Joseph Projectus Machebeuf

Joseph Projectus Machebeuf (August 11, 1812 – July 10, 1889) was a French Roman Catholic missionary and the first Bishop of Denver.

Biography

The eldest of five children, Machebeuf was born in Riom to Michael and Gilberte (née Plauc) Machebeuf. He received his early education from the Brothers of the Christian Schools, and studied the classics in the college of his native city.

He served as a curate in Le Cendre until 1839, when he accepted the invitation of Bishop John Baptist Purcell to join the Diocese of Cincinnati, Ohio, in the United States.

Following the elevation of Lamy to Vicar Apostolic of New Mexico in 1850, Machebeuf accompanied him and became his vicar-general. He served as pastor at Albuquerque (1853–1858) and at Santa Fe (1858–1860) before being transferred to Colorado, where he was thrown from his carriage while descending a spur of the Rocky Mountains and left lame. In Colorado, he organized parishes, procured priests and by 1868 had erected eighteen churches. He also built the first church in Denver.

On March 3, 1868, Machebeuf was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Colorado and Utah as well as Titular Bishop of Epiphania in Cilicia by Pope Pius IX.

He is also the namesake of Bishop Machebeuf High School, located in Denver, Colorado; the school was founded in 1958.