Father Francis J. Weber, historian, archivist of the archdiocese of Los Angeles, syndicated columnist for Catholic papers, and biographer of the first bishop of Los Angeles, has rendered a signal service to students of Catholic Church history in California by assembling sixty-five documents describing various developments of the Catholic Church in California. According to Cardinal James F. A. McIntyre, who wrote a foreword, this book is the first of a trilogy dealing with the sources of California’s Catholic heritage and is designed for use in courses and semináis in the Catholic history of California.
The documents are interesting and representative of Church activity during a period of nearly two hundred years. They are drawn from a variety of sources: from the archives of the Church, from published works, from Catholic diocese newspapers and publications. Many documents have hitherto been unpublished. Very few of the documents deal with the “most historic” period of the Catholic Church in California, namely the period of colonization, exploration, and founding of missions. Indeed, starting with Father Serra’s last report from Mission San Carlos Borromeo in 1784, the editor quickly jumps to the period following secularization. Documents sixteen to thirty-six deal with the period 1853 to 1899, while the last half of the volume deals with the twentieth century. Apparently emphasis is upon Southern California, particularly Los Angeles, and the last document in the volume taken from the “Southern Cross” is the speech of welcome to the bishop of San Diego on his induction.
While the documents are representative of Church activity and many deal with Church routine, the researcher of California history will find little that is new to him. However, this volume of “Documents of California Catholic History” will prove a convenience for him. Nevertheless, this reviewer believes that it would have been far more useful as a volume of documents on California Catholic history had Father Weber begun his volume at an earlier date and had ended it much sooner than he has done. Each document is preceded by a short descriptive introduction and gives the source from which the document was drawn. It should be borne in mind that Father Weber’s definition of a document is “any written record illustrating an event from a contemporary point of view.” Otherwise it might prove difficult to justify the inclusion of a number of items in this volume.
This reviewer hopes that Father Weber will next turn his attention to a volume of documents on California Catholic history dealing with the fundamental period of colonization and mission founding and the era of secularization of the missions. A one-volume collection of documents, for example, selected from the letters of Serra, Lasuén, Señán, Alemany, and other Church leaders would certainly prove to be most gratifying and useful.
