Pioneer Bishops of Texas

This blog will discuss bishops that served in Texas up to 1900.  For more information about Texas, see my blogs of June 9, 2017, and May 13, 2019.

Spanish and French explorers, usually accompanied by Catholic missionaries, visited the area that is now Texas in the early 16th Century, but European colonization did not begin until 1682, when Spanish Franciscan missionaries built a mission near what is now El Paso.  Between 1682 and 1793, the Franciscans would build more than 30 missions, mostly in East Texas, in the area around San Antonio, and in the area between Victoria and Corpus Christi.  The missions often had settlements grow up around them (for example, San Antonio and Nacogdoches).  The most famous of these missions is the Mission San Antonio de Valero founded in 1718, but today it is better known as the Alamo.

There were few settlers of European descent in Texas at the beginning of the 19th Century.  In 1821, Texas became part of newly independent Mexico and in that same year, a few hundred Americans settled in Texas.  By the mid-1830s, there were as many as 30,000 Americans living in Texas.  They gained their independence from Mexico in 1836 and became the Republic of Texas.  In 1845, Texas joined the Union and became the 28th State.

Most of the Texans of Spanish and Mexican descent were Catholic, as were some those who settled in Texas in the 1830s and 1840s.  Irish Catholics settled near Refugio around 1830 and German Catholics in the Texas Hill Country in the 1840s.  Father John Timon, a Vincentian priest, was appointed by Pope Gregory XVI to be the Prefect Apostolic of Texas in 1840 and was given jurisdiction over the Church in Texas.  Timon had other responsibilities in Missouri and asked Father Jean-Marie Odin, also a Vincentian, to be his deputy in Texas.  The next year, Pope Gregory created the Vicariate Apostolic (a missionary diocese) of Texas and appointed Father Odin as the first bishop.  Pope Pius IX created the Diocese of Galveston in 1847, Texas’ first, and appointed Odin as Bishop.  (Galveston, with a population of just over 4,000, was Texas’ largest town at that time.)  The Diocese, which had about a dozen priests, included all of Texas.  Pius IX created two new dioceses in 1874, the Diocese of San Antonio and the Vicariate Apostolic of Brownsville.  Over the next 40 years, three new dioceses were formed:  Dallas in 1890, Corpus Christi (formerly the Vicariate Apostolic of Brownsville) in 1912, and El Paso in 1914.

Central Texas has some of the oldest Catholic settlements in Texas—almost 80 parishes were established there prior to 1900.  San Antonio—then Texas’ largest city—was raised to an Archdiocese in 1926 and its Province included all of Texas.  The Diocese of Austin was created in 1947—102 years after it became the state capital.

The Diocese of Dallas covered all of northern Texas (and most of west Texas) when it was established 1890, but there were few Catholics in northern Texas until around that time.  The Diocese was called Dallas-Fort Worth from 1953 until 1969, when a separate Diocese of Fort Worth was created.  The Diocese of Tyler was established in 1986.

West Texas, with the exception of El Paso, is the least Catholic part of Texas.  There were Spanish missions near El Paso dating to the 17th Century, but the first parishes did not open in El Paso until around the time the railroad came in 1881.  The first Catholic church in the Panhandle was not built until 1892.  The Diocese of Amarillo was established in 1926, the Diocese of San Angelo in 1961, and the Diocese of Lubbock in 1983.

Southern Texas also has several parishes dating back to the days before Statehood.  It is now the most Catholic region of Texas—about three-fourths of the population is Catholic.  Most of the area was the Diocese of Corpus Christi until the Diocese of Brownsville was established in 1965.  The Diocese of Victoria was created in 1982 and the Diocese of Laredo in 2000 (the nation’s newest diocese).

Southeastern Texas Catholics have long been served by the state’s oldest diocese, which became the Diocese of Galveston-Houston in 1959.  A portion of the senior diocese became the Diocese of Beaumont in 1966.

At the beginning of the 21st Century, Texas (the Province of San Antonio) had 15 dioceses—the most of any state.  Pope John Paul II split the state into two provinces in 2004 by raising Galveston-Houston to an Archdiocese.  The new Province of Galveston-Houston included the Archdiocese and the Dioceses of Austin, Beaumont, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Tyler, and Victoria.  This reduced the Province of San Antonio to the Archdiocese of San Antonio and the Dioceses of Amarillo, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Laredo, Lubbock, and San Angelo.

John M. Odin was born in France in 1800 and came to Louisiana in 1822.  He was ordained a Vincentian priest in 1823 and began working in Missouri and Arkansas.  Odin was appointed the Vice Prefect Apostolic of Texas in 1840, Vicar Apostolic of Texas in 1842, and first Bishop of Galveston, Texas, in 1847.  The newly established Diocese of Galveston included all of Texas and parts of what are now five other states.  There were 20,000 Catholics in the Diocese, including 12,000 in Texas.  Bishop Odin was assisted by a dozen other priests in nurturing the Faith of these Catholics.  The priests became known as “saddle priests” because they spent much time on horseback visiting the widely spread Catholic churches and homes.  Odin made several trips to Canada and Europe to procure resources and religious personnel for the Diocese.  As bishop, he was able to increase the number of churches from about 10 to 50 and was able to bring in priests and nuns to administer churches and schools.  Odin was named second Archbishop of New Orleans in 1861 and died in France in 1870 while attending the First Vatican Council.

Claude M. Dubuis was born in 1817 in the Loire region of France where his parents were farmers.  He was the fifth of eight children.  When he was ten, Dubuis was sent to live with his uncle, who was a priest.  Dubuis’ parents hoped that their son would also become a priest.  Claude entered seminary but withdrew because his prior education had not properly prepared him.  He worked as a laborer until his uncle found a tutor to help him learn Latin, Greek, and proper French.  Dubuis reentered seminary and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Lyon in 1844.  Two years later, he met Bishop Odin who encouraged him to come to Texas.  Dubuis did so in 1847 after spending time in Perryville, Missouri, learning English, already knowing French and German. Dubuis served several churches north of San Antonio (and was captured four times by hostile Comanches) before being assigned to parishes in San Antonio and Galveston.  He learned Alsatian and Spanish to communicate with his parishioners.  In 1851, Dubuis was appointed vicar general of the Diocese of Galveston and pastor of San Fernando parish in San Antonio.  Dubois was appointed Bishop of Galveston in 1862.

As Bishop, he was able to bring several religious orders to Texas and was thus able to open many new churches and schools and one hospital.  Several of these churches and schools had to be repaired or rebuilt after sustaining damage during the Civil War, including St. Mary’s Cathedral, which was so riddled with bullets that Dubuis said the “only on dry days can I say Mass within its walls.”  By 1880, there were about 30,000 Catholics in the Diocese, which now included only East Texas with the creation of the Diocese of San Antonio and the Vicariate Apostolic of Brownsville in 1874.  Bishop Dubuis left for France in 1881 because of his declining health, but he officially remained as Bishop until he retired in 1892.  He was named a titular archbishop in 1894 and died after a long illness in 1895.

Nicholas A. Gallagher was born in Ohio in 1846 and was one of 11 children.  He entered the seminary in Cincinnati in 1862 and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Columbus in 1868—the first priest ordained for the Diocese.  Gallagher served in several capacities with the Diocese, including pastor of St. Patrick’s church in Columbus, seminary president, and eventually vicar general.  He was named administrator of the Diocese of Galveston, Texas, in 1881.  He became coadjutor bishop of Galveston in 1882 and Bishop of Galveston in 1892.

Gallagher was Galveston’s first bishop born in the United States.  As Bishop, Gallagher established a ministry for African Americans, which included the first Catholic school for African Americans in Texas (in Galveston), four parishes for African Americans, and a trade school in Independence.  He also established parishes for Mexican Americans in Austin and Houston.  He brought several religious orders to staff churches, schools, hospitals, and orphanages.  Gallagher also established Saint Mary’s Seminary and worked to improve the educational standards in Catholic schools.  He survived the devastating Galveston hurricane of 1900 and rebuilt churches and schools destroyed by the hurricane.  Bishop Gallagher died in 1918 at which time the Diocese had 70,000 Catholics and 120 parishes.

Anthony D. Pellicer was born in Florida in 1824 and attended seminary in Alabama.  He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Mobile, Alabama, in 1850.  During the Civil War, he served as a chaplain for the Confederates.  He was assigned to the cathedral in Mobile in 1865 and became rector of the cathedral and vicar general of the Diocese in 1867.  He was appointed the first Bishop of San Antonio, Texas, in 1874.  Bishop Pellicer’s new Diocese had 40,000 Catholics and covered 90,000 square miles.  Pellicer built new churches and schools—at least two dozen of each.  He lived a simple life, giving away most of his income to charitable causes.  Bishop Pellicer died in 1880.

John C. Neraz was born in eastern France in 1828.  He attended seminary in Lyon and in 1852 accepted an invitation from Bishop Jean-Marie Odin of the Diocese of Galveston to serve as a missionary.  He was ordained a priest for the Diocese in 1853.  He served at several parishes in Texas before being named pastor of San Fernando Church in San Antonio in 1873.  In 1874, the Diocese of San Antonio was created and Neraz became vicar general for the new diocese.  He was appointed Bishop of San Antonio in 1881.

Bishop Neraz established the first parochial school in the Diocese, an orphanage, a parish for African Americans, a diocesan newspaper, and helped establish what is now St. Edward’s University in Austin.  He built a chancery building for the Diocese with funds received from selling the Alamo to the State of Texas.  Neraz attended the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore and also administered the Vicariate Apostolic of Brownsville from 1885 to 1890.  Bishop Neraz died in 1894.

John A. Forest was born in France in 1838.  While attending seminary in France, he was recruited by Bishop Dubois to come to Texas.  He did so in 1863 and was ordained the same year as a priest for the Diocese of Galveston.  He served as pastor of Sacred Heart church in Halletsville until he was appointed the third Bishop of San Antonio in 1895.  Bishop Forest learned to speak both English and Czech as a priest in Texas.  As Bishop, he encouraged religious orders to establish a number of institutions to care for the poor, the aged, and the sick, as well as to establish schools.  He also helped establish Our Lady of the Lake University.  He also attended to the administrative needs of the growing Diocese and hosted the Diocese’s first synod in 1906.  Bishop Forest died in 1911 at which time there were 100,000 Catholics in the Diocese. 

Dominic Manucy was born in 1823 in St. Augustine, Florida, to Majorcan parents.  (His first cousin was Anthony Pellicer, who became Bishop of San Antonio, Texas.)  Manucy was educated at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Mobile in 1850.  He spent most of his young priesthood serving in Montgomery, Alabama, until 1874, when he was named the first Vicar Apostolic of Brownsville, Texas.  (An apostolic vicariate is a missionary diocese.)

Manucy chose to live in Corpus Christi, rather than Brownsville.  Mauncy rebuilt St. Patrick’s Church and opened many new schools staffed by religious sisters.  By the time of his death in 1885, the Vicariate had 33 church buildings, seven convents, six academies, two hospitals, and 40,000 Catholics.  Manucy was appointed third Bishop of Mobile, Alabama, in early 1884, while retaining his position as Vicar Apostolic of Brownsville.  He resigned as Bishop of Mobile in September 1884 planning to return to Corpus Christi, but he died in early 1885 before he could do so.

Peter Verdaguer y Prat was born in Spain in 1835.  He attended seminaries in Spain before finishing his training in Missouri.  He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles, California, in 1862.  Verdaguer served in parishes in San Bernardino and Los Angeles prior to being named Vicar Apostolic of Brownsville in 1890.

Bishop Verdaguer moved his residence to Laredo.  As Bishop, he opened several new churches and invited religious orders to establish schools and hospitals.  After Spohn Hospital opened in Corpus Christi in 1905, Verdaguer brought in the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word to manage the facility.  He also invited the Sisters of Mercy to open Mercy Hospital in Laredo.  He increased the number of priests in the Vicariate Apostolic from 10 to 32.  Verdaguer, like his predecessor, traveled extensively throughout the Vicariate Apostolic, often on horseback, visiting parishes and homes.  He died in 1911 while on a confirmation tour of rural parishes. 

Thomas F. Brennan was born in Ireland in 1855 and moved with his family to the United States when he was eight years old.  He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1880 and served as a pastor in the Diocese for a decade.  He was only 35 when Pope Leo XIII appointed him the first Bishop of Dallas, Texas, in 1891—he was the youngest U.S. Catholic bishop at the time.

The new Diocese then included 109 counties in northern and northwestern Texas—stretching from Texarkana to El Paso.  He traveled throughout his Diocese and established several churches, increased the number of priests, and brought in religious orders to serve the Diocese.  Brennan also established a diocesan newspaper—the first in Texas.  Bishop Brennan was a noted preacher and writer, and it was said that he knew anywhere from seven to twenty languages.  Caring for his diocese was difficult, however, especially with few priests and little in the way of financial resources.  It also did not help that his ambition (to be an archbishop) alienated him from many, including the other priests of the Diocese.  After Brennan had served less than two years as Bishop, Pope Leo XIII took the extraordinary step of dismissing him as bishop and sending him to St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, to serve as an auxiliary bishop.  Brennan served in Canada until 1904 when he was called to Rome.  He died there in 1916.

Edward J. Dunne was born in Ireland in 1848 and came to Chicago as a child with his parents.  He attended seminary in Wisconsin and Maryland and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Chicago in 1871.  Dunne served at various parishes in Chicago and also served as a finance official for the Diocese.  He was appointed second Bishop of Dallas in 1893.  Bishop Dunne built the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe and helped established hospitals and the University of Dallas.  He also established a trade school for African American children.  He established many new churches and schools to keep up with a Catholic population that had grown from 20,000 to over 60,000 during his time as Bishop.  He died of a heart attack in 1910.