The Archdiocese of Galveston–Houston (Latin: ''Archidiœcesis Galvestoniensis–Houstoniensis'') is a

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

ecclesiastical jurisdiction—an archdiocese—of the

Catholic Church in the United States The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion, communion with the pope, who as of 2025 is Chicago, Illinois-born Pope Leo XIV, Leo XIV. With 23 percent of the United States' population , t ...

. The archdiocese covers a portion of

Southeast Texas Southeast Texas is a cultural and geographic region in the U.S. state of Texas, bordering Southwest Louisiana and its greater Acadiana region to the east. Being a part of East Texas, the region is geographically centered on the Greater Houston a ...

, and is the

metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ...

of the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

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 the Archdiocese of San Antonio. The mother church of the archdiocese is St. Mary Cathedral Basilica in

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

; the

co-cathedral A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or ''cathedra'', with another cathedral, often in another city (usually a former see, anchor city of the metropolitan area or the civil capital). Instances o ...

is the

Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or ''cathedra'', with another cathedral, often in another city (usually a former see, anchor city of the metropolitan area or the civil capital). Instances o ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. The patron saint is

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not defined as a ...

. Pope Francis named Joe Vásquez as archbishop on January 20, 2025. The archdiocesan chancery is located in Houston.

Territory

The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston encompasses in southeastern

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. It includes the cities of

, and

, along with the following counties:

, Harris, Brazoria, Fort Bend,

Grimes Claire Elise Boucher (; born March 17, 1988), known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her lyrics often touch on science fiction and feminist themes. The visuals in her videos are elabora ...

, Montgomery, San Jacinto,

Walker Walker or The Walker may refer to: People *Walker (given name) *Walker (surname) *Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Places In the United States *Walker, Arizona, in Yavapai County *Walker, Mono County, California * ...

and Waller. 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. The ecclesiastical province of Galveston-Houston contains the following

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

dioceses in south and east Texas: * Diocese of Austin * Diocese of Beaumont * Diocese of Brownsville * Diocese of Corpus Christi * Diocese of Tyler * Diocese of Victoria in Texas

History

1756 to 1847

The first Catholic presence in the Galveston area came with the founding of the Spanish Mission Nuestra Señora de la Luz on

Galveston Bay Galveston Bay ( ) is a bay in the western Gulf of Mexico along the upper coast of Texas. It is the seventh-largest estuary in the United States, and the largest of seven major estuaries along the Texas Gulf Coast. It is connected to the Gulf of ...

in 1756. It was abandoned in 1771. The end of

Mexican War of 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 put present day Texas under Mexican control. With the ending of the

Texas Revolution The Texas Revolution (October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836) was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Hispanic Texans) against the Centralist Republic of Mexico, centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of ...

in 1836, Mexico ceded control of its Texas province to the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

. The first Catholic church in Houston, St. Vincent's Church, opened in 1839. That same year, the Vatican removed Texas from the Mexican Diocese of Linares o Nueva León and created the

prefecture apostolic An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

of Texas, covering the entire republic.

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI (; ; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in June 1846. He had adopted the name Mauro upon enteri ...

named

John Timon John Timon, CM (February 12, 1797 – April 16, 1867) was an American Catholic prelate who served as the first Bishop of Buffalo and founded the Brothers of the Holy Infancy. He was a member of the Vincentians. Biography Early life John Tim ...

as the prefect of Texas. In 1841, Gregory XVI upgraded the prefecture to the Vicariate Apostolic of Texas, naming Jean-Marie Odin as the vicar apostolic. In 1842, Odin opened the first Catholic church in Galveston. During his tenure, the Texan Congress returned several churches that had been secularized by the Mexican Government. Odin opened several schools and invited the Ursuline nuns as the first

religious community Religious community may refer to: * Church (congregation), a religious organization or congregation that meets in a particular location * Confessional community, a group of people with similar religious beliefs * Institute of consecrated life, a ...

in Texas to operate them.Meehan, Thomas. "Galveston." ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''
Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. November 22, 2017 In December 1845, the Republic of Texas was accepted into the United States as the

State of Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

1847 to 1862

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. The pope named Odin as the first bishop of Galveston. In 1850, the Vatican transferred the Diocese of Galveston to the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Odin recruited the Brothers of Mary and Oblates of Mary to operate St. Mary's University at Galveston, which he established in 1854. He also visited remote parts of Texas, and twice traveled to Europe to recruit priests and obtain material help for the diocese. 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. In 1861, Odin became Archbishop of New Orleans.

1862 to 1892

The second bishop of Galveston was Claude Marie Dubuis, named by Pius IX in 1862. After the end of the American Civil War in 1865, Dubuis established additional parishes, hospitals and schools in the Diocese. In 1866,

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

broke out in the diocese. Unable to persuade an American religious congregations to come to Galveston, Dubuis persuaded the Sisters of Divine Providence from Saint-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 the Congregation of the Resurrection to minister to the Polish community in Texas. Dubuis founded the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, which played a significant role in healthcare services in Texas. In 1873, the

Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur (Congregationis Sororum a Domina Nostra Namurcensi) is a Catholic Church, Catholic Religious institute (Catholic), institute of religious sisters, founded to teaching order, provide education to the poor. The i ...

established the Academy of the Sacred Heart for girls in Waco. By 1878, Dubuis was in bad health. That same year, Pope Leo XIII named Nicolaus Gallagher of the Diocese 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. In 1886, he opened the first

Catholic school Catholic schools are Parochial school, parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest parochial schools, religious, no ...

for

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

children in Texas. In 1890, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Dallas, taking territory from the Diocese of Galveston.

1892 to 1959

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. After the

1900 Galveston hurricane The 1900 Galveston hurricane, also known as the Great Galveston hurricane and the Galveston Flood, and known regionally as the Great Storm of 1900 or the 1900 Storm, was a deadly and catastrophic Atlantic hurricane which became the List of di ...

devastated the city, Gallagher rebuilt all the destroyed Catholic institutions. Gallagher introduced into the diocese the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, the Jesuits, the Basilian Fathers, the Paulist Fathers and the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Dominic. These orders founded churches, schools, and hospitals throughout the diocese. He established St. Mary's Seminary at La Porte in 1901, and Good Shepherd Home for Delinquent Girls at Houston in 1914. Gallagher also erected parishes for Spanish-speaking Catholics in

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

and Houston, and for African-Americans in Houston, Beaumont, and Port Arthur. By the time of Gallagher's death, the diocese had a population of 70,000 Catholics and 120 parishes. Gallagher died in 1918. Pope Benedict XV named Christopher Byrne from the Archdiocese of Saint Louis as the fourth bishop of Galveston in 1918. He ordained about 130 priests and received several hundred people into religious communities. In 1926, the Vatican transferred the Diocese of Galveston from the Archdiocese of New Orleans to the new Archdiocese 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. In 1936, Byrne helped organize the centennial celebration of Texan independence from Mexico, holding an open-air mass at the San Jacinto Battlefield near Houston. In 1947, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Austin, taking territory from the Diocese of Galveston. That same year, Pope Pius XII named Wendelin Joseph Nold of Dallas

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

in Galveston to assist Byrne. When Byrne died in 1950, Nold automatically succeed him as bishop of Galveston.

1959 to 2004

In recognition of the explosive growth of the city of Houston, Nold in 1959 recommended to

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

the creation of a

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. In September 1961, Nold ordered that all

s in the diocese be racially integrated. During his tenure, Nold established 47

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

and 14 missions, as well as several schools. After Nold went blind in 1963,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

named Bishop John Morkovsky from the Diocese of Amarillo as coadjutor bishop. While coadjutor bishop, Morkovsky in 1964 he founded the diocesan newspaper ''The Texas Catholic Herald.'' He established the first diocesan mission in

Guatemala City Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...

in 1966. That same year, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Beaumont with territory from Galveston-Houston. In 1968, Morkovsky established the Hospital

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

s Corps at Houston Medical Center. When Nold retired in 1975, Morkovsky automatically became bishop of Galveston-Houston. During his tenure as bishop, Morkovsky established

and

Mexican American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexico, 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 Unite ...

ministries and gave special attention to low-income parishioners and Houston's large

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

ese community. In 1979,

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 ...

elevated the status of St. Mary Cathedral to that of a

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

. In 1982, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Victoria, taking more territory from Galveston-Houston. Morkovsky resigned in 1984. The next bishop of Galveston-Houston was Bishop Joseph Fiorenza from the Diocese of San Angelo, named by John Paul II in 1984.

2004 to present

In 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. Two years later, Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop Daniel 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 the

Tridentine mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite or ''usus antiquior'' (), Vetus Ordo or the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) or the Traditional Rite, is the liturgy in the Roman Missal of the Catholic Church codified in ...

in the archdiocese. This was in accordance to the apostolic letter '' Traditionis custodes'' issued by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

that same year.Pope Francis named Bishop Joe Vásquez as archbishop of Galveston-Houston in January 2025.

Sex abuse

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". A 2006 news report by the ''

Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown Houston, Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely ...

'' 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 in Conroe between 1997 and 2001; the victims were an underage boy and girl. 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. 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 in Victoria in 2018. In response, the archdiocese noted that police had investigated the incident and filed no charges. The parents had previously filed suit in Victoria County, but it had been dismissed.

Bishops

Prefects of Texas

, C.M. (1840–1847)

Vicars Apostolic of Texas

Jean-Marie Odin, C.M. (1841–1847)

Bishops of Galveston

# Jean-Marie Odin, C.M. (1847–1861), appointed Archbishop of New Orleans # Claude Marie Dubuis (1862–1892) # Nicolaus Aloysius Gallagher (1892–1918) # Christopher Edward Byrne (1918–1950) # Wendelin Joseph Nold (1950–1959) (Aloysius Joseph Meyer, C.M. was appointed apostolic administrator in 1881 but it did not take effect. Bishop Gallagher, already listed above, became administrator.)

Bishops of Galveston–Houston

# Wendelin Joseph Nold (1959–1975) # John Louis Morkovsky (1975–1984) # Joseph Fiorenza (1984–2004)

Archbishops of Galveston–Houston

# Joseph Fiorenza (2004–2006) # Daniel DiNardo (2006–2025) # Joe S. Vásquez (2025–present)

Coadjutor bishops

* Pierre Dufal, C.S.C. (1878–1879), resigned (did not succeed to see) * John Louis Morkovsky (1963–1975) * Daniel DiNardo (2003–2006), elevated to Coadjutor Archbishop in 2004; future Cardinal

Auxiliary bishops

* John E. McCarthy (1979–1985), appointed Bishop of Austin *

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 ...

(1986–1991), appointed Coadjutor Bishop and later Bishop of Brownsville * Curtis J. Guillory, SVD (1988–2000), appointed Bishop of Beaumont * James Anthony Tamayo (1993–2000), appointed Bishop of Laredo * Vincent M. Rizzotto (2001–2006) * Joe S. Vásquez (2002–2010), appointed Bishop of Austin * George Sheltz (2012–2021) * Italo Dell’Oro (2021–present)

Other diocesan priests who became bishops

* John Claude Neraz, appointed Bishop of San Antonio in 1881 *

John Anthony Forest John Anthony Forest (December 25, 1838 – March 11, 1911) was a French-born clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of San Antonio from 1895 until his death in 1911. Biography John Forest was born in Saint-Martin-la-S ...

, appointed Bishop of San Antonio in 1895 * Louis Joseph Reicher, appointed Bishop of Austin in 1947 * Vincent Madeley Harris, appointed Bishop of Beaumont in 1966 and later Bishop of Austin * John Joseph Cassata, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Dallas-Fort Worth in 1968 and later Bishop of Fort Worth *

Patrick Fernandez Flores Patricio Fernández Flores (July 26, 1929 – January 9, 2017) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic, Catholic Church. He served from 1979 to 2004 as archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Antonio in Texas, bishop of the Diocese of El Pa ...

, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of San Antonio in 1970 and later Bishop of El Paso and Archbishop of San Antonio * Bernard James Ganter, appointed Bishop of Tulsa in 1972 * Oscar Cantú, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of San Antonio in 2008, later Bishop of Las Cruces and Bishop of San Jose * Brendan John Cahill, appointed Bishop of Victoria in Texas in 2015

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

of the Archdiocese of Galveston–Houston has a blue

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...

that contains the following elements: * Silver and white roses, representing

Mary, mother of Jesus Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, in her title as the Mystical Rose * A red cross, representing the Catholic faith * A silver star, representing Texas as the ''Lone Star State'' * A bishop's

mitre The mitre (Commonwealth English) or miter (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, see spelling differences; both pronounced ; ) is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of ...

on the top

Statistics

As of 1990, there were 646,000 Catholics in the diocese. By 2005, this population had risen to 1.3 million. It was broken down into: * 40% Hispanic or Latino * 30% non-Hispanic white * 19% black * 7% Asian * 4% miscellaneous racial identities. As of 2011, approximately 1.7 million Catholics lived within the archdiocese, equaling 26% 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 435 priests (193 diocesan, 195 religious, and 47 other) and 411 permanent deacons.

Parishes and churches

Education

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. In 2005, the school system had 17,000 students prior to

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

; the hurricane meant that an additional 1,700 attended Houston-area Catholic schools. From 2005 to 2012 total enrollment was consistently around 18,000. Several new schools were established at the time. 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. 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.

Landmark structures

The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston contains many landmark structures. The most prominent structure is St. Mary Cathedral Basilica, the

mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral church, or ...

of Texas. It was one of the few buildings and the only church to survive the

1900 Galveston Storm The 1900 Galveston hurricane, also known as the Great Galveston hurricane and the Galveston Flood, and known regionally as the Great Storm of 1900 or the 1900 Storm, was a deadly and catastrophic Atlantic hurricane which became the List of di ...

. Other landmarks in the archdiocese include: * 1887 Bishop's Palace in Galveston * former 1912 Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral in Houston * Annunciation Church in Houston, one of the oldest churches in Texas. File:Annunciation Church -- Downtown Houston.jpg, Annunciation Church in

Downtown Houston Downtown is the largest central business district in the city of Houston and the largest in the state of Texas, located near the geographic center of the metropolitan area at the confluence of Interstate 10 in Texas, Interstate 10, Interstate 45 ...

File:Sacred Heart Church -- Galveston.jpg, Sacred Heart Church in

File:Old Sacred Heart CoCathedral, Front, Houston.jpg, Former Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral in downtown Houston File:Interior 1847 St Mary Cathedral Basilica, Galveston. mary.jpg, Interior of St. Mary Cathedral Basilica in downtown Galveston File:Colonel Walter Gresham House, 1402 Broadway, Galveston (Galveston County, Texas).jpg, Bishop's palace in 1886 in Galveston File:ChanceryHoustonTexas.JPG,

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Chancery in Houston File:HoustonOLGChurch.JPG, Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Second Ward, Houston File:OurMotherofMercyChurchHouston.JPG, Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church in Fifth Ward, Houston File:Sacred Heart Church, Galveston, Texas.jpg, Sacred Heart Church in Galveston File:Church of the guardian angel 2008.jpg, Guardian Angel Church in Wallis

Suffragan dioceses

Ecclesiastical Province of Galveston-Houston map

* Diocese Of Corpus Christi * Diocese of Austin * Diocese of Brownsville * Diocese of Beaumont * Diocese of Victoria * Diocese of Tyler

References

External links

* ** - Previous official site domain
Schools officeSt. Mary Cathedral Basilica
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Archdiocese Of Galveston-Houston 1847 establishments in Texas Galveston-Houston Religion in Galveston, Texas Religion in Houston Religious organizations established in 1847

Galveston-Houston