Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston
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The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston (Latin: Archidioecesis Galvestoniensis Houstoniensis) encompasses 8,880 square miles of ten counties in the southeastern area of Texas: Galveston; Harris; Austin; Brazoria; Fort Bend; Grimes; Montgomery; San Jacinto; Walker; and Waller.
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[edit] History
The archdiocesan history began with the erection of the prefecture apostolic of Texas in 1839, thus making Galveston the "Mother Church of Texas". The prefecture was elevated to a vicariate apostolic on July 10, 1841. On May 4, 1847, the vicariate became the Diocese of Galveston.
The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 had devastated the city of Galveston. After the hurricane, the city of Houston began to expand after the Port of Houston was completed. On July 25, 1959, the name of the diocese was changed to Galveston-Houston since Houston overshadowed Galveston and became the dominant city of southeast Texas.
In December, 2004, Pope John Paul II created the new Ecclesiastical Province of Galveston-Houston and elevated the See of Galveston-Houston to a Metropolitan See. Bishop Fiorenza, who had led the diocese for 20 years, became the first Archbishop of Galveston-Houston, and Bishop DiNardo became Coadjutor Archbishop.
The suffragans of the archdiocese of Galveston-Houston include the dioceses of: Austin; Beaumont; Brownsville; Corpus Christi; Tyler; and Victoria in Texas.
Within the archdiocese, many famous landmarks are contained. St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica, one of the few buildings and only church to survive the 1900 Galveston Storm. It is the original cathedral for the diocese and in fact the oldest cathedral in Texas and as such, is considered the mother church of the Catholic Church in Texas. Another building to survive the storm is the bishop's palace, a Victorian style mansion in Galveston. Another old Church, and one of the oldest in Texas, is Annunciation Church in downtown Houston across from Minute Maid Park.
[edit] Bishops
The current Archbishop of Galveston-Houston is His Excellency Archbishop Daniel DiNardo. He became archbishop on February 28, 2006, upon Pope Benedict XVI's acceptance of Joseph Fiorenza's retirement.
There are also two auxiliary bishops, Bishops Vincent M. Rizzotto and Joe S. Vásquez.
Here is a complete list of all ordinaries of the see:
- Prefecture Apostolic of Texas
- Prefects:
- John Timon: (1840-1847)
- Prefects:
- Vicariate Apostolic of Texas
- Vicar Apostolic:
- Diocese of Galveston
- Diocese of Galveston-Houston (name changed in 1959)
- Bishops:
- Wendelin Joseph Nold: (1959-1975)
- John Louis Morkovsky: (1975-1984)
- Joseph Fiorenza: (1984-2004)
- Daniel DiNardo: (Coadjutor 2003-2004)
- Bishops:
- Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston (elevated in 2004)
- Archbishops:
- Joseph Fiorenza: (2004-2006, Archbishop Emeritus 2006-Present)
- Daniel DiNardo: (Coadjutor 2004-2006, Archbishop 2006-Present)
- Archbishops:
[edit] Statistics
About 1.3 million Catholics live within archdiocesan boundaries, making the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston the largest in the state of Texas and the eleventh largest in the United States. Catholics make up about 21.4% of the total population. There are about 447 priests, 200 diocesan, 206 religious, and 33 other, which means there are about 2,297 Catholics per priest. the archdiocese has about 378 permanent deacons. All these clergy serve about 150 parishes. [1]
[edit] Schools
See: List of schools in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston
