The Cathedral of San Agustin () is the seat of the Catholic Diocese of

Laredo, Texas Laredo ( ; ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, Webb County, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Founded in 1755, Laredo grew from a villag ...

. It is located at 201 San Agustin Avenue in the San Agustin Historical District in Laredo. The first church building, an adobe chapel, was erected in 1767. It was replaced by a larger stone church in 1810. The present church building dates from 1872. As of 2025, the bishop of Laredo is Bishop James Tamayo.

History

In 1755, a Spanish army officer founded the Villa de San Agustin de Laredo in what was then the Province of Nuevo Santander.The bishop of the Diocese of Guadalajara in New Spain, Francisco de San Buena Ventura, sent Reverend Fr. Juan José de Lafita y Verri to serve as the first priest in Laredo. In 1767, Verri constructed a small mission chapel, the first Catholic church in Laredo. In 1778, the first stone structure was erected to accommodate more than two hundred families. In 1789, San Agustin was established as a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

by the bishop of the Diocese of Linares in Mexico. During this period, a number of Carrizo Indians living in Laredo were converted to Catholicism.The parish attempted to build a larger church in 1800, but it was abandoned. In 1805, Bishop Marín de Porras from the Diocese of Monterey in Mexico became the first prelate to visit Laredo. The parish attempted another rebuilding of the church in 1810, but was hampered by lack of funds and attacks by

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

and

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

raiders. After the

War of Mexican Independence The Mexican War of Independence (, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from the Spanish Empire. It was not a single, coherent event, but local and regional ...

in 1821, the church project was put on hold. In 1848, with the end of the

Mexican-American War Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

, Laredo became part of the Diocese of Galveston in the United States. Bishop John M. Odin assigned several French priests to this part of his territory. The Reverend Allophone Martin Souchon began the construction of the present church in 1866. It opened on December 12, 1872. In 1905, the front wall and façade of the church developed cracks during a violent storm. They were fixed in 1912. A clock was installed in the church tower and the church was renovated in 1919. In 1922, the diocese transferred the operation of San Agustin Church to the

Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest later recognized as a Catholic saint. The congregation was ...

religious order. The parish in 1946 added a 40-foot altar area to the east end of the building, along with two sacristies. The project also included the construction of a

baptistry In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptist ...

and chapel at the west end of the church. The Oblates in 1985 surrendered control of San Agustin back to the diocese. From 1989 to 1994, the San Agustin Church Historical Preservation and Restoration Society carried out a

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

675,000 restoration project of the church. A new Blessed Sacrament Chapel was installed. The whole church was repaired and restored and a brick plaza was created along the front of the church. In 2000,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

erected the Diocese of Laredo and designated San Agustin Church as its cathedral l.Today, the San Agustin Cathedral is one of the oldest in the Southwest still standing. It is also the second tallest building in Laredo. The San Agustin de Laredo Historic District is in the National Register of Historical Places.National Register of Historical Places
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Description

The Cathedral of San Agustin is a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

structure with a five-story, 141 ft (43m)

bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building ...

. All the windows have the traditional Gothic shape with

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

located between structural bays of its masonry walls. A French priest, Pierre Yves Keralum, was the designer and architect for this historical monument.

References

External links

Official Cathedral Site

Diocese of Laredo Official Site
{{NRHP Agustin, Cathedral of Buildings and structures in Laredo, Texas Clock towers in Texas Roman Catholic churches completed in 1872 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Historic district contributing properties in Texas Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks National Register of Historic Places in Webb County, Texas 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States

History

Description

See also

References

External links