1. Alexander Sample previously served as Bishop of Marquette from 2005 to 2013.
21 Facts About Alexander Sample
1. 2.
Alexander Sample's father was of Scottish heritage and his mother Polish.
3.
The younger Alexander Sample graduated from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1978.
4.
Alexander Sample attended Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in 1982 and a Master of Science degree in metallurgical engineering in 1984.
5.
Alexander Sample was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Marquette by Bishop Mark Schmitt on June 1,1990.
6.
In 1994, Alexander Sample entered the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas, earning a Licentiate of Canon Law in 1996.
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Alexander Sample served as a member of the college of consultors, as director of ministry personnel services and of ongoing formation of priests, and diocesan chaplain to the Knights of Columbus.
8.
Alexander Sample was director of the Bishop Baraga Association and vice-postulator of the cause of beatification for Bishop Frederic Baraga, a 19th-century missionary to Native Americans in the Upper Midwest.
9.
On December 13,2005, Alexander Sample was appointed the twelfth bishop of the Diocese of Marquette by Pope Benedict XVI.
10.
Alexander Sample received his episcopal consecration on January 25,2006, from Cardinal Adam Maida, with Bishops James Garland and Mark Schmitt serving as co-consecrators.
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At the time of his consecration, Alexander Sample was the youngest Catholic bishop in the United States and the first to be born in the 1960s.
12.
Alexander Sample selected as his episcopal motto: "Vultum Christi contemplari", meaning "To contemplate the face of Christ".
13.
On October 7,2007, at the invitation of Archbishop Raymond Burke, Alexander Sample attended the Red Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St Louis, delivering the homily.
14.
In July 2012, Alexander Sample ordained five seminarians to the diaconate, and ten new subdeacons.
15.
On January 29,2013, Alexander Sample was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Portland, succeeding the retiring Archbishop John Vlazny.
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Alexander Sample was the last American residential bishop appointed during the pontificate of Benedict XVI.
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Alexander Sample was installed on April 2,2013, at the Chiles Center Arena on the campus of the University of Portland.
18.
In May 2018, Alexander Sample directed that Catholics attending Mass in the archdiocese must kneel after chanting the Lamb of God until they receive communion.
19.
In March 2025, Archbishop Alexander Sample issued a formal statement in response to Oregon Governor Tina Kotek's proclamation of Abortion Provider Appreciation Day.
20.
In December 2016, at a Mass celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Alexander Sample condemned racist and bigoted language used against minorities by Donald Trump in the 2016 US Presidential Election Campaign.
21.
In 2023, Alexander Sample released guidelines for the Portland Archdiocese regarding gender and pronouns.