Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston encompasses 8,880 square miles of ten counties in the southeastern area of
Texas:
Harris;
Galveston;
Austin;
Brazoria;
Fort Bend;
Grimes;
Montgomery;
San Jacinto;
Walker; and
Waller.
Encyclopedia
The Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston encompasses 8,880 square miles of ten counties in the southeastern area of
Texas:
Harris;
Galveston;
Austin;
Brazoria;
Fort Bend;
Grimes;
Montgomery;
San Jacinto;
Walker; and
Waller.
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 was the original
cathedral for the diocese and in fact the oldest cathedral 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 Anunciation Church in downtown Houston.
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
- Vicariate Apostolic of Texas
- Diocese of Galveston
- Bishops:
- Jean Marie Odin:
- Claude Marie Dubuis:
- Nicolaus Aloysius Gallagher:
- Christopher Edward Byrne:
- Wendelin Joseph Nold:
- Diocese of Galveston-Houston
- Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston
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.
Schools
The Archdiocese helps operate several Catholic schools within its area.
- Our Lady of the Lake University
- University of St. Thomas
K-12 schools
Secondary schools
High schools
- Incarnate Word Academy
- Mount Carmel High School
- O'Connell Consolidated High School
- Pope John XXIII High School
- St. Agnes Academy
- St. Pius X High School
- St. Thomas High School
- Strake Jesuit College Preparatory
Middle/Junior high schools
- Seton Catholic Junior High School
- St. Peter the Apostle Middle School
PK-9 schools
- St. Catherine Montessori School
K-8 schools
- Corpus Christi School
- Galveston Catholic School
- Holy Ghost School
- Holy Name School
- Holy Rosary School
- Our Lady of Guadalupe School
- Our Lady of Mount Carmel School
- Our Mother of Mercy School
- Queen of Peace School
- The Regis School of the Sacred Heart
- Sacred Heart School
- St. Ambrose School
- St. Anne School
- St. Anne School
- St. Augustine School
- St. Cecilia School
- St. Christopher School
- St. Edward School
- St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School
- St. Francis of Assissi
- St. Helen School
- St. Jerome School
- St. Laurence School
- St. Martha School
- St. Mary School
- St. Pius V School
- St. Theresa School
- St. Thomas More School
- St. Vincent de Paul School
- True Cross School
PK-8 schools
- John Paul II School
- Northwoods Catholic School
- Our Lady Queen of Peace School
- Resurrection School
- Sacred Heart School
- St. Anthony of Padua School
- St. Francis de Sales School
- St. Michael School
Primary schools
K-6 schools
- Our Lady of Fatima School
- Our Lady of Lourdes School
- St. Mary Magdalene School
PK-6 schools
- Our Lady of Fatima School
- St. Joseph School
K-5
- St. Charles Borromeo School
- St. Clare of Assisi School
- St. Mary of the Purification School
- St. Philip Neri School
- St. Rose of Lima School
External links
