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The Most Reverend Alexander Christie
Archbishop of Oregon City
Church	Catholic
Archdiocese	Oregon City
Appointed	March 4, 1899
Term ended	April 6, 1925
Predecessor	William Hickley Gross
Successor	Edward Howard
Other post(s)	Bishop of Vancouver Island (1898-1899)
Orders
Ordination	December 22, 1877 by Édouard-Charles Fabre
Consecration	June 29, 1898 by John Ireland
Personal details
Born	(1848-05-28)May 28, 1848 Highgate, Vermont
Died	April 6, 1925(1925-04-06) (aged 76) Portland, Oregon

Alexander Christie (May 28, 1848 – April 6, 1925) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Vancouver Island (1898–1899) and Archbishop of Oregon City (1899–1925). He founded the University of Portland in 1901.

Biography

Christie was born in Highgate, Vermont and later moved with his family to Wisconsin and, after the end of the Civil War, to Austin, Minnesota. He studied at the Grand Seminary of Montreal from 1874 to 1877, and was ordained a priest on December 2, 1877. He served as pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Waseca from 1878 until 1890, when he was transferred to the new Church of the Ascension in Minneapolis, Minnesota. From 1894 to 1898, he was pastor of St. Stephen's Church in Minneapolis.

Episcopacy

Bishop

On March 26, 1898, Christie was appointed Bishop of Vancouver Island in British Columbia by Pope Leo XIII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following June 29 from Archbishop John Ireland, with Bishop Jean-Baptiste Brondel and John Shanley serving as co-consecrators.

Archbishop

Christie was named Archbishop of Oregon City on March 4, 1899. Bishop Christie founded the University of Portland. According to University tradition, while on board a ship in the Willamette River, Christie observed the abandoned West Hall atop Waud's Bluff, formerly the site of the Methodist Portland University and decided to purchase it. Originally called "Columbia University" after the nearby river, it opened September 5, 1901. The following year he persuaded the Congregation of Holy Cross to assume control, telling them "Take over Columbia and make it the Notre Dame of the Pacific Northwest!"

One of Christie's early priorities was to have the Archdiocese divided into something more manageable. The Diocese of Baker City was created in 1903, assuming responsibility for all of the state east of the Cascades. The Christie Home for Orphaned Girls was opened in 1907.

The Catholic Truth Society was established in 1922, and he successfully campaigned against an Oregon law that would eliminate parochial schools, which was eventually settled by the Supreme Court in Pierce v. Society of Sisters.

After a steady decline in health, Bishop Christie died, at age 76, and was buried at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Portland.

References

1. ^ "Archbishop Alexander Christie". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
2. Sacred Heart Church, Waseca, MN
3. Church of the Ascension, Minneapolis, MN.
4. ^ "Archbishop Alexander Christie". Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland. Archived from the original on 2008-07-23.
5. "History", University of Portland
6. Dolan, Timothy Michael. Some Seed Fell on Good Ground: The Life of Edwin V. O'Hara, CUA Press, 2012, p. 19ISBN 9780813219493

v t e Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon
Ordinaries	Archbishops of Oregon City François Norbert Blanchet Charles John Seghers William Hickley Gross Alexander Christie Archbishops of Portland Edward Howard Robert Joseph Dwyer Cornelius Michael Power William Levada Francis George John George Vlazny Alexander King Sample
Auxiliary bishops	Paul E. Waldschmidt Kenneth Steiner Peter Leslie Smith
Churches	List List of churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon Cathedral St. Mary's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Abbeys Mount Angel Abbey Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey Parishes Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, Cottage Grove St. Mary's Church, Mount Angel St. Patrick's Church, Portland St. Paul's Church, St. Paul St. Joseph's Church, Salem St. Boniface Church, Sublimity Former churches St. Patrick's Church, Independence St. John the Evangelist Church, Zigzag
Education	Higher education University of Portland Marylhurst University High schools Blanchet Catholic School, Salem Central Catholic High School, Portland De La Salle North Catholic High School, Portland Jesuit High School, Portland La Salle High School, Milwaukie Marist Catholic High School, Eugene Regis High School, Stayton St. Mary's Academy, Portland St. Mary's High School, Medford Valley Catholic School, Beaverton
Priests	Liam Cary Francis Peter Leipzig Edward John O'Dea Edwin Vincent O'Hara Charles Joseph O'Reilly
Miscellany	Catholic Sentinel Oregon Catholic Press Monastery of Our Lady of Jordan Monastery of the Precious Blood The Grotto
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v t e Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Ordinaries	Bishops Joseph Crétin Thomas Grace Archbishops John Ireland Austin Dowling John Gregory Murray William O. Brady Leo Binz John Roach Harry Joseph Flynn John Clayton Nienstedt Bernard Hebda Coadjutor archbishop Leo Christopher Byrne
Auxiliary bishops	John Jeremiah Lawler James J. Byrne Leonard Philip Cowley Gerald Francis O'Keefe James P. Shannon John Roach Raymond Alphonse Lucker Paul Vincent Dudley John Francis Kinney William Henry Bullock James Richard Ham Robert James Carlson Joseph Charron Lawrence Welsh Frederick F. Campbell Richard Pates Lee A. Piché Andrew H. Cozzens Joseph Andrew Williams Michael Izen Kevin Kenney
Churches	Cathedrals Cathedral of Saint Paul Basilica of Saint Mary Former cathedrals First Second Third Parishes Guardian Angels Church, Chaska St. Peter's Church, Mendota Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Minneapolis Church of St. Stephen, Minneapolis Church of St. Wenceslaus, New Prague Church of St. Mark, Saint Paul Church of St. Mary, New Trier Church of St. Michael, St. Michael Church of the Assumption, St. Paul Church of St. Agnes, St. Paul Church of St. Bernard, St. Paul Church of St. Casimir, St. Paul St. Mary's Church of the Purification, Marystown Church of the Annunciation, Webster Township Church of the Most Holy Trinity, Wheatland Township Historic Church of St. Hubertus, Chanhassen Chapel Our Lady of Victory Chapel
Education	Higher education St. Catherine University University of St. Thomas Seminaries Saint John Vianney College Seminary Saint Paul Seminary Nazareth Hall Preparatory Seminary (defunct) High schools Academy of Holy Angels, Richfield Benilde-St. Margaret's, St. Louis Park Bethlehem Academy, Faribault Chesterton Academy, Edina Convent of the Visitation, Mendota Heights Cretin-Derham Hall, St. Paul Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Minneapolis DeLaSalle High School, Minneapolis Hill-Murray School, Maplewood Holy Family Catholic High School, Victoria Providence Academy, Plymouth Saint Agnes School, St. Paul Saint Thomas Academy, Mendota Heights Totino-Grace High School, Fridley
Priests	Joseph Francis Busch Peter F. Christensen Alexander Christie Jozef Cieminski James Louis Connolly Timothy J. Corbett Donald DeGrood James Albert Duffy Hilary Baumann Hacker Patrick Richard Heffron Patrick J. Hessian Michael Joncas James Keane Kevin Kenney John M. LeVoir James McGolrick Francis Missia Thomas O'Gorman Augustin Ravoux James Michael Reardon James O'Reilly Jakub W.J. Pacholski John A. Ryan Patrick J. Ryan Francis Joseph Schenk Alphonse James Schladweiler John Shanley Paul Sirba John Stariha Tim Vakoc Thomas Anthony Welch
Cemeteries	Calvary Cemetery Resurrection Cemetery
Other	The Catholic Spirit Ninth National Eucharistic Congress
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• 1848 births
• 1925 deaths
• People from Highgate, Vermont
• Roman Catholic archbishops of Oregon City
• 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Canada
• 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States
• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
• People from Waseca, Minnesota
• Catholics from Minnesota
• Catholics from Vermont
• Roman Catholic bishops of Victoria in Canada
• 19th-century American Roman Catholic priests
• Founders of American schools and colleges