Cardinal DiNardo and TCC staff

"Our state's faith tradition is a strong one, continued by the millions of people who daily live out their faith by obeying the law, loving one another, and helping the less fortunate," said Governor Perry. "Cardinal DiNardo embodies the example of a life lived by faith. He understands the unique culture of our state and is living proof that the Roman Catholic faith is alive and well and thriving in Texas."

Cardinal "I think what the Holy Father and the Holy See are saying is that the whole south and southwestern part of the United States with its variety of people, obviously a major portion of whom are Hispanic, is a noteworthy and beautiful addition for the Catholic Church in the United States and they wanted to recognize that," Cardinal DiNardo said.

Bishop Gregory Aymond of the Diocese of Austin agreed, stating that the elevation "is a clear indication of Pope Benedict XVI' s awareness of the growth of the Catholic Church in Texas."

Cardinal DiNardo celebrates his elevation with his brother bishop Gregory Aymond of the Diocese of Austin, as well as Austin seminarian Kevin Jackson and Jason Bonifazi,  a seminarian from the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston

Texas' Catholic roots date as far back as the 1520s when the first Europeans arrived.

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]

Father Odin

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]

Oblate Missionaries were often known as the "Cavalry of Christ." Here the missionaries are accompanied by Bishop Ledvina of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, 1920s.

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 21^st 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.

[xiii]2006 Official Catholic Directory

[xiv]2006 Catholic Almanac (Huntington, Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor, 2005), p. 426.