The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brownsville ( la, Dioecesis Brownsvillensis, es, Diócesis de Brownsville) is a

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

suffragan diocese in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

of the Metropolitan

Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

, in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, USA. The diocese's first cathedral church is Immaculate Conception Cathedral, located in Downtown Brownsville, Texas.

History

* Founded on 1874.08.28 as Apostolic Vicariate of Brownsville / Brownsvillen(sis) (Latin), of territory split off from the then

Diocese of Galveston In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. * Designated the

Diocese of Corpus Christi The Diocese of Corpus Christi ( la, Dioecesis Corporis Christi) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in southern Texas. It was founded on March 23, 1912, having been the Vicariate Apostolic of Brownsville u ...

on 1912.03.23. * Restored (and promoted) on 10 July 1965 as Diocese of Brownsville / Brovnsvillen(sis) (Latin), taking its territory from the above Diocese of Corpus Christi.

Statistics

As of 2020, it pastorally served 1,171,182 Catholics (85.0% of 1,377,861 total) on 111,125 km² in 72 parishes, 44 missions, 108 priests (85 diocesan, 23 religious), 103 deacons, 72 lay religious (12 brothers, 8608 sisters), and 12 seminarians. The Diocese has the 2nd highest percentage of Catholics to total diocese population in the United States, second only to the Diocese of Laredo. As of 2020, the Diocese of Brownsville comprises 1,171,182 Catholics among a total population of 1,377,861, or 85.0%.

Bishops

Bishops of Brownsville

# Adolph Marx (1965) #

Humberto Sousa Medeiros Humberto Sousa Medeiros, GCIH (October 6, 1915 – September 17, 1983) was a Portuguese-American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Boston from 1970 until his death in 1983, and was created a cardinal in 1973 ...

(1966-1970), appointed

Archbishop of Boston The Archdiocese of Boston ( la, Archidiœcesis Bostoniensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the New England region of the United States. Its territorial remit encompasses the whole of ...

( Cardinal in 1973) #

John Joseph Fitzpatrick John Joseph Fitzpatrick (October 12, 1918 – July 15, 2006) was a Canadian-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Miami in Florida from 1968 to 1971 and as the third bishop of the Di ...

(1971-1991) #

Enrique San Pedro Enrique San Pedro, S.J. (born Enrique San Pedro y Fonaguera) (March 9, 1926 - July 17, 1994) was a Cuban-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Brownsville in Texas from 1991 until his death i ...

, S.J. (1991-1994; Coadjutor 1991) #

Raymundo Joseph Peña Raymundo Joseph Peña (February 19, 1934 – September 24, 2021) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church.Daniel E. Flores Daniel Ernesto Flores (born August 28, 1961) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been the Bishop of Brownsville in Texas since December 2009. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit in Michigan f ...

(2010–present)

Current Auxiliary Bishop of Brownsville

* Mario Alberto Avilés, C.O. (2018–present)

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

Joseph Patrick Delaney Joseph Patrick Delaney (August 24, 1934 – July 12, 2005) was the second American Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Fort Worth in the state of Texas. Born in Fall River, Massachusetts, Delaney was ordained a priest for the Roman Catho ...

, appointed Bishop of Fort Worth in 1981

Education

; Universities
Catholic Campus Ministry
University of Texas of the Rio Grande Valley ; High schools * Saint Joseph Academy, Brownsville * Juan Diego Academy, Mission. ; Middle and elementary schools The diocese operates the following schools: Guadalupe Regional Middle School, 6-8 (Brownsville); St. Joseph's School, PK-8 (Edinburg); St. Mary's School, PK-6 (Brownsville); St. Luke's School, PK-8 (Brownsville);(Closed 2020) Our Lady of Sorrows School, PK-8 (McAllen); St. Anthony's School, PK-8 (Harlingen); Incarnate Word School, PK-8 (Brownsville); St. Martin de Porras School, PK-3 (Weslaco); Oratory Academy, PK-8 (Pharr); Our Lady of Guadalupe School, PK-6 (Mission); Immaculate Conception School, PK-8 (Rio Grande City).

Public broadcasting

The diocese's radio and television stations are operated under the license name of RGV Educational Broadcasting, Inc.About Us
/ref> *

KJJF KJJF (88.9 FM) is a non-commercial radio station in Harlingen, Texas. KHID (88.1 FM) is also a non-commercial FM radio station in McAllen, Texas. Both stations are owned and operated affiliates of Relevant Radio's Catholic radio network and se ...

88.9 FM and KHID 88.1 FM -

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

-member stations

References

External links

GCatholic, with Google map - data for most sections

Roman Catholic Diocese of Brownsville Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brownsville, Roman Catholic Diocese Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Galveston–Houston Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century Culture of Brownsville, Texas

Religious organizations established in 1965 Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

1965 establishments in Texas