Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine - History

History

Having secured Spanish supremacy by defeating the French and planting a permanent colony at St. Augustine in 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés tried to evangelize the Indians. He had been accompanied by four priests.

Martin Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales became first parish priest of St. Augustine, the first established parish in the United States. Pending the arrival of regular missionaries, Menéndez appointed soldiers he deemed qualified to give religious instructions to the Indians.

The Jesuits were the first to arrive. Three were sent by St. Francis Borgia in 1566 and ten in 1568. The few who survived the martyrdom of their brethren were recalled in 1572.

In 1577, the Franciscans arrived. In 1597, a young chief, smarting from a reprimand, instigated a general massacre of the missionaries.

In 1609, several Indian chiefs sought baptism at St. Augustine. Evangelizing became easier afterwards. This lasted past the middle of the century. In 1634, the Franciscan province of St. Helena, with mother-house at St. Augustine, contained 44 Indian missions, 35 missionaries, and 30,000 Roman Catholic Indians. By 1674, evidences of decline begin to appear. Bishop Calderon found his episcopal jurisdiction questioned by the friars. Although he confirmed many Indians, he complained of their religious ignorance.

Relations between the colonists and natives worsened. The colony was menaced by the growing English power to the north. In 1704, the blow fell. Moore's raid burned, plundered, destroyed, and enslaved the natives at the Mission San Luis de Apalachee.

Efforts at re-establishment partially succeeded. By 1720, there were six towns of Roman Catholic Indians and several missions. Persistent conflict between the Spanish and English colonies reduced these to four missions with 136 people by 1763. The cession to England in 1763 resulted, not merely in the final extinction of the missions, but in the complete obliteration of Florida's ancient Roman Catholicity.