South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 9, Ed. 1 Friday, May 2, 2003 Page: 5 of 20
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Gulf Coast Register/South Texas Catholic and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries.
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May 2, 2003
diocese
South Texas Catholic -
As the mother church of the Diocese of Corpus Christi
celebrates tsl 50th anniversary, it’s time to remember:
The People of Cathedral Parish
1853-2003
Based on published research by Sister Mary Xavier Holworthy, I.W.B.S.
and Hannah Haecelin
With additions by Mscr. Michael A. Howell
and Geraldine D. McGloin
In 1853 the community welcomed
their first resident pastor. Father Bernard
O’Reilly was assigned by the Bishop of
Galveston (whose diocese included the
whole state of Texas) to minister to the
Catholics in the area. Fr. O’Reilly was
born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1821. He had
studied at All Hallows College and came
to the missionary area of Texas where he
was ordained by Bishop Odin of Galves-
ton in 1852.
He initially lived with the Cahill fam-
ily while he applied for citizenship and
began completing Fr. Fitzgerald’s plans to
build a church. Father O’Reilly had rela-
tives living in the area of Corpus Christi-
San Patricio and presumably welcomed
the opportunity to take up residence near
his family.
The parish community Fr. O’Reilly
served would in time reflect the strength
of an immigrant nation, America. Irish
and Mexican families are often mentioned
in connection with the early parish; how-
ever, the records reveal a group that came
from many different places and cultures
and spoke numerous languages. Parish di-
versity also existed in education, income
levels and age.
There were those from the eastern
states who had grown up and been edu-
cated in a much more sophisticated en-
vironment, worshiping along with those
from a more modest background. There
were numerous French parishioners, cler-
ics and women religious.
People from Spain, Germany, Switzer-
land and England attended Mass. All were
to contribute to the growth and develop-
ment of a young, vibrant community.
Perhaps the fact that services were in
Latin was a good thing, as the congrega-
tion spoke a variety of tongues. The soft
tones of the priest saying the Mass in
Latin must have provided a certain level
of comfort to the people, hearing the
prayers in a common language, familiar
to all, regardless of place of origin.
To be continued...
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There are literally thousands of
stories about the people who have
been involved with the life of the par-
ish over the past 150 years. Many left
examples of faith and courage worthy
of reflection as we celebrate our ses-
quicentennial anniversary These are
only a few of their stories.
Part 1 of 10
% - /hen the Corpus Christi
\ j Caller announced the
lr w funeral of Mrs. Genoveva
Cortez Rios de Riviera in February
of 1923, it noted that Father Alva-
rez would be conducting the funeral
services for this matriarch and that she
had been born in San Antonio in 1810.
Senora Riviera had moved to the Cor-
pus Christi area when she was about
17 or 18 years old (circa 1827 or 1828)
and was married to Antonio Riviera by
Colonel Frederick Belden before then
making their residence on the Belden
property with Frederick and his wife,
Maria Arocha.
The obituary was a testimony to the
presence of a population in this area
even before it was known as Corpus
Henry L. Kinney
Portrait by Matthew Brady
Library of Congress
on Kinney’s ranch on
August 3, 1845. It was
Fr. James Fitzgerald,
however, who began
visiting our area about
1848 to say Mass and
administer the sacra-
ments for the growing
Catholic community
who met in homes like
those owned by Rich-
ard Power and Corne-
lius Cahill. Richard
Power was born in
Waterford, Ireland, in
1804, and died in Cor-
pus Christi on April 11,
1879. He arrived in this
area while the future
state of Texas was still a
part of Mexico.
Cornelius Cahill was
the son of Daniel Cahill
and Mary McDonald and had emigrated from
Ireland with the family to Quebec, then New
York, and then New Orleans before settling
in Illinois in the fall of 1838. In Illinois he
lived near the homes of the Kinneys, Mer-
rimans and others who would later become
early Corpus Christi pioneers. While most
of the Cahill family remained in Illinois,
young Cornelius and his family continued
to follow fellow citizens H. L. Kinney, Walter
Merriman, and James Myers by moving to
the Nueces Valley. Cornelius settled in Cor-
pus Christi in the 1840s as an early merchant
and Justice of the Peace. It was in his home
that Fr. Fitzgerald stayed and celebrated
Mass when visiting and began a collection to
build a church for the community.
Fr. Fitzgerald’s plans for a church were
cut short when he was caught in a storm.
Drenched with rain, he became sick, and in
weakened health, died a victim of the yellow
fever in Victoria on July 28, 1849, at only 28
years of age. Fr. James Giraudon succeeded
Fr. Fitzgerald as pastor in Victoria and con-
tinued the practice of visiting such outposts
as Corpus Christi, where he, too, celebrated
Mass in the home of Mr. Cahill on Water
Street or in the home of Richard Powers on
Broadway and Lipan.
Christi. The article
was also a wit-
ness to the early
Catholic popula-
tion (including the
Rivieras and the
Beldens) who were
initially served
by priests visiting
from such places as
Laredo and Victoria
for years prior to
the establishment
of a permanent
parish in this area.
Early records
show that after the
establishment of
Kinney’s Trad-
ing Post in 1839,
Corpus Christi
was visited by such
priests as Fathers
Estany, Querat, Padey, and Fitzgerald.
Fr. Ubald Estany, C.M., was a Vin-
centian priest who came to Texas with
Bishop Odin in 1840, resided on the
San Antonio River, and visited villages
in a circumference of 400 miles. Capt.
W. S. Henry said that he even attended
Catholic services at one of the houses
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Goldapp, Paula J. South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 9, Ed. 1 Friday, May 2, 2003, newspaper, May 2, 2003; Corpus Christi, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth856138/m1/5/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .