Archdiocese of Galveston–Houston Archidiœcesis Galvestoniensis–Houstoniensis | |
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 St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica, Galveston  Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral, Houston | |
 Coat of arms | |
| Location | |
| Country |  United States |
| Territory | SoutheasternTexas (Counties ofGalveston,Harris,Austin,Brazoria,Fort Bend,Grimes,Montgomery,San Jacinto,Walker andWaller) |
| Deaneries | 13 |
| Headquarters | Houston,Texas |
| Coordinates | 29°45′02″N95°22′04″W / 29.75048200°N 95.36781250°W /29.75048200; -95.36781250 |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 23,257 km2 (8,980 sq mi) |
Population
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| Parishes | 146 |
| Schools | 59 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | May 4, 1847 (1847-05-04)[2] |
| Cathedral | St. Mary Cathedral Basilica (Galveston)[3] |
| Co-cathedral | Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (Houston) |
| Patron saint | Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception[4] |
| Secular priests | 418 |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Leo XIV |
| Archbishop | Joe S. Vásquez |
| Auxiliary Bishops | Italo Dell'Oro |
| Vicar General | Italo Dell'Oro |
| Bishops emeritus | Daniel DiNardo |
| Map | |
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| Website | |
| www | |
TheArchdiocese of Galveston–Houston (Latin:Archidiœcesis Galvestoniensis–Houstoniensis) is aLatin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction—an archdiocese—of theCatholic Church in the United States. The archdiocese covers a portion ofSoutheast Texas, and is themetropolitan see of theecclesiastical province covering east-Texas. The archdiocese was erected in 2004, having been a diocese since 1959 and the "Diocese of Galveston" since 1847. It is the second metropolitan see in Texas after theArchdiocese of San Antonio.
The mother church of the archdiocese isSt. Mary Cathedral Basilica inGalveston;[3] theco-cathedral is theCo-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart inHouston. The patron saint isOur Lady of the Immaculate Conception.
Pope Francis named Joe Vásquez as archbishop on January 20, 2025.[5] The archdiocesan chancery is located in Houston.[6]
The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston encompasses 8,880 square miles (23,000 km2) in southeasternTexas. It includes the cities ofHouston, andGalveston, along with the following counties:
Galveston,Harris,Brazoria,Fort Bend,Grimes,Montgomery,San Jacinto,Walker,Waller andWashington.
The parishes are grouped into 13 deaneries for administrative purposes: Bay Area, Bluebonnet, Central, Eastern, Galveston Mainland, Northeast, Northern, Northwest, San Jacinto, Southeast, Southern, Southwest, Western.[7]
The ecclesiastical province of Galveston-Houston contains the followingsuffragan dioceses in south and east Texas:
The first Catholic presence in the Galveston area came with the founding of the Spanish Mission Nuestra Señora de la Luz onGalveston Bay in 1756. It was abandoned in 1771.[8] The end ofMexican War of Independence in 1821 put present day Texas under Mexican control.
With the ending of theTexas Revolution in 1836, Mexico ceded control of its Texas province to theRepublic of Texas. The first Catholic church in Houston, St. Vincent's Church, opened in 1839.[9] That same year, the Vatican removed Texas from the MexicanDiocese of Linares o Nueva León and created theprefecture apostolic of Texas, covering the entire republic.Pope Gregory XVI namedJohn Timon as the prefect of Texas.[10]
In 1841, Gregory XVI upgraded the prefecture to the Vicariate Apostolic of Texas, namingJean-Marie Odin as the vicar apostolic.[11] In 1842, Odin opened the first Catholic church in Galveston. During his tenure, theTexan Congress returned several churches that had been secularized by the Mexican Government. Odin opened several schools and invited theUrsuline nuns as the firstreligious community in Texas to operate them.[12] In December 1845, the Republic of Texas was accepted into the United States as theState of Texas.
Pope Pius IX in 1847 elevated the Vicariate Apostolic of Texas to the Diocese of Galveston, designating it a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. St. Mary's Church in Galveston was designated as the cathedral.[3] The pope named Odin as the first bishop of Galveston.[10] In 1850, the Vatican transferred the Diocese of Galveston to theArchdiocese of New Orleans.
Odin recruited theBrothers of Mary andOblates of Mary to operateSt. Mary's University at Galveston, which he established in 1854.[12] He also visited remote parts of Texas, and twice traveled to Europe to recruit priests and obtain material help for the diocese.[13] By the end of his tenure, Odin had increased the number of priests to 84 and the number of churches to 50; he has been called the father of the modern Catholic Church in Texas.[14] In 1861, Odin became Archbishop of New Orleans.
The second bishop of Galveston wasClaude Marie Dubuis, named by Pius IX in 1862.[15] After the end of the American Civil War in 1865, Dubuis established additional parishes, hospitals and schools in the Diocese.[16][17] In 1866,cholera broke out in the diocese. Unable to persuade an American religious congregations to come to Galveston, Dubuis persuaded theSisters of Divine Providence fromSaint-Jean-de-Bassel in France to come instead.
During his tenure as bishop, Dubuis brought almost seventy religious congregations into Texas. On one trip to Europe, he secured the services of theCongregation of the Resurrection to minister to the Polish community in Texas.[18] Dubuis founded the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, which played a significant role in healthcare services in Texas.[19][20] In 1873, theSisters of Notre Dame de Namur established the Academy of the Sacred Heart for girls inWaco.[21]
By 1878, Dubuis was in bad health. That same year, Pope Leo XIII namedNicolaus Gallagher of theDiocese of Columbus as the apostolic administrator to operate the diocese. Dubuis left Texas for Europe in 1882 without resigning as bishop, never to return to the United States. Dupuis' refusal to resign prevented the pope from naming a new bishop for Galveston.
In 1882, Leo XIII named Gallagher instead as the Titular Bishop of Canopus. For the next ten years, in an unusual arrangement, Gallagher served as apostolic administrator in Galveston without a diocesan bishop.[22] In 1886, he opened the firstCatholic school forAfrican American children in Texas.[23] In 1890, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Dallas, taking territory from the Diocese of Galveston.[10]
In 1892, after Dubuis finally resigned as bishop of Galveston, Leo XIII appointed Gallagher as the next bishop. At the beginning of his tenure, the diocese had 30,000 Catholics and 50 parishes.[24] After the1900 Galveston hurricane devastated the city, Gallagher rebuilt all the destroyed Catholic institutions. Gallagher introduced into the diocese theSisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, the Jesuits, theBasilian Fathers, the Paulist Fathers and theSisters of the Third Order of St. Dominic. These orders founded churches, schools, and hospitals throughout the diocese.[23] He established St. Mary's Seminary atLa Porte in 1901, and Good Shepherd Home for Delinquent Girls at Houston in 1914.[23] Gallagher also erected parishes for Spanish-speaking Catholics inAustin and Houston, and for African-Americans in Houston,Beaumont, andPort Arthur. By the time of Gallagher's death, the diocese had a population of 70,000 Catholics and 120 parishes.[24] Gallagher died in 1918.
Pope Benedict XV namedChristopher Byrne from theArchdiocese of Saint Louis as the fourth bishop of Galveston in 1918.[25] He ordained about 130 priests and received several hundred people intoreligious communities.[26] In 1926, the Vatican transferred the Diocese of Galveston from the Archdiocese of New Orleans to the newArchdiocese of San Antonio. The diocese increased from 70,000 to 200,000 parishioners during Byrne's tenure, and the number of schools from 51 to over 100.[26] In 1936, Byrne helped organize the centennial celebration of Texan independence from Mexico, holding an open-air mass at theSan Jacinto Battlefield near Houston.[27] In 1947, the Vatican erected theDiocese of Austin, taking territory from the Diocese of Galveston. That same year, Pope Pius XII namedWendelin Joseph Nold of Dallascoadjutor bishop in Galveston to assist Byrne.[28] When Byrne died in 1950, Nold automatically succeed him as bishop of Galveston.[10]
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In recognition of the explosive growth of the city of Houston, Nold in 1959 recommended toPope John XXIII the creation of aco-cathedral in that city. Later that year, Sacred Heart Church in Houston was designated a co-cathedral and the Diocese of Galveston was renamed the Diocese of Galveston-Houston.[29] In September 1961, Nold ordered that allCatholic schools in the diocese beracially integrated.[30] During his tenure, Nold established 47parishes and 14missions, as well as several schools.[31] After Nold went blind in 1963,Pope Paul VI named BishopJohn Morkovsky from theDiocese of Amarillo as coadjutor bishop.
While coadjutor bishop, Morkovsky in 1964 he founded the diocesan newspaperThe Texas Catholic Herald.[32] He established the first diocesanmission inGuatemala City in 1966. That same year, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Beaumont with territory from Galveston-Houston.[10] In 1968, Morkovsky established the HospitalChaplains Corps atHouston Medical Center.[33] When Nold retired in 1975, Morkovsky automatically became bishop of Galveston-Houston.
During his tenure as bishop, Morkovsky establishedAfrican American andMexican American ministries and gave special attention to low-income parishioners and Houston's largeVietnamese community.[34] In 1979,Pope John Paul II elevated the status of St. Mary Cathedral to that of aminor basilica.[35] In 1982, the Vatican erected theDiocese of Victoria, taking more territory from Galveston-Houston.[36] Morkovsky resigned in 1984. The next bishop of Galveston-Houston was BishopJoseph Fiorenza from the Diocese of San Angelo, named by John Paul II in 1984.
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On Dec. 29, 2004, John Paul II created the new Ecclesiastical Province of Galveston–Houston and elevated the Diocese of Galveston–Houston to the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. The pope appointed Fiorenza, bishop of the diocese for 20 years, as the first archbishop of the new archdiocese.[35] Two years later, Pope Benedict XVI named BishopDaniel DiNardo from the Diocese of Sioux city as a coadjutor archbishop in Galveston-Houston to assist Fiorenza. When Fiorenza retired later that year, DiNardo automatically became archbishop.
In 2007, Benedict XVI elevated DiNardo to the rank of cardinal. In 2021, DiNardo announced that only certain parishes would be allowed to celebrate theTridentine mass in the archdiocese. This was in accordance to the apostolic letterTraditionis custodes issued byPope Francis that same year.[37]Pope Francis named BishopJoe Vásquez as archbishop of Galveston-Houston in January 2025.[5]
In 2002, then Bishop Fiorenza issued a statement that the diocese would "make the protection and safety of children and young people a top priority".[38]
A 2006 news report by theHouston Press said that Fiorenza had a tendency to accept troubled clergy into the archdiocese. The article also stated that the archdiocese frequently acted to protect itself from public scrutiny, mounting vigorous legal defenses to lawsuits, blaming the victims for their abuse, and obfuscating for the news media.[38]
Agents of Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon raided the headquarters of the archdiocese in November 2018 to seize records of sexual abuses allegations against clergy in the archdiocese.[39]
On January 30, 2019, Archbishop DiNardo released a list of names of 40 priests from the archdiocese with credible allegations of sexual misconduct over the previous 70 years.[40] One name on the list was John Keller. DiNardo was criticized for allowing Keller to offer mass publicly at his parish the morning after the list was released.[41]
In December 2020, Manuel La Rosa-Lopez pleaded guilty to two counts of indecency with a child and was sentenced to 10 years in state prison. The crimes took place at Sacred Heart Catholic Church inConroe between 1997 and 2001; the victims were an underage boy and girl.[42] One of the victims reported the crimes in 2018 and La Rosa-Lopez was arrested then. In 2019, one of the two victims sued the archdiocese for negligence in their supervision of La Rosa-Lopez.[43]
The archdiocese was sued for $10 million in 2021 by the parents of a girl they said was sexually abused by Phi Nguyen, an archdiocesan priest. Nguyen had allegedly touched the girl inappropriately during a mock confession at Nazareth Academy inVictoria in 2018. In response, the archdiocese noted that police had investigated the incident and filed no charges. The parents had previously filed suit inVictoria County, but it had been dismissed.[44]
John Timon, C.M. (1840–1847)
Jean-Marie Odin, C.M. (1841–1847)
(Aloysius Joseph Meyer, C.M. was appointed apostolic administrator in 1881 but it did not take effect. Bishop Gallagher, already listed above, became administrator.)
Thecoat of arms of the Archdiocese of Galveston–Houston has a blueshield that contains the following elements:
As of 2022, approximately 1.8 million Catholics lived within the archdiocese, equaling 23% of the total population. It was the largest archdiocese in Texas and the fifth largest in the United States. The archdiocese had 146 parishes served by approximately 428 priests (186 diocesan, 185 religious, and 57 other) and 399 permanent deacons.[2]
As of 2018, the archdiocesan school system was the largest private school system in Texas. The system had 59 schools, with an enrollment of approximately 19,500 students.[2]
In 2005, the school system had 17,000 students prior toHurricane Katrina; the hurricane meant that an additional 1,700 attended Houston-area Catholic schools.[46] From 2005 to 2012 total enrollment was consistently around 18,000. Several new schools were established at the time.[47] In 2012, the school system operated 13 in central Houston; that year they had 2,000 students, with about 66% of the students being Catholic.[48] The growth in Houston's Catholic school system contrasted with Catholic schooling systems in many other parts of the United States, which faced steep enrollment declines.[47]
The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston contains many landmark structures. The most prominent structure is St. Mary Cathedral Basilica, themother church of Texas. It was one of the few buildings and the only church to survive the1900 Galveston Storm. Other landmarks in the archdiocese include:
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1700 San Jacinto Houston, TX 77002
She died of lung cancer on June 28, two days before her scheduled retirement.
Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Galveston-Houston | |
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