The Parish Post (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 7, Ed. 1 Sunday, June 21, 1959 Page: 1 of 16
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£ 0 A AO X U MB DEVELOPMENT OF THE
V PL W W I El CORPUS CHRIST! DIOCESE
YOUR CATHOLIC WEEKLY
Published Weekly With the Approbation of the Most Rev. M. S. Gcmeja. O.D., LL.D.,
VOLUME vii Bhhop of Corpus Christ! SPECIAL EDITION
CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS
Price Fire Cents
Second Class Postage Paid
At Corpus Chrusti, Texas
SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 1959
History of The Diocese
The Diocese of Corpus Christi
occupies the Southern, triangular
point of Texas, comprising 22,391
square miles of territory: 75
miles c£ G*ulf Coast on the east,
the Rio Grande on the South and
West, and the Nueces River, Las
Hermanas and San Roque Creeks
. as a general boundary on the
. north. North of the Nueces River
. the area includes and runs along
Live Oak, Bee, Goliad and Re-
fugio counties-
The state of Texas was ori-
ginally attached to the province^
of Mexico, specifically to.. the..
Diocese of Guadalajara until
1793/1 and then, one year later,
to the Diocese of Monterrey.
There is further . evidence to
support the fact that between
1794 arid 1842, probably after
1800, the southwestern part of
the state belonged to .- Monter-
rey, and the rest of the state
to the Diocese of Durango, "
But beginning with the year
1842, Texas was separated from
Mexico and became a distinct ec-
clesiastical entity. On July 16,
.1841, Pope Gregory XVI issued a
Bull erecting the Republic of
Texas into a Vicariate Apostolic,
and the Rt. Rev. John M. Odin,
C-M*» was appointed Bishop of
Claudiopols, and the first Prefect
Apostolic of the newly constituted
Vicariate. On March 15, 1863,
Bishop Odin -was appointed to
Diocesan See of New Orleans. In
the words of Father Shea, “The
Church in Texas was in a manner
his own work and he left it with
regret ‘ He had found only four
priests and a few ruined churches;
but he left it with 50 churches,
attended by 40‘ priests; and with
a thriving College and four Aca-
demies. This was the work of 20
years.
Father Dubuis arrived at Gal-
veston, May 25, 1846* He was
ordained on June 1, 1844, He la-
bored in the Diocese of Gal-
veston until 1862 when" he was
appointed to succeed- Bishop
Odin as Bishop of Galveston.
When the Diocese of Galveston
was divided in 1874, into the
Diocese of San Antonio and the
Vicariate Apostolic of Browns-
ville, there were 55 churches
and chapels, with S3 priests
and 100,000 Catholics. These fi-
gures show the growth of the
Church in Texas, and speak
louder than words of the zeal
and energy of the saintly Bis-
hop Dubuis and of his predeces-
sor in the field-
The Reverend Dominic Manucy,
a native of Alabama was appoint-
ed the First Vicar Apostolic of
Brownsville. He was consecrated
Titular Bishop of Dulma, Decem-
ber S, 1874, at Mobile, Alabama,
February 11, 1875- He presided
and was installed at Brownsville,
over the territory for 10 years
until he was transferred to the
See of Mobile, Alabama, on
March 9, 1885. It was during his
administration, while in residence
in Corpus Christi, that old St.
Patrick’s Cathedr.^ was tyaiit in
After Bishop Manucy’s death
on Dee. I, 1885, Father Jaillet
who had been appointed as
Vicar General by Manucy, was
reappointed as administrator by
the Most Rev.- Archbishop
Leray; and a few weeks after,
in February, 1S86, his appoint-
ment was confirmed by Cardi-
nal Shneoni, under the title of
Administrate Sede Vacante. On
May 8, 1887, Rt. Rev. J. C-
Neraz, Bishop of San Antonio,
was appointed ^also Administra-
te of ;Brovfnsville; but having
already an immense diocese to'
Tnc tremendous growth of the
Diocese of Corpus Christi can
only be compared with the tre-
mendous need for further expan-
sion of our churches and schools
now serving the Catholic popula-
tion of South Texas.
With a Catholic population in-
crease »n the Diocese of 18,000
per year, the National Directory
shows a total of 504,000-
To serve these almost half
a million souls, there are 86
parishes with resident pastors and
two non-resident pastor. There
are also 111 missions, 63 sta-
tions; 11 chapels with resident
chaplains and 52 with non-resi-
dent chaplains.
Within the vast diocese there
are two parochial high schools, 6
private high schools, 52 Elemen-
tary parochial schools, 4 private
elementary schools which provide
a Catholic education for some
56,534 Catholic youths.
The Catholic School System is
operating with a total of 468
teachers- Of these, 12 priests
teach full time, 23 brothers, 301
Sisters and 132 Lay teachers
teach an average of 120 children
each.
The diocese has three schools of
nursing with 110 student nurses
in training. Catholic institutions
operate three general hospitals
who care for some 43,000 patients
annually.
There are two orphanages,
and three homes for aged.
Last year our 211 priests of
the Diocese baptised ID,973 in-
fants and preformed the Sacra-
ment of Marriage for 2836
couples. The Directory shows that
449 converts were brought into
the church durig 1958-
1831. .
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visit, delegated Father Jaillet
as Vicar General to administer
the Vicariate.
Bishop Manucy was succeeded
by Rt- Rev. Peter Verdaguer, a
native of Spain, and at the time
of his appointment, a pastor in
Los Angeles, California, Our
Lady - the .-»..g<ns Chuif.h. He
was consecrated Titular iBishop
of Aulon, November 9, 1890, at
THE MOST REVEREND MARIANO S. GARRIGA, D.D.,LL-D.,
ORDINARY OF THE DIOCESE OF CORPUS CHRISTI
— Color Photo by Fritz Herr
Barcelona, Spain. He took formal
possession of his Vicariate at Cor-
pus Christi, on May 21, 1891. He
passed to his eternal reward on
October 26, 1911.
On March 23, tin2, the Holy
Father, Pope Pius X. through
the trgat^on of the Consis-
tory, elevated the Vicariate
Apostolic of Brownsville to the
rank of a Diocese, with the City
of Corpus Christi as the Dioce-
san Sec. On May 9, of the
same year, the Very Rev. Fran-
cis Racine, Vicar General of
the Diocese of New Orleans, ar-
rived in Corpus Christi Carry-
ing with him the Bull from
Rome authorizing the erection
of the Diocese of Corpus Chris-
ti, as well as other documents
showing that he had been sub-
delegated by His Grace. The
Most Reverend J, H.- Blenk, to
erect the new Diocese. Accord-
ing to the tenor of the Bull of
erection, the Archives were re-
moved from the City of Laredo,
former Seat of the Vicariate
where Bishop Verdaquer resid-
ed, to the City of Corpus Chris-
ti, and St. Patrick’s Church was
elevated to the Dignity of a
Cathedral.
Upon the elevation of .the Vi-
cariate of Brownsville to a resi-
dential See in 1912, Rt Rev- Paul
J. Nussbaum became the first
Bishop of the Diocese of Corpus
Christi. He was a member of the
Passionist Order of the Eastern
Province with headquarters at
West Hoboken, New Jersey, now
called Union City. The Consecra-
tion of Bishop Nussbaum took
place at the Passionist Monastery
Church In West Hoboken, on May
20, 1913. The Apostolic Delegate,
Monsignor John Bonzano of
Washing-ion, D. C-, officiated.
Bishop Nussbaum arrived in Cor-
pus Christi on Sunday afternoon,
June 8, and received a real south-
ern welcome from the people of
the city- The formal installation
of the Bishop took place in St.
Patrick's Cathedral at 7:00 p.ra.,
that same Sunday, June 8, 1918-
Bishop Nussbaum spent seven
years in -the Diocese. Owing to
the infirmities resulting from a
railroad accident on January 25,
1918, and finding- the traveling
necessary. in the large Diocese of
(Continued to page 4)
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Baca, Allen. The Parish Post (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 7, Ed. 1 Sunday, June 21, 1959, newspaper, June 21, 1959; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth835768/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .