Wendelin Joseph Nold (January 18, 1900 – October 1, 1981) was an American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston in Texas from 1950 to 1975.

Biography

Early life

Wendelin Nold was born in Bonham,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, to Wendelin Joseph and Mary Elizabeth (née Charles) Nold. After attending parochial schools in Cleburne and Fort Worth, he studied at St. Mary's Seminary in La Porte, from where he obtained a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in 1921. He then furthered his studies at the Pontifical North American College in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, and there earned a doctorate in sacred theology in 1925.

Priesthood

While in Rome, Nold was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to the priesthood for the Diocese of Dallas on April 11, 1925. Upon his return to Texas, Nold served as a curate at Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, and became the first

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

of Christ the King Parish in Dallas in 1941. In addition to his pastoral duties, he also served in the chancery as a consultor, synodal judge, synodal examiner, director of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, and director of

Catholic Action Catholic Action is the name of groups of lay Catholics who advocate for increased Catholic influence on society. They were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic countries under anti-clerical regimes such as Spain, I ...

. He was raised to the ranks of

papal chamberlain A Papal Gentleman, also called a Gentleman of His Holiness, is a lay attendant of the pope and his papal household in Vatican City. Papal gentlemen serve in the Apostolic Palace near St. Peter's Basilica in ceremonial positions, such as escorting d ...

in 1936, domestic prelate in 1942, and

prothonotary apostolic In the Roman Catholic Church, protonotary apostolic (PA; Latin: ''protonotarius apostolicus'') is the title for a member of the highest non-episcopal college of prelates in the Roman Curia or, outside Rome, an honorary prelate on whom the pop ...

in 1946.

Coadjutor Bishop and Bishop of Galveston-Houston

On November 29, 1947, Nold was appointed coadjutor bishop of what was then the Diocese of Galveston and titular bishop of ''

Sasima Sasima ( grc, Σάσιμα) was a town of ancient Cappadocia and in the late Roman province of Cappadocia Secunda, located 24 Roman miles to the south of Nazianzus. Its site is located near Hasanköy, Asiatic Turkey. History Sasima is mention ...

'' by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration on February 25, 1948 from Bishop Joseph Lynch, with Bishops Christopher Byrne and Augustine Danglmayr serving as co-consecrators. After the death of Bishop Byrne on April 1, 1950, Nold automatically became the fifth bishop of Galveston. He was the first native Texan to hold that office. Due to the tremendous growth in the City of

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, the Vatican allowed Nold in 1959 to designate Sacred Heart Church in Houston as a co-cathedral. The diocese now had two cathedrals: Sacred Heart Cathedral in Houston and St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica in Galveston.AMERICAN CATHOLICS/Bishops celebrate 200th birthday
/ref> The Vatican renamed the diocese as the Diocese of Galveston-Houston on July 25, 1959. In 1959, Nold suffered a heart attack. Around that same time, he started suffering from kidney disease. In September 1961, Nold ordered that all Catholic schools in the diocese be racially integrated. During a hospitalization in 1963, he went blind. Later that year the Vatican appointed Bishop John Morkovsky in 1963 as coadjutor bishop, in charge of administering the diocese. Nold attended the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

from 1962 to 1965. During his tenure he established forty-seven parishes and fourteen missions, as well as several schools.

Retirement and legacy

On April 22, 1975, Pope Paul VI accepted Nold's resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston. Nold died in Houston on October 1, 1981, at age 81.

References

External links

* Nold, Bishop Wendelin and David Courtwright
Bishop Wendelin Nold Oral History
Houston Oral History Project, August 20, 1975.
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston–Houston
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nold, Wendelin Joseph 1900 births 1981 deaths People from Bonham, Texas Participants in the Second Vatican Council Roman Catholic bishops of Galveston–Houston 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States