The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church (particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the U.S. state of Washington. Headquartered in Seattle, the archdiocese encompasses all counties in the state west of the Cascade Range.
As of 3 September 2019, its archbishop is Paul D. Etienne.
Its cathedral of the archiepiscopal see is St. James Cathedral in Seattle, and the former cathedral is the Proto-Cathedral of St. James the Greater, in Vancouver, Washington.
The archdiocese succeeded to the Diocese of Nesqually headquartered in Vancouver, Washington, established in 1850 as a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Oregon City. In 1903, the episcopal see was moved to Seattle, and the diocese's name was changed to Diocese of Seattle in 1907. The diocese was elevated to metropolitan archdiocesan status in 1951.
Ecclesiastical province
The Archbishop of Seattle concurrently is the Metropolitan Archbishop of two suffragan daughter dioceses within the Ecclesiastical Province of Seattle, which together cover the entire state of Washington :
Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane, carved out of the Archdiocese of Seattle territory in 1913Roman Catholic Diocese of Yakima, carved out of the Archdiocese of Seattle territory in 1951.
Statistics and extent
As per 2014 it pastorally served 997,000 Catholics (18.6% of 5,350,045 total) on 64,269 km² in 147 parishes with 298 priests (204 diocesan, 94 religious), 116 deacons, 476 lay religious (109 brothers, 367 sisters) and 800 lay ecclesial ministers.
The Archdiocese encompasses all of Western Washington, 64,269 km², stretching from the Canadian to the Oregon border and from the Cascade Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, including 19 counties.
In this area, 972,000 people identify as Catholic, almost 19% of the total population of 5,202,500.
There are 144 parishes, and an additional 37 missions, stations, and pastoral centers. Only 106 of these have resident priest-pastors.
These parishes and other centers are served by 115 active diocesan priests, 118 diocesan deacons, approximately 800 diocesan lay ecclesial ministers, and 530 religious women and men (including priests). The archbishop is assisted by two auxiliary bishops, and there are two retired archbishops still living.
There are 11 Catholic Hospitals, 2 Health Care Centers, 19 Homes for the elderly, 3 day care centers, 10 specialized homes, and 111 centers for social services.
There are 2 Catholic universities, 11 high schools, 62 elementary schools.
16,831 elementary students are served through parochial and private schools; 29,850 through parochial religious education programs.
2420 high school students are served through diocesan and private schools; 6580 through parochial religious education and youth ministry programs.
History
The presence of the Catholic Church in the present state of Washington dates to the 1830s, when missionary priests François Norbert Blanchet and Modeste Demers traveled from Quebec and arrived in what was then known as the Oregon Country. On December 1, 1843, the Holy See established the Vicariate Apostolic of the Oregon Territory and named Blanchet its vicar apostolic. In 1846 Pope Gregory XVI established an ecclesiastical territory in the region, and the apostolic vicariate was split into three dioceses: Diocese of Oregon City with François Blanchet as bishop; Diocese of Vancouver Island, with Demers as bishop, and Diocese of Walla Walla at Walla Walla, Washington, with François Blanchet's brother, Augustin-Magloire Blanchet, as bishop.
The Whitman massacre in 1847 and the ensuing Cayuse War increased tensions between Christians and the native population of the Oregon Territory, and as a result by 1850 the Diocese of Walla Walla was abandoned and its merged-in territory administered from Oregon City.
On May 31, 1850, Pope Pius IX created the Diocese of Nesqually out of the defunct Walla Walla diocese, with Augustin Blanchet as bishop. In January 1851, Augustin Blanchet dedicated St. James Church near Fort Vancouver as the new diocese's cathedral. A new St. James Cathedral was built in Vancouver, Washington in 1885.
In 1903 Bishop Edward O'Dea, realizing that Vancouver was no longer the economic and population center of the region, moved the episcopal see to Seattle and began construction on a new cathedral in 1905. The Holy See changed the name to Diocese of Seattle on September 11, 1907, and the present-day St. James Cathedral was dedicated on December 22, 1907.
On December 12, 1913, it lost territory to establish the Diocese of Spokane, now its oldest suffragan.
It was elevated on June 23, 1951 as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Seattle and Bishop Thomas Arthur Connolly became the first archbishop. Simultaneously it lost territory to establish the Diocese of Yakima, its second suffragan.
In 1983, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), initiated an apostolic visitation to the Archdiocese of Seattle. The visitation was largely prompted by concerns over whether the archdiocese under Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen was adhering to church teachings on matters including contraception in Catholic hospitals and its treatment of homosexuals and divorced people. Archbishop James Hickey of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC was sent to Seattle to gather information on behalf of the CDF. As a result of the CDF's findings, on December 3, 1985, Pope John Paul II appointed Donald Wuerl auxiliary bishop of Seattle with "special faculties" that included the authority to overrule Archbishop Hunthausen in several areas. This unusual arrangement proved unpopular among the people of the archdiocese, and Wuerl was replaced with Thomas Murphy on May 26, 1987. Murphy was appointed as coadjutor archbishop, and thus automatically became the archbishop with Hunthausen's retirement on August 21, 1991.
Under Archbishop Murphy, the archdiocese saw an increase in registered Catholics and an increase in lay ministries and outreach for women and various ethnic groups. He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in December 1996, and died on June 26, 1997. Father George Leo Thomas was appointed administrator of the archdiocese until the installation of Archbishop Alexander Joseph Brunett in December 1997. Brunett later appointed and consecrated George Thomas as auxiliary bishop, a post he held until his appointment as Bishop of Helena in 2004. Eusebio L. Elizondo Almaguer and Joseph J. Tyson were appointed as auxiliary bishops and consecrated in 2005; Elizondo still serves in that capacity, while Tyson departed in 2011 to become Bishop of suffragan see Yakima. Brunett served as archbishop until his retirement in 2011 and was succeeded by J. Peter Sartain. On April 29, 2019, Pope Francis named Paul D. Etienne, serving at the time as Archbishop of Anchorage, Alaska, as the Coadjutor Archbishop of Seattle in anticipation of Archbishop Sartain's retirement. Etienne succeeded Sartain on September 3, 2019, when Pope Francis accepted his resignation.
Bishops
Bishops of NesquallyAugustin-Magloire Blanchet (1850–1879)Egidius Junger (1879–1895)Edward John O'Dea (1896–1907), title changed to Bishop of SeattleBishops of SeattleEdward John O'Dea (1907–1932)Gerald Shaughnessy (1933–1950)Thomas Arthur Connolly (1950–1951), elevated to ArchbishopArchbishops of SeattleThomas Arthur Connolly (1951–1975)Raymond Hunthausen (1975–1991)Thomas Joseph Murphy (1991–1997; coadjutor 1987-1991)Alexander Joseph Brunett (1997–2010)J. Peter Sartain (2010–2019)Paul D. Etienne (2019–present; coadjutor 2019)Current Auxiliary BishopsEusebio L. Elizondo Almaguer (2005–present)Frank R. Schuster (2022-present)Former Auxiliary BishopsThomas Edward Gill (1956–1973)Nicolas Eugene Walsh (1976–1983)Donald Wuerl (1986–1988) appointed Bishop of Pittsburgh and later Archbishop of Washington (Cardinal in 2010)George Leo Thomas (2000–2004) appointed Bishop of Helena and later Bishop of Las VegasJoseph J. Tyson (2005–2011), appointed Bishop of YakimaDaniel Henry Mueggenborg (2017–2021), appointed Bishop of Reno.Other priests of this diocese who became BishopsRobert John Armstrong, appointed Bishop of Sacramento in 1929Jean-Baptiste Brondel, appointed Bishop of Vancouver Island in 1879Joseph Patrick Dougherty, appointed Bishop of Yakima in 1951Cornelius Michael Power, appointed Bishop of Yakima in 1969
First of all: Can an adherent to an Abrahamic religion also be a Garou in good standing? Sure. You'll be sort of weird, and absolutely justifiably seen as untrustworthy. It's hard to argue against Garou cosmology when you can literally step sideways and see for yourself how the spirit world operates, or talk to ancestor spirits, totems, etc. If anything, polytheism would be the default (as you can literally go talk to the various 'gods' in the form of the celestines. Wanna go talk war with Aries or wealth with Jupiter/Zarok? The aetherial realm it literally just a sidestep and a jump up away.)
However, could you be a lost cub, who was raised as an orthodox Jew, and then after their first change, had their entire worldview shaken and had to come to learn to accept their new role as a warrior of Gaia (perhaps while still maintaining the public view of being an observant jew)? Sure, that sounds like a great character concept.
I'd also ask if you're looking at a character that is modern orthodox, orthodox, or hassidic (and if hassidic, which sect)?
Edit: Also, there is canon support for religious activity on the part of Garou. The Black Furies camp Order of the Merciful Mother were heavily involved in the church (as nuns). However they did not appear to be particularly true believers as much as taking advantage of the church organization.
Given that the Garou have demonstrable evidence their metaphysical understanding of the universe is correct… and it has direct day-to-day application for them in how they deal with the world… I'd say you'd move away from your families beliefs.
Jewish beliefs and rituals are a lot of fun, but they are part of a faith practice… you don't know if they work, you believe they work. They are rituals handed down from history through culture.
So… why would it be important for your character to hold on to that? When there's a totally different explanation for the universe that works… right here? Your character would have to put all the work into making his syncretic beliefs work… and meanwhile every Theurge and Philodox is going to be looking at him cockeyed, making sure he's not developing beliefs that will lead him to the Wyrm.
A possible way to accomodate it… might be to have a Pure-blood Silent Strider Merit, and you are part of a family of Garou, that also happen to be Orthodox Jewish. In that case there's a whole community of Garou you can turn to, who've already developed and are sustaining the syncretic beliefs, and can explain how to follow Kashruth, or observe Yom Kippur as a Garou, and how Gaia fits in to the structure of the universe taught by the Rabbinate.
Garou change at a young age and are then cut off from society due to the Curse (if their rage is higher than a mortal's willpower, mortals avoid them whenever possible) and are instructed by people who pretty much all believe the line everyone else here has been repeating, and can do a pretty good job of proving they're right.
To a certain extent Garou spirituality may feel instinctively "right" as well, given that Garou are part spirit. The Umbra does the same—a place sacred to Gaia and Gaian spirits feels innately holy, a place of the Wyrm feels corrupt. Indeed, the temple the character prayed at before may feel repellent in the Umbra.
Under all that religiosity isn't going to be too enduring.
It is likely that there is a focus on the Garou's cosmology that at first glance comes off as incompatible with the Abrahamic faiths. This is also not a topic that seems to have been mentioned much in the lore outside some off mention of the Glass Walkers, the Black Fury camp, and occasional NPCs. And even then, it can get wishy-washy on if it's straight Abrahamic faith, a kind of facade to maintain appearance, or an attempt to use one cosmology to explain another.
But it has been done and with more rigid branches of the Abrahamic faiths, so the Garou cosmology and Abrahamic one are not mutually exclusive… provided you join a tribe that lets you be with that (or, if you're lucky, helps you reconcile the two).
Too tired to read all the comments right now, so I'll keep this short: it's uncommon in modern times, but there definitely are some Garou that remain faithful to their human religions after Changing. The typical way to reconcile this is to acknowledge God as the creator of Gaia and beyond, though the Garou have a special task of protecting the Earth in body and spirit. Nothing prevents a Garou from accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord, or Muhammad as their prophet, or David as their king, but their fellow werewolves think they're naïve at best and will still expect them to give their all to combating the Wyrm (who may or may not be some manifestation of the Advisary).
There are a few canon examples of religious Garou. The Wise Guys camp of the Glass Walkers was ardently Catholic, Black Furies have promoted the worship of Mary as a cover for Gaianism, and some modern Fianna, Shadow Lords, Stargazers, and Silent Striders are known for keeping their human beliefs. The Dark Ages signature character for the Warders of Men was a Christian monk who had the deed name Staff-of-God, though being religious in the human sense was far more common for Garou of that era.
You're probably not going to be a strict adherent to the way you were raised. But syncretism is likely going to be a heavy part of it. Think of how many Yoruba faiths, like Voodoo or Santeria, found a way to syncretize their deities with Catholic imagery and roles (e.g., Erzulie is linked to Our Lady of Sorrows, Legba is associated with St. Peter and/or Lazarus). For a canon example, the Black Fury camp Order of Our Merciful Mother joined the Catholic Church to try to break the grip of the Patriarch (the aspect of the Weaver's Dogma that gets its hooks into religion), but eventually came to see Mary as an aspect of Gaia.
I had a player in my game who was an Orthodox Jewish Uktena and was able to syncretize it with the Garou worldview. I'm not wholly sure how he did it, but he most certainly did.
I think you can be a garou with a religious heritage but I don't think your practices would map with mainstream versions of the faith.
Religious thought isn't necessarily rational. It embraces contradictions by compartimentalization and sincretism. You can believe that Gaia is the world and that she is also virgin marry. Catholicism itself is built upon a premise that GoD is 3 things at once, including his own mortal child. Let's not even begin analyzing how jeohva may have been A god of war that slowly became THE God os Israel. Hinduism is all about gods that become other gods as ages progressed.
Religion often discourses about the mystery that is elusive during daily life. Its all about the gods, about the secret spirits, about the next life. To the garou daily life just encompasses more. It includes the umbra, the wyrm and spiritual entities. A religious garou would naturally understand his religion as addressing a "deeper layer" of mystery beyond what he can see. What is the origin of umbra, gaia and the wyrm? Who created the spirits? What is the meaning of it all? It's an infinite regression.
Also, while human priests may be seen as ignorant, their preaching and counsel may be seen as divinely inspired. While the guys may not know about the truth of the shadows, the holy texts do seem to have application and insight that a garou can rely in dealing with spirits and the wyrm.
A religious garou would be also a theuege himself or keep his devotions private (as many people do in actual life).
If you were raised with a blue or a red or a green or a yellow blindfold over your eyes that filtered out 95% of reality, how do you think you would deal with the blindfold being removed and you seeing the world with your bare eyes?
If you were raised in a windowless, locked room painted blue or red or green or yellow and lit by the same colored light, from which room your only glimpse of the outside world would be through the keyhole of the door of the room, how do you think you would deal with suddenly being let out into the outside world?
If you were raised alone by a bunch of robots who only showed you various cartoons and animes (and no mirror ever), how do you think you would deal with suddenly being show live shows and movies… let alone with being let out into the world full of real, flesh-and-blood people and being shown a mirror too?
That's how.
Despite what the two other comments are saying here, once you go through your first change and begin the process of being part of a Sept, the Elder Garou are going to indocturn the Triat and Gaia into your everyday live and belief. There will be no tolerance of Abrahamic religion, if there is any- only a little. The fact is Abrahamic religion is seen as a human religion, that's it. While I don't know much about Silent Striders, if your going to be Pup who chooses to be inducted in this particular Tribe, that one out of any of the tribes would hammer a spiritual doctrine not in line with Abrahamicism at all; considering their whole battle with the ancient dark Egyptian God Set.
1: there have been recorded cases of Garou being devout in the Abrahamic religions, such as a camp of Black Fury nuns.
2: There is not much stopping a Garou from keeping their past faith just because they become aware of the spirit world. One can acknowledge the existence of spirits and Gaia, yet still believe in Adonai/Allah/whatever name you use for the Abrahamic god. Judaism has an added bonus in that it is more of a culture rather than a straight religion, so being a traditional yet agnostic (if not outright atheistic) Jew is possible.
3: The amount of heavy handed attempts at conversion is definitely going to be determined by tribe. While there are tribes that will be as heavy handed as you described, there are going to be others where there is a level of respect for the faiths of those who join.
Understand, Werewolf's cosmology is fundamentally animistic. Garou are part spirit, and the spirit worldthe Umbrahas a deep, symbiotic relationship with the "real" world. The Gaian spirits are the Garou's allies, but if they are treated poorly they will not teach Gifts, certain rites will fail, totem spirits will withdraw their blessings, and they will not provide backup, information, or mystical assistance to the Garou.
Unless you are playing a rather unique game, like a pack of Ronin, you are under the direct authority of a sept of Garou. This means they are responsible for your actions, and the spirits will expect them to do something about your poor behavior if it is bad enough—and the actions a Jew would be expected to take against demons and false gods would certainly qualify. If they don't, the spirits may decide to withdraw their aid from the sept as a whole!
So not only will the spirits make your life a living hell, the other members of the sept will be dragging you back to the caern for judgment.
The severity of your punishment will depend on what you did. Spouting venom about them will get more mundane punishments, like particularly unpleasant chores and being lectured by the Theurge for hours. Murdering the "demons" because they're "evil" even after you've had it all explained to you will probably earn you the Rite of Silver Death, because you're not honorable enough for the Hunt.
Managing to do anything actually significant to the nature spirits (let's say you defile the caern) would get you the Rite of Gaia's Vengeful Teeth, which does the following:
Every surface of Gaia — every loose stone, blade of grass, and splashing brook — transforms into razor-edged silver just before the traitor can touch it. They cannot cross into the Umbra while they are still anointed with your blood. You and the other Garou give the traitor a head start, and then give chase. The ensuing attempt at escape forces the traitor to cut themselves to ribbons on Gaia's back. Once dead, their name is struck from all histories, only ever invoked as a curse.
Syncreticization of Yahweh and Gaia would work, but anything that puts you in opposition to the spirits is a bad idea.
