The Diocese of Austin ( la, Dioecesis Austiniensis) 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 Jo ...

ecclesiastical territory or

diocese 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 associ ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

comprising 25 counties of

Central Texas Central Texas is a region in the U.S. state of Texas surrounding Austin and roughly bordered by San Saba to Bryan and San Marcos to Hillsboro. Central Texas overlaps with and includes part of the Texas Hill Country and corresponds to a ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The diocese includes 123 parishes and missions and six university Catholic student centers. The diocese stretches from

West, Texas West is a city in McLennan County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 2,531. It is named after Thomas West, the first postmaster of the city. The city is located in the north-central part of Texas, approximate ...

, (just north of

Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the s ...

) in the north to San Marcos in the south to the Bryan - College Station area in the east to Mason in the west. Its largest metropolitan areas are

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, Bryan – College Station, the Killeen – Temple – Fort Hood area and Waco. The diocese estimates over 625,000 Catholics live in the diocese. As of 2021, it has 216 priests (168 active, 48 retired), 240 permanent deacons (160 active, 80 retired), approximately 30 brothers and 84 sisters serving in the diocese. The Diocese of Austin is a

suffragan diocese A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandri ...

in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of sev ...

of the

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

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 ...

History

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

established the diocese on November 15, 1947. It is

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

to the

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...

announced on January 26, 2010, that he selected Joe S. Vazquez, previously auxiliary bishop and Vicar General/Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston as bishop for the Diocese of Austin. On January 21, 2015,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013 ...

appointed Rev. Daniel E. Garcia as the first auxiliary bishop in the history of the diocese. At the time of his appointment Fr. Garcia was serving as Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia.

Bishops

Bishops of Austin

# Louis Joseph Reicher (1947-1971) # Vincent Madeley Harris (1971-1985; Coadjutor 1971) # John E. McCarthy (1985-2001) #

Gregory Michael Aymond Gregory Michael Aymond (born November 12, 1949) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He became the fourteenth archbishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans in Louisiana on June 12, 2009. Aymond had previously served as bishop o ...

(2001-2009; Coadjutor 2000-2001), appointed Archbishop of New Orleans # Joe S. Vásquez (2010–present)

Former Auxiliary Bishop of Austin

* Daniel E. Garcia (2015–2019), appointed Bishop of Monterey

Other bishops who were priests of this diocese

* Patrick Zurek, appointed Bishop of Amarillo in 2008 *

William Mulvey William Michael Mulvey (born August 23, 1949) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as bishop of the Diocese of Corpus Christi in Texas since 2010. Biography Early life and education William Mulvey was born on August ...

, appointed Bishop of Corpus Christi in 2010 * Michael J. Sis, appointed Bishop of San Angelo in 2013 * David A. Konderla, appointed Bishop of Tulsa in 2016 * William Albert Wack, CSC, appointed Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee in 2017

The diocesan coat of arms

The coat of arms of the diocese is based on an old coat of arms associated with early Austen or Austin families (in honor of Stephen F. Austin), adapted to express appropriate religious symbolism.

Other facilities

The diocese operates the Cedarbrake Catholic Retreat Center in Belton, Texas.

Education

; High schools * Holy Trinity Catholic High School, Temple * St. Louis Reicher Catholic High School, Waco * St. Joseph Catholic High School, Bryan * St. Michael's Catholic Academy, Austin * San Juan Diego Catholic High School, Austin * St. Dominic Savio Catholic High School, Austin * St. Mary's Catholic School, Taylor

Financial status

The Central Administrative Office of the Diocese had revenues of $37.0 million for the fiscal year ending June 2022.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Austin Official Site
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Christian organizations established in 1947

1947 establishments in Texas Organizations based in Austin, Texas