The history
of the Catholic Church in Texas began with the arrival of Spanish
explorers and missionaries in the 16th Century. Missions throughout Texas
and the southwest were established by Franciscan friars for the care of
souls. Following the Texas War of Independence in 1836, Catholics found
themselves cut off from Church authorities in Mexico and appealed to Rome
for assistance. In response to these appeals, Pope Gregory XVI designated
Texas as an Apostolic Prefecture in 1839 with Father John Timon, C.M. as
Prefect Apostolic. Father Jean Marie Odin, C.M., was named the Vice
Prefect.
 When Father
Odin arrived in Texas in 1840, there were five parishes for the entire
state serving 12,000
Catholics. Soon settlers from the United States, France, Germany, Ireland,
Italy, Poland and all other parts of Europe came to Texas. In 1842, Pope
Gregory XVI raised the Prefecture of Texas to the level of a Vicariate
Apostolic and Father Odin was ordained a bishop to care for the Vicariate.
Five years later in 1847, Pope Pius IX created the Diocese of Galveston
with The Right Reverend Jean Marie Odin, C.M. as the first bishop. The
diocese was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of her
Immaculate Conception and St. Mary’s Church in Galveston was named as
the Cathedral.
 The Diocese
of Galveston, which encompassed the entire state of Texas, was ministered
to by Bishop Odin and ten priests. Bishop Odin continued to serve the
Diocese of Galveston until 1861 when he was named Archbishop of New
Orleans. He was succeeded by The Right Reverend Claude Marie Dubuis, who
like Bishop Odin was a native of France. Bishop Dubuis saw the diocese
through the turmoil of the Civil War years. Following the war, additional
parishes, hospitals and schools were established throughout the diocese.
In 1874, the Diocese of Galveston was split when the western half of the
State of Texas was established as the Diocese of San Antonio. This first
division was a sign of the growth of the Church in Texas.
 Upon Bishop
Dubuis’ retirement to France in 1881 due to poor health, The Right
Reverend Nicholas A. Gallagher became the Apostolic Administrator and
later the third Bishop of Galveston. Under his guidance, the diocese
continued to grow and additional priests and religious were invited to
serve in the area. At the time of his death in 1918, there were over
70,000 Catholics and 120 parishes.
Succeeding
Bishop Gallagher was Bishop Christopher Byrne  who served as bishop for
thirty-two years. During his episcopacy, the Diocese of Austin was created
and Houston began to grow dramatically. The number of churches in Houston
grew from eight to twenty-eight and the number of Catholics in the diocese
increased from 70,000 to 250,000. |
Bishop Byrne was followed by the
Most Reverend Wendelin J.
 Nold, the first native Texan to be bishop of the
diocese. Throughout Bishop Nold’s administration, he stressed Catholic
education. Catholic High schools were built as well as new facilities for
St. Mary’s Seminary, which was founded in La Porte in 1901. In 1959, the
diocese was redesignated as the “Diocese of Galveston-Houston” and
Sacred Heart Church, Houston was named the Co-Cathedral. This change
reflected the growth of the Houston area. With the redesignation of the
diocese, a new chancery building was built in Houston and the
administrative offices were transferred in 1963.
Due to
progressive blindness, Bishop Nold was prompted to resign from the
administration of the diocese. Bishop John L. Morkovsky, Bishop of
Amarillo, was named as a Coadjutor Bishop and Apostolic Administrator of
the diocese in 1963. Upon Bishop Nold’s retirement in 1975, Bishop
Morkovsky, who had seen the diocese through the changes of Vatican II,
succeeded him as the sixth bishop of the Diocese. Texas continued to
experience tremendous growth which led to further divisions of the
diocese, including the diocese of Beaumont (1966), Victoria (1982) and
Tyler (1987). Bishop Morkovsky served the diocese until he retired in
1985, when he was succeeded by Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza, Bishop of San
Angelo.
 Bishop Fiorenza, the first native of the diocese to serve as the
Diocesan Bishop, shepherds over 1,200,000 Catholics in 151 parishes and nine
missions.
The Diocese
of San Antonio, created from the original Diocese of Galveston
in 1874, was created an Archdiocese in 1926. By 2004, there
were fifteen dioceses in Texas, making the Texas province the
largest in the world. On December 29, 2004, Pope John Paul II
created a second archdiocese in Texas, raising the Diocese of
Galveston-Houston to the status of a Metropolitan Archdiocese.
Bishop Fiorenza was named the first Archbishop of
Galveston-Houston, and Bishop DiNardo the Coadjutor Archbishop.
 Archbishop DiNardo became ordinary of the archdiocese upon Archbishop Fiorenza's retirement in 2006.
Pope Benedict XVI elevated Abp. DiNardo
to the position of Cardinal on Nov. 24, 2007.
Cardinal DiNardo is currently assisted by two auxiliary bishops, Bishop Emeritus Vincent M. Rizzotto and Bishop Joe S. Vasquez. Previous auxiliary bishops have been Bishop John, McCarthy, the late Bishop Enrique San Pedro, S.J., and Bishops Curtis J. Guillory, S.V.D., and James Tamayo.
|
|
|
