• Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • History & Statistics
    • Bishops of Mobile
    • Social Media Directory
    • Parishes
    • Servant of the South
      • Portier Bio
  • Ministries & Offices
    • Archdiocesan Ministries
      • ACCW
      • Archives
        • General Research
      • Metropolitan Tribunal
      • Prison Ministry
      • Stella Maris - The Apostleship of the Sea
      • Protection of Minors & Adults
        • Child Protection Training
        • Documents & Resources
        • Documentos en Español
    • Catholic Social Services
      • Catholic Social Services
      • Pregnancy Services
    • Catholic Charities Appeal
      • Catholic Charities Appeal
    • Department of Catholic Education
      • Department of Catholic Education Home
      • Catholic Schools
      • CYO Sports
    • Ministerio Hispano
      • Hispanic Ministry
        • Escuela de San Juan Diego
        • Recursos
        • Servicios Sociales
        • Coronavirus- Recursos
    • Evangelization and Family Life
      • Office for Evangelization and Family Life
      • Conference Series
        • One Faith One Family
        • Called to Love
        • Called to Lead
      • Religious Education
        • St. John XXIII Catechist Certification Program
          • Instrucciones en español
        • Parish Leaders
          • High School Lesson Plans
        • School Leaders
        • Athletic Coaches
      • Sacrament Prep
        • Marriage Mentors Mobile/Baldwin
        • Marriage Mentors Montgomery area
      • Marriage Resources
        • Pornography
        • Miscarriage
      • Parenting Resources
      • Respect Life
    • Youth & Young Adult Ministry
      • Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry
      • Youth
        • SEARCH
        • ACYC Junior
        • ACYC 2022 Group Registration
      • Young Adults
      • Youth Ministry Leaders
      • Donate
    • Finance
      • Fiscal Management Office
      • Report Fraud
      • Archdiocesan Finance Council
      • Annual Reports
      • Audit
      • Financial Policies
      • Annual Parish Reporting
      • Catholic Housing of Montgomery (Seton Haven Apartments)
    • Unaffiliated Ministries & Organizations
      • Catholic Cemeteries
  • News
    • The Catholic Week
      • Download Current/Past Issues
      • Advertisement Bill Pay
    • News from Around the Archdiocese
    • USCCB News
    • Catholic News Service
    • En Español
  • Resources
    • Employment
    • Documents & Forms
    • Links
    • Diocesan Calendar
    • COVID-19 Resources
  • Giving
    • Give Now
      • Give to Catholic Charities
      • Give to Burse Club / SOS
      • Give to the Generations of Faith Endowment Campaign
      • In the Seelos Tradition
      • St. Mary Opelika - Together in Faith
    • Development
      • Office of Development Home
      • Catholic Charities Appeal 2022
        • Caridades Catolicas 2022
        • ccaadoption
        • ccaincarcerated
        • ccadisabled
        • ccaseafarers
      • Generations of the Faith
        • Campaign Case
          • Seminarian Formation
          • Priest Retirement
          • Youth Ministries
          • Strengthening Parishes
        • Parish Resources
        • For Pastors
        • Campaign Plan
          • Campaign Leadership
          • Frequently Asked Questions
          • Make a Gift
      • Parish Stewardship
    • The Catholic Foundation
  • Vocations
    • Priesthood
      • Hombres por Cristo
      • Rooted
    • Religious Life
    • Consecrated Single Life
    • Permanent Diaconate
      • Deacon Secure Page
      • Deacon Formation
      • Following God's Call
    • Marriage
    • Serra Club
|||
Archdiocese of Mobile
Facebook Instagram Twitter
Search
  • Home
  • About
      • Contact Us
      • History & Statistics
      • Bishops of Mobile
      • Social Media Directory
      • Parishes
      • Servant of the South
  • Ministries & Offices
    • Archdiocesan Ministries
      • ACCW
      • Archives
      • Metropolitan Tribunal
      • Prison Ministry
      • Stella Maris - The Apostleship of the Sea
      • Protection of Minors & Adults
    • Catholic Social Services
      • Catholic Social Services
      • Pregnancy Services
    • Catholic Charities Appeal
      • Catholic Charities Appeal
    • Department of Catholic Education
      • Department of Catholic Education Home
      • Catholic Schools
      • CYO Sports
    • Ministerio Hispano
      • Hispanic Ministry
    • Evangelization and Family Life
      • Office for Evangelization and Family Life
      • Conference Series
      • Religious Education
      • Sacrament Prep
      • Marriage Resources
      • Parenting Resources
      • Respect Life
    • Youth & Young Adult Ministry
      • Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry
      • Youth
      • Young Adults
      • Youth Ministry Leaders
      • Donate
    • Finance
      • Fiscal Management Office
      • Report Fraud
      • Archdiocesan Finance Council
      • Annual Reports
      • Audit
      • Financial Policies
      • Annual Parish Reporting
      • Catholic Housing of Montgomery (Seton Haven Apartments)
    • Unaffiliated Ministries & Organizations
      • Catholic Cemeteries
  • News
      • The Catholic Week
      • News from Around the Archdiocese
      • USCCB News
      • Catholic News Service
      • En Español
  • Resources
      • Employment
      • Documents & Forms
      • Links
      • Diocesan Calendar
      • COVID-19 Resources
  • Giving
    • Give Now
      • Give to Catholic Charities
      • Give to Burse Club / SOS
      • Give to the Generations of Faith Endowment Campaign
      • In the Seelos Tradition
      • St. Mary Opelika - Together in Faith
    • Development
      • Office of Development Home
      • Catholic Charities Appeal 2022
      • Generations of the Faith
      • Parish Stewardship
      • The Catholic Foundation
  • Vocations
      • Priesthood
      • Religious Life
      • Consecrated Single Life
      • Permanent Diaconate
      • Marriage
      • Serra Club
  • About Bishop Portier

    • Bishop Michael Portier, born Sep 7, 1795, in Montbrison, France, was a Roman Catholic bishop and the first Bishop of Mobile. He migrated to the United States in 1817. After completing his studies at St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore, Maryland, he was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of St. Louis, by Bishop Louis William Valentine Dubourg, on May 16, 1818. Eight years later, on August 26, 1825, he was consecrated titular Bishop of Oleno by Bishop Joseph Rosati, and became the first, and only, Vicar Apostolic of the new Vicariate of Alabama and the Floridas.     

      At the time of his accession he was the only clergyman in the vicariate and had only three parishes, Mobile, St. Augustine, and Pensacola. Bishop Portier began his administration by riding through his vicariate, offering the Holy Eucharist, preaching, and administering the Sacraments as he went.

      He sailed for Europe in 1829, in quest of assistants, and returned with a few seminarians and a priest, Father Mathias Loras. On May 15, 1829, the vicariate was raised to the Diocese of Mobile, and Bishop Portier was made its first bishop. His cathedral was a little church twenty feet wide by fifty feet deep, his residence a still smaller two-roomed frame structure. A new cathedral was begun in 1837, and on December 8, 1850, Bishop Portier consecrated the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Also in 1850, the eastern portion of Florida was detached from the Diocese of Mobile and annexed to the newly-created Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah.

      In 1830, Bishop Portier established Spring Hill College, and named Father Mathias Loras its head. Loras served in that role until he was consecrated Bishop of Dubuque, December 10, 1837, by Bishop Portier, who also consecrated another president of Spring Hill, the Rev. John Stephen Bazin, third Bishop of Vincennes, 24 October, 1847.

      In 1833 he secured from the Visitation convent, Georgetown, Washington, D.C., a colony of nuns who established the Visitation Convent and girls school in Mobile. He brought the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, from France, about 1847, and the Daughters of Charity, from Emmitsburg, Maryland, to manage orphan asylums for boys and girls respectively. One of his last acts was the foundation of a hospital at Mobile, presently known as Providence Hospital, administered, then and now, by the Daughters of Charity.

      He died May 14, 1859, and is entombed in the crypt of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, in Mobile, Alabama.

crest
group of altar servers
outside mass

Archdiocese of Mobile
400 Government St
Mobile, AL 36602
(251) 434-1585

  • Employee Email Login
  •  
  • Secure Site (documents, reporting, etc)
  • OIT | Contact Webmaster

© Copyright 2022 Archdiocese of Mobile
  All Rights Reserved.

Login
powered by eCatholic®