TEXAS
549
TEXAS
administered confirmation (18 Jan., 1841), to Mar- Marie Dubuis, D.D. In 1872 we find the immense
garetDe Lacy whom he had converted and baptized on territory of the diocese organized into the four dis-
the 15th of the same month. The entry in the
"Liber Confirmatorum" of Galveston Diocese certi-
fying to this sacred function may be said, together
with the baptismal record beginning 7 December,
1840, to mark the beginning of the history of the
Diocese of Galveston (q. v.)
tricts of Galveston, San Antonio, Brownsville, and
Laredo, a vice-chancellor being [provided for each dis-
trict. This organization prepared the way for the
ecclesiastical division (1874) of the State of Texas, El
Paso County excepted as before. All east of the
Colorado River remained the Diocese of Galveston,
The Prefecture Apostolic of Texas was made a while out of the territory west and south of this river
vicariate ApostoUc in 1842 by the Bull of Pope Greg- and within the limits of the State were erected the
ory XVI, published 10 July, 1841. Rt. Rev, Jean- Diocese of San Antonio (q. v.), reaching from the
Marie Odin, previously vice-prefect ApostoUc, was Colorado to the Nueces River, and the Vicariate
consecrated Bishop of Claudiopolis and made vicar Apostolic of Brownsville (q. v.), now (1912) the Dio-
Apostolic. Bishop Odin, too, had previously refused cese of Corpus Christi, westward to the Rio Grande,
to be made Coadjutor Bishop of Detroit (May, 1841). A second division of the Diocese of Galveston was
In fact Texas was singularly blessed at that time in made in 1890 at the request of Bishop N. A. Gallagher
having labourers who were quickly deemed worthy of and the Diocese of Dallas (q. v.) was formed out of its
important bishojirics. Bishop Timon was visitor of northern and north-western portions. In 1891 El
Paso County hitherto
the hou.«os of his order
in Texas and through-
out thelTnited States
until 1847 when he
was made Bishop of
Buffalo. Rev. John
J, Lynch, CM., one
of the companions of
Bishop Odin on his
coming to Galveston
(29 May, 1841), was
made president of St.
Mary's College, Bar-
rens, Missouri, in
1848; after a service
of some years in Texas
founded Niagara l"ni-
v( rsity (Our Lady of
Angels, Niagara Falls,
N. Y.) in 185(5; and
was consecrated Bish-
op of ^Echina.s and
Coadjutor of Toronto
in 1859. In ISfjO he
Mission
belonging to theVica^
riate Apostolic of Ari-
zona was attached to
the Diocese of Dallas.
Thus within theState
and embracing all of
its territory are the
four Dioceses, Gal-
veston, San Antonio,
Dallas, and Corpus
Christi. The popu-
lat ion of the Diocese
of Galveston is given
(1912) as 70,000:
whites, 65,000;
blacks, 1200; Mexi-
cans, 3800. St.
M:iry's University,
Galveston, is con-
ducted by the Jesuit
fathers. "St. Mary's
Seminary at La
Porte is now being
succeeded to the See of Toronto and became its managed by diocesan priests, under the presidency
first archbishop and Metropolitan of Ontario in
1870. In 1844 the settlement of New Braun-
fels, Comal County, was founded and in 1845
Castroville. The colonists were mainly Cathohc
Alsatians. Other Cathohc immigrants, Poles, Ger-
mans, Bohemians, Italians, and others, have since
continually come into the State. The State of
Texas, with the exception of El Paso County, which
was subject to the Vicariate of Arizona, was erected
into a diocese in 1847 with Bishop Odin as bishop.
There were then thirteen priests, including the bishop,
in this vast territory. Of these at least six were of
the Congregation of the Mi.ssion. In 1849 three
Oblates of \Iary Immaculate were brought from Can-
ada by Bishop Odin and two of these were sent to
Fort Brown, Brownsville, on the Rio Grande. In
spite of the privations and hardships of the Rio
Grande Mission, and even their temporary withdrawal,
enforced by lack of means, the Oblate Fathers have
exercised their zeal in the State of Texas. Schools,
colleges, and churches have arisen where they had
trodden on the cactus and chaparral, and to-day these
devoted missionaries have flourishing institutions in
everj' ecclesiastical division of the great State. The
of Very Rev. J. M. Kirwin. The Congregation
of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate have taken
charge of parish work in Harris County. A Josephite
Father also serves a church in the city of Houston,
where the Basilians conduct St. Thomas College.
Among the Orders of Nuns formerly recorded may be
named the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed
Sacrament who have charge of an academy and
parochial schools, also in Houston. The Diocese of
San Antonio shows no change in the statistics given
under the title except that the Redemptorist Order
has taken charge of the parish of St. Gerard Majella
in the city of San Antonio, where a new church and
school are now being erected. Besides the informa-
tion given under the title, the following facts about
the Diocese of Dallas are worthy of record: Rev.
Father J. M. Giraud in 1864 erected a church at
Jefferson in North Texas. The church at St . Paul's,
Collin County, an Irish .settlement, was the rehgious
centre of a parish organized in 1870 by Father Thomas
Henncssy, the present jiastor of the Annunciation,
Houston. The population of the Diocese of Dallas
(1912) includes about 40,000 Caucasians; 22,000
Mexicans, and 250 negroes. The present bishop of the
very existence of religion among the Mexicans along see is Rt. Rev. .loseph Patrick Lynch, D.D., b. 16 No-
the Rio Grande is largely due to the mighty labours vember, 1872, at St. Jo.seph, Mich. Whin apjwinted
of this Congregation. to the .see (after the sudden death of Bishop Dimne at
Religious orclers of nuns (1848) and of teaching Green Bay, Wis., 5 August, 1910), Bishop Lynch was
brothers (18.")3) began their fruitful labours. All administrator of the diocese and rector of St. Ed-
the activities of a fully develojicrl diocese assumed w.ard's Church in the city of Dalla.s. Ilis consecration
shape under the guiding hand of Bi.shop Odin and were took place 12 July, 191 1 . Besides the orders of nuns
prosecuted with all possible vigour and success. mentioned in the .-irticle on the diocese the following
On Archbi.shop Odin's retirement he was succeeded should be noted: the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
in the See of Galveston in 1862 by Rt. Rev. Claude (Ottawa, Canada), conducting a house in Dallas with
