President Thomas Jefferson completes the Louisiana Purchase
Anthony Mary Claret is born in Sallent, Catalonia, Spain
Father Miguel Hidalgo y Castilla declared Mexican independence on September 16, 1810.
Republic of Texas declared its independence from Mexico on March, 2, 1836.The Republic remained an independent government until February 19, 1846.
War for Texas Annexation results in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildalgo which extends the US footprint to the Pacific Ocean
Anthony Mary Claret and his followers establish the Claretian Missionaries in Vich, Spain on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, July 16, 1849.
The United States Civil War divides the nation in half over slavery.
Canada becomes a self-governing entity within the British Empire
Superior General Xifre begins Mexican foundation
Bishop John Forest invites the Claretians to assume responsibility of San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio.
Claretians begin ministry at Saint John the Evangelist Church in San Marcos and Catholic chaplaincy at South West Texas State.
Los Angeles Bishop Thomas Conaty invites the Claretians to take over San Fernando Mission and a year later move the ministry to San Gabriel Mission.
United States Catholic Church becomes an independent church within Catholicism. No longer a mission territory. Cardinal James Gibbons of Baltimore became the titular head of the American Church.
The Claretians take formal possession of the Old Plaza Church, the longest functioning Catholic Church in Los Angeles.
Mexican Revolution begins and affects the course of Mexican history for the next 10 years. This civil war results in increased immigration to the United States as well as the self-exile of many members of the Mexican Claretian Province.
The opening of the First World War in 1914 led to the loss of European missionary clergy. Subsequently, the Claretians are invited to take over missions in Yuma, Jerome, and Prescott.
The new constitution expressed a radical approach to government. It severely limited the role of the Roman Catholic Church and religious in the nation. As a result, many Catholic bishops, priests, and congregations left the nation.
Father Dominic Zaldivar accepted the gift of the Dominguez Ranch as the future seminary for the American Province. The gift was made possible through the generosity of Dona Dolores, Dona Susana, and Dr. Gregory del Amo. On October 23, 1924, the Claretians take possession of the Dominguez Ranch.
First Claretian students arrive at the Claretian House of Studies, adjacent to the Catholic University of America campus in Washington, DC. Father Eugene Sugranes is the first superior.
Superior General Nicholas Garcia signed a decree separating United States from Mexican Province. With ministries sites in Texas, California and Arizona, the new province is also responsible for the Claretian missions in Panamá and England.
The Claretians initiate the new Panamá mission at the Church of Santo Domingo. On July 14, 1926, Father John Maiztegui CMF is appointed the first Vicar Apostolic of Darien, Panamá. He would be named Archbishop of Panamá on February 24, 1933.
Father John Maiztegui arrives in Chicago to become pastor of the new Claretian parish, Our Lady of Guadalupe in South Chicago.
President Plutarco Elías Calles’ implementation of the anti-clerical restrictions in the 1917 Mexican Constitution resulted in the Mexican Catholic Church’s suspension of public worship. Due to the government’s anti-clerical policies, the Mexican Claretian Province relocated to the United States.
Bishop Bernard Sheil presided at the liturgical gathering that began the Saint Jude devotion. Within four months, the devotion was recognized by Cardinal George Mundelein as a national shrine established.
La Esperanza, a national weekly Spanish language magazine appeared in January 1929. Based in Los Angeles, the periodical’s content included religious articles, news about the Mexican church-state crisis, and highlights of the Mexican Los Angeles community.
In July 1932, the Claretians changed parishes with the Jesuits. In return for assuming responsibility of Saint Francis Xavier in El Paso, TX, the Jesuits ministered to Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in San Antonio, TX.
Father James Tort organized the Saint Jude Police League to minister to first responders in the Chicago region.
John Maiztegui CMF, formerly Vicar Apostolic of Darién, Panamá since 1927, was installed as the Archbishop of Panamá in his see city.
Father Tort opens new Saint Jude Seminary in Momence, IL in May 1933. The new minor seminary is sponsored by the Saint Jude Police League.
José María Preciado, CMF, pastor of San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio was appointed the Vicar Apostolic of Darién. He succeeded fellow Claretian, Bishop John Maiztegui.
The Voice of Saint Jude was the first national English language Claretian publication. Housed in Chicago, the magazine promoted the newly-introduced Saint Jude devotion as well as the Claretians to a United States audience.
The Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii signaled the entrance of the United States into the Second World War.
Archbishop John Cantwell of Los Angeles blesses the new Del Amo Junior Seminary at a solemn outdoor Mass.
The Mexican Farm Labor program was a bilateral agreement between Mexico and the United States to allow Mexican laborers to work in the United States as guest workers. The Claretians Missionaries aided and served the braceros as they entered the United States.
The first Claretian missionary arrives in the Philippines. The new mission church is Santa Barbara.
The Claretians establish a presence in Chicago’s Loop with the dedication of the Claretian/St Jude Building at 221 West Madison Ave. The new facility will house the Saint Jude League offices, Claretian Publications, and the Saint Jude Police League office and social center.
Father James Tort continues his work with the New Jersey Latino community by establishing a permanent mission. The Immaculate Heart of Mary Mission and the Our Lady of Fatima Chapel provided stability to the evangelization of the state’s Hispanic Catholic population begun in 1941.
Pope Pius XII canonized Anthony Mary Claret at Saint Peter’s Basilica on May 7, 1950. Claretians from all over the world attended this momentous event.
The Korean War pitted the United States against Communist North Korea and Chinese of Russian sponsors. To this date the war has never officially been terminated.
The Claretian mission to Canada opened at Victoriaville, Diocese of Nicolet, Quebec, Canada. However the mission did not began until August 22, 1953.
The United States Claretian provinces were divided in two, with the original province west of the Mississippi River designated the Western Province, and east, Eastern Vice-Province. Emeterio de la Rosa was appointed Provincial of the West and Joseph Puigvi, the East
Ground broken for the new seminary building at Claretville, the former Brown estate (King Gilette Ranch) in Calabasas, California. This 119 acre piece of property served the Claretians as a theologate and novitiviate.
Claretknoll established as a Claretian scholasticate on the former, 240 acre Holiday Farm in Peru, IL. In 1959, the property was expanded as a School for Brothers and later served as a novitiate.
Archbishop Patrick O’Boyle of Washington, DC dedicated the new Claretian House of Studies Building at 700 Michigan Avenue, located beside the Catholic University of America campus.
On the Feast of Saint Jude, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was unexpectedly elected Pope. Taking the name, John XXIII, he set in motion a total renewal of the Church.
Pope John XXIII opens the Second Vatican Council that will radically change the direction of the Roman Catholic Church and launch an overall renewal of church structures.
Giovanni Bautista Montini, Cardinal Archbishop of Milan was elected Pope Paul VI. He continued the Church’s renewal efforts initiated by Pope John XXIII.
The passage of the Gulf of Tonkin resolution by the United States Congress and signed by President Lyndon Johnson, granted an escalation of United States aggression in Vietnam.
First Claretians arrive in the Department of Izabal to begin the Eastern Province mission to Guatemala.
Two chapels dedicated in the crypt of the Basilica of the National Shine of the Immaculate Conception. One honors the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the other, Saint Anthony Mary Claret.