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When the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston
was originally created, in May of 1847, it was established as the
Diocese of Galveston. The "see city" or administrative center of the
new diocese was Galveston. At the time, the only parish in the city
was St. Mary Church. Its first small parish church had been heavily
damaged in a hurricane, and a larger church was under construction.
The new church was dedicated in November of 1848 as St. Mary
Cathedral, the first cathedral in Texas. In 1979, Pope John Paul II
named the Cathedral a minor basilica, a designation that honors
churches of special spiritual, historical or artistic significance.
Over the next
century, Houston grew into a major city, a center of finance and
industry. Bishop Wendelin Nold, the fifth bishop of Galveston, was
the first bishop to live in Houston rather than Galveston.
Recognizing the growth and development of Houston, in 1959 he asked
the Vatican to re-designate the diocese as the "Diocese of
Galveston-Houston." When the change was made, Houston became the
second see city of the Diocese, and Sacred Heart Church was named
the Co-Cathedral. The creation of a "co-cathedral" did not change
the status of St. Mary Cathedral in Galveston, which remains the
Cathedral of the Archdiocese. |
