bishop ...
with the right of succession to
Joseph Sadoc Alemany Joseph Sadoc Alemany, O.P. ( Catalan: ''Josep Sadoc Alemany i Conill''; July 3, 1814 – April 14, 1888) was a Spanish Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of San Francisco from 1853 to 1884. He previously served as the first Bishop of M ...
, the
Archbishop of San Francisco The Archdiocese of San Francisco (Latin: ''Archdiœcesis Sancti Francisci''; Spanish: ''Arquidiócesis de San Francisco'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the northern California region of the Unit ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. He was also given the honorary title of
titular archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...
of ''Cabasa''. He received his episcopal consecration on September 16, 1883, from Archbishop Patrick Feehan, with Bishops William George McCloskey and Silas Chatard serving as co-consecrators, at St. James in Chicago. Riordan arrived in San Francisco in November 1883 and began to relieve the elderly Archbishop Alemany of his administrative duties. The following year, he and Alemany both attended the third Plenary Council of Baltimore from November 9 to December 7, 1884. During the council, Riordan brought his brother Dennis to serve as his theological consultant and chaired the committee overseeing the
Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions The Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions is a Roman Catholic institution created in 1874 by J. Roosevelt Bayley, Archbishop of Baltimore, for the protection and promotion of Catholic mission interests among Native Americans in the United States. It i ...
. Shortly after the conclusion of the council, Alemany resigned as archbishop of San Francisco on December 21, 1884. Riordan automatically succeeded him as the second archbishop of San Francisco.


Archbishop

In 1884, Riordan's first full year in San Francisco, the archdiocese contained 175 priests, 128 churches, and 25 chapels and stations to serve a Catholic population of 200,000. Following his death in December 1914, there were 367 priests, 182 churches, 94 chapels and stations, and 94 parochial schools for 280,000 Catholics. Many of the new parishes under his administration were established for immigrant communities. Within the American Catholic hierarchy, Riordan was considered a liberal. Biographer James P. Gaffey noted that Riordan's "closest friends were numbered among the so-called progressives or ' Americanizers,' such as
Gibbons Gibbons may refer to: * Gibbon, an ape in the family Hylobatidae * Gibbons (surname) * Gibbons, Alberta Gibbons is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is located on Alberta Highway 28A, Highway 28A, northeast of Edmonton. Gibbons is situate ...
,
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, Keane, and Spalding." In 1890, the conservative Archbishop Michael Corrigan, Riordan's classmate in Rome, included Riordan's name on a list of liberal bishops. In writing to Cardinal
Camillo Mazzella Camillo Mazzella (10 February 1833 – 26 March 1900) was an Italian Jesuit theologian and cardinal. Biography Mazzella was born at Vitulano, near Benevento. He and his siblings were first tutored at home. Three of his brothers entered ...
in Rome, Corrigan said: "In the ultra-Americanism of these prelates, I foresee dangers and sound the alarm." Even after the Vatican excommunicated the Irish theologian Reverend
George Tyrrell George Tyrrell (6 February 1861 – 15 July 1909) was an Anglo-Irish Catholic priest and a highly controversial theologian and scholar. A convert from Anglicanism, Tyrrell joined the Jesuit order in 1880. His attempts to adapt Catholic the ...
in 1907 for his
Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
beliefs, Riordan wrote of Tyrrell: "There is a place for him and plenty of work for him to do in this great Church of Christ." In American politics, Riordan was a conservative. During the 1912 US presidential election, he strongly supported the Republican candidate, President
William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...
. Riordan viewed former President
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
, the candidate of the
Bull Moose Party The Progressive Party, popularly nicknamed the Bull Moose Party, was a Third party (U.S. politics), third party in the United States formed in 1912 by former president Theodore Roosevelt after he lost the 1912 Republican Party presidential prim ...
, as "...a disturber of the peace"; and he described the Democratic candidate, New Jersey Governor
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...
, as a "theorist".


New cathedral and seminary

Two of the largest projects during Riordan's tenure were the erection of a new cathedral and seminary for the Archdiocese. Old St. Mary's Cathedral on California Street had been used since 1854, but in May 1883 Archbishop Alemany purchased land on
Van Ness Avenue Van Ness Avenue is a north–south thoroughfare in San Francisco, California. Originally named Marlette Street, the street was renamed in honor of the city's sixth mayor, James Van Ness. The main part of Van Ness Avenue runs from Market Str ...
for a larger cathedral to serve the city's growing Catholic population. The construction fell to Riordan, who laid the cornerstone in May 1887 and dedicated the new Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in January 1891. This cathedral would serve the Archdiocese for the next 50 years, until it was destroyed by a fire in 1962. A seminary had been established under Alemany near Mission San José (now Fremont) in 1883, but the seminary never had more than five students and collapsed within two years after the Marist professors left their posts. Riordan received a plot of land in Menlo Park from the sister of the archdiocese's lawyer, and opened St. Patrick's Seminary as a
minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Priesthood (Catholic Church), Catholic priests. They are generally ...
in September 1898. Staffed by the Sulpician Fathers, the school became a major seminary with the additions of a philosophy department in 1902 and a theology department in 1904.


APA and Father Yorke

In 1894, Riordan protested against the use in San Francisco's public schools of ''Outlines of Mediæval and Modern History,'' a history textbook by the historian Philip van Ness Myers, Riordan claimed that the textbook was anti-Catholic and called it "utterly unfit for use in a school patronized by children of various creeds." In April 1894 the
San Francisco Board of Education The San Francisco Board of Education is the school board for the San Francisco, City and County of San Francisco. It is composed of seven Commissioners, elected by voters across the city to serve 4-year terms. It is subject to local, and state ...
ruled that its schools could still use the textbook. However, teachers could omit any passages that might "appear in any way to favor or to reflect on the particular doctrines or tenets of any religious sect." Some Protestant leaders in San Francisco denounced the school board decision. The Congregationalist minister
Charles Oliver Brown Charles Oliver Brown lived to the age of 93 (1848–1941). His life experiences began early when at the age of 11 he drove a team on the canal from Toledo to Cincinnati (Miami and Erie Canal). He served as a bugler in the American Civil War at age ...
described the decision as "a complete surrender to Rome." The textbook controversy and the growing presence of the anti-Catholic
American Protective Association The American Protective Association (APA) was an American anti-Catholic secret society established in 1887 by Protestants. The organization was the largest anti-Catholic movement in the United States during the later part of the 19th century, sho ...
in San Francisco led Riordan to appoint his chancellor, Reverend Peter Yorke, as editor of the archdiocesan newspaper ''The Monitor'' to respond to Protestant attacks. The archdiocese also established a local chapter of the
Catholic Truth Society Catholic Truth Society (CTS) is a body that prints and publishes Catholic literature, including apologetics, prayerbooks, spiritual reading, and lives of saints. It is based in London, United Kingdom. The CTS had been founded in 1868 by Cardi ...
in 1897. While Yorke proved popular among local Catholics, Riordan soon lost patience with him. A labor activist and a supporter of Irish republicanism, Yorke was a strident critic of local elected officials, including San Francisco Mayor
James D. Phelan James Duval Phelan (April 20, 1861 – August 7, 1930) was an American politician, civic leader, and banker. He served as nonpartisan mayor of San Francisco from 1897 to 1902. As mayor he advocated municipally run utilities and tried to protect ...
and U.S. Representative James G. Maguire. Riordan removed Yorke from ''The Monitor'' in October 1898. Riordan initially said that "Father Yorke is alone responsible for his utterances." Riordan later elaborated:
" e right must be accorded to orkeas to every other citizen to make public his views on the rostrum or in the newspapers of the country...The Catholic Church does not dictate to its priests or its people the policy which they should adopt in political matters."


Pious Fund

Riordan played a significant role in the first case that came before the
Permanent Court of Arbitration The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered at the Peace Palace, in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides administrative support in international ...
at
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
, which centered on the
Pious Fund of the Californias The Pious Fund of the Californias () is an endowment, originating in 1696, to sponsor the Roman Catholic Jesuit Spanish missions in Baja California, Dominican missions in upper Baja California, and Franciscan Spanish missions in California, Spa ...
. Established in 1697, the fund was an endowment paid annually by the Mexican government to sponsor missions in California. Mexico had stopped making payments to the fund in 1848 after it ceded California to the United States in the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). It was signed on 2 February 1848 in the town of Villa de Guadalupe, Mexico City, Guadalupe Hidalgo. After the defeat of its army and the fall of the cap ...
. Riordan and the other bishops in California contested Mexico's action with
American-Mexican Claims Commission The American-Mexican Claims Commission, officially known as the General Claims Commission (Mexico and United States,) was a commission set up by treaty that adjudicated claims by citizens of the United States and Mexico for losses suffered due to th ...
. In 1875, the commission ruled in favor of the bishops of California, requiring Mexico to pay them $904,000. However, this decision only the accrued interest on the missed payments from 1848 to 1869. Mexico paid the $904,000 in 1890. In 1890, Riordan asked U.S. Senator William Morris Stewart of Nevada to seek diplomatic intervention by the U.S. government to obtain payment for the fund's interest since 1869. The
State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...
filed a claim for the unpaid interest in 1891, but there was no progress on the case for the next eight years. In 1899, Secretary of State
John Hay John Milton Hay (October 8, 1838July 1, 1905) was an American statesman and official whose career in government stretched over almost half a century. Beginning as a Secretary to the President of the United States, private secretary for Abraha ...
directed
Powell Clayton Powell Foulk Clayton (August 7, 1833August 25, 1914) was an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served as the 9th List of Governors of Arkansas, governor of Arkansas from 1868 to 1871, as a Republican Party (United States), Repub ...
, the American ambassador to Mexico, to reopen negotiations on the interest payments. Mexico. In May 1902, the two governments signed a protocol that submitted the dispute to the newly established Permanent Court of Arbitration Riordan selected the British judge
Edward Fry Sir Edward Fry, (4 November 1827 – 19 October 1918) was an English Lord Justice of Appeal (1883–1892) and an arbitrator on the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Biography Joseph Fry (1795–1879) and Mary Ann Swaine were his parents. He ...
and the Russian jurist Friedrich Martens to serve as the arbitrators for the United States, with Stewart acting its counsel. The case opened on September 15, 1902, and concluded on October 14, when the court announced its unanimous verdict in favor of the United States. The court ordered Mexico to pay the bishops $1.4 million as well as a perpetual annuity of $43,000. The U.S. government forwarded the award to Riordan and the bishops of California, withholding 35% of the proceeds to cover its legal expenses. Riordan was praised by Leo XIII for his success; there were rumors that Leo would name him as a
cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...
.


1906 San Francisco earthquake

Riordan was in
Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...
,
Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
, on his way to an event in Baltimore, when a major earthquake struck San Francisco on April 18, 1906. Among the Catholic Church's losses were more than a dozen churches and a number of other institutions, the damages totaling between $2 million and $6 million. As he left for San Francisco on April 21, Riordan also telegraphed an appeal to every bishop in the country: "The work of fifty years is blotted out. Help us to begin again." Upon his arrival back in the city, Riordan celebrated open-air Masses for his displaced parishioners, who were living amidst the ruins in temporary shelters, and assured them, "We shall rebuild." On April 27, he addressed a committee at San Francisco's temporary city hall and quoted
Paul the Apostle Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

Acts 21:39
: Riordan temporarily lived in San Mateo while providing his official residence to the
Presentation Sisters The Presentation Sisters, officially the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, are a religious institute of Roman Catholic women founded in Cork, Ireland, by Honora "Nano" Nagle in 1775. The sisters of the congregation use th ...
, who had lost their convent on Powell Street. Every church that had been destroyed had a temporary structure within two years and was rebuilt within another eight years.


Later life and death

In 1902, nearly 20 years after he came to San Francisco as a coadjutor archbishop, Riordan received Bishop George Thomas Montgomery as his own coadjutor. However, Montgomery died a few years later in 1907. To replace Montgomery, Riordan's preferred candidate was
Edward Joseph Hanna Edward Joseph Hanna (July 21, 1860 – July 10, 1944) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of San Francisco from 1915 to 1935. Early life and education Edward Hanna was born in Rochester, New York, ...
, a theology professor at Saint Bernard's Seminary in Rochester,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
. But Hanna's candidacy was derailed after his fellow professor, Andrew Breen, wrote a letter to Cardinal Girolamo Maria Gotti challenging Hanna's orthodoxy and accusing him of
Modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
. Riordan instead received Denis J. O'Connell, then rector of the
Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...
, as an
auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...
in 1908 but he was later transferred to the Diocese of Richmond in 1912. Riordan again submitted Hanna's name as coadjutor and finally succeeded in October 1912. In December 1914, Riordan contracted a severe cold which soon developed into
pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
. He died five days later at 1000 Fulton Street, the Archbishop's Mansion, his residence in San Francisco, aged 73. He is buried in the Archbishops' Crypt at
Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma Holy Cross Cemetery (Spanish: ''Cementerio de la Santa Cruz'') is a Catholic cemetery in Colma, California, operated by the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Established in 1887 on , it is one of the oldest and largest cemeteries in California. Hi ...
.
Archbishop Riordan High School Archbishop Riordan High School is a diocesan, co-ed Catholic Church, Catholic high school established by the Society of Mary (Marianists), Society of Mary in San Francisco, California. It is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco ...
in
San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, is named for him.


Episcopal succession


References


Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Riordan, Patrick William 1841 births 1914 deaths University of Notre Dame alumni University of Saint Mary of the Lake alumni American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent Emigrants from pre-Confederation New Brunswick to the United States Roman Catholic archbishops of San Francisco Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni American College of the Immaculate Conception alumni 19th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States Deaths from pneumonia in California Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery (Colma, California)