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Texas' Catholic history is a diverse and long one. Read below for statistics as well as a brief history of the Church in Texas.
In Texas there are....
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6,586,240 Catholics
2 Archdioceses
13 Dioceses
1 Cardinal
3 Archbishops
25 Bishops
2,078 Priests
1,610 Deacons
2,314 Sisters
229 Brothers
1,323 Parishes and Missions
25 Catholic Hospitals
74 Catholic Heathcare Centers
86 Catholic Social Service Centers
9 Catholic Colleges and Universities
6 Diocesan Seminaries
73,332 Students in 422 Catholic Schools
363,278 Students in Parish Religious Education
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Source: 2008 Official Catholic Directory
Click here to read information on Catholic US population by State
A Brief History of the Catholic Church in Texas
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| Mission San Antonio de Valero (The Alamo), ca. 1860-1868. |
Texas' Catholic roots date as far back as the 1520s when the first Europeans arrived. [i] Spanish explorer Juan de Oñate, who came to America from Spain, began settling the Rio Grande Valley in 1598. [ii] Indeed the first permanent settlements of Texas that still exist today, Corpus Christi de la Isleta and Nuestra Señora de la Limpia Concepción del Socorro in the El Paso, were founded by the Franciscans in 1682. [iii] Spanish missionaries had established six missions in East Texas by 1690. [iv] Missions located in San Antonio and El Paso were founded during this time as well, and later blossomed into some of Texas' largest cities by the 20th century.
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. Recognizing the growth of Catholics in Texas, Pope Gregory XVI raised the Prefecture of Texas to the level of a Vicariate Apostolic in 1842, and Father Odin, C.M. was ordained a bishop to care for the Vicariate. [v]
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| Father Odin |
Five years later in 1847, Pope Pius IX created the Diocese of Galveston, which included the entire state of Texas, and selected Father Odin as the first bishop. [vi]
In 1849 Bishop Odin brought the Oblates of Mary Immaculate to Texas to aid in ministering to Catholics in the diocese. The sisters began the horseback ministry, visiting more than 100 ranchos and communities located along the Rio Grande river. [vii]
The Church in Texas continued to grow and in 1874 the Vicariate Apostolic of Brownsville was established. [viii] The Vicariate was home to between 30,000 and 40,000 Catholics, the majority of whom could trace their heritage to settlers brought in the mid-eighteenth century by José de Escandón, known as the "father of the Rio Grande Valley" for his colonization efforts. [ix]
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Oblate Missionaries were often known as the "Cavalry of Christ.”
Herethe missionaries areaccompanied by Bishop Ledvina
of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, 1920s.
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By the end of the 1840s, Texas' Catholics included native Hispanics as well as Catholics from France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland and other parts of Europe and the United States. For the next 50 years, dozens of Texas towns would be created by these groups of Catholic settlers. [x]
Two hundred Irish Catholic families from New York established the town of San Patricio de Hibernia by 1834.[xi]As early as the 1840s, Czech and German Catholics settled Texas towns including Dubina, Warrenton, West and Ammansville. Czechs who settled Hostyn established the first Czech Catholic school in Texas in 1868. [xii]
Today there are approximately 7.4 million Catholics in Texas including over 5,000 priests, deacons, and religious.[xiii] More than 1.9 million of Texas' Catholics are Hispanic and studies predict that by the second decade of the 21st century, over 50% of U.S. Catholics will likely be Hispanic.[xiv]Other Catholic ethnic groups in Texas also continue to grow. The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston's Ethnic ministry department has offices for Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Korean, Nigerian, and Vietnamese Catholics in addition to offices for African American and Hispanic Catholics.
[i] Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/CC/icc1.html(accessed November 30, 2007).
[ii] Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/OO/fon2.html(accessed December 10, 2007).
[iii] Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/CC/icc1.html(accessed November 30, 2007).
[iv ]Rhodes, Andy. "On a Mission." The Medallion: 10-13.
[v] "History of the Archdiocese." The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. 10 Dec. 2007 <http://www.diogh.org/about_history.htm>.
[vi ]Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/BB/icb2.html(accessed December 10, 2007).
"History of the Archdiocese." The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. 10 Dec. 2007 <http://www.diogh.org/about_history.htm>.
[vii ]Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/BB/icb2.html(accessed December 10, 2007).
[viii] Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/BB/icb2.html(accessed December 10, 200
[ix] Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/BB/icb2.html(accessed December 10, 200
Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/EE/fes1.html(accessed December 10, 2007).
[x] "History of the Archdiocese." The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. 10 Dec. 2007 <http://www.diogh.org/about_history.htm>.
[xi] Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/SS/hls13.html(accessed December 7, 2007).
[xii] "Czech Heritage Tour." Czech Heritage Society of Texas. 10 Dec. 2007 <http://www.czechs.org/pages/toca02.html>.
[xiii] 2006 Official Catholic Directory
[xiv] 2006 Catholic Almanac (Huntington, Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor, 2005), p. 426.
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