Nwjesuits.org
Title
The Jesuits of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska
Description
Though officially founded on February 2nd, 1932 when it separated from the California Province, the spiritual roots of the Oregon Province are planted in the Rocky Mountain Mission of Fr. Pierre DeSmet. DeSmet, a Belgian Jesuit, was working in St. Louis when approached by representatives of the Flathead nation. They asked that Jesuits--the Blackrobes of whom they had heard--be sent to the lands now known as Montana, Idaho, and eastern Washington. DeSmet came, and after him, others followed. They founded parishes and missions; they opened Gonzaga College and, reaching beyond the Native Peoples, founded a college and parish in Seattle, as well. Later sent north to Alaska, Jesuit linguists worked among the Native People to create written languages out of oral cultures, thus allowing the people to preserve their identity in the face of encroaching populations.
Today in the five states of the Northwest which make up the Oregon Province, about 260 Jesuits continue the work begun by Fr. DeSmet, and follow the Spirit into ever-expanding directions, despite a variety of challenges. Though geographically the largest Jesuit province in the world, the Oregon Province is financially the poorest of the ten U.S. provinces; yet, in 2001 it opened a new middle school among the poor of Portland, while maintaining all of its sponsored ministries. Located in the "least-churched" area of the United States, it still attracts more than its share of vocations - those who come to the Oregon Province from various cultures and backgrounds because of a desire to serve God and the Church as poor, chaste, and obedient men.
The Oregon Province responds to the call of Christ as did Fr. DeSmet when he listened to those Flathead representatives. We walk beside the people of God today as collaborators and companions, working together in ministries throughout the Northwest to make faith visible in structures of justice, to make hope tangible in works of reconciliation, to make love real in the individuals and communities we serve.
Logos
