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Diocese of Galveston Prepares
To Observe Its Diamond Jubilee
— r
Elaborate Ceremonies March 14 and 15 Will Mark Seventy-
Fifth Anniversary—History of Faith in Diocese Traced
Back to 1685, When First Missionaries Worked Among
Indians of Texas.
Galveston.—The diamond juhiice
of the diocese of Charleston, which
at the time of its erection of 1817
included all of Texas except the
county of El Paso, will he celebrat
ed with elaborate ceremony on
March 14 and 15, when prelates
from every part of the Lone Star
State will gather here as guests of
the Right Rev. Christopher Byrne,
bishop of Galveston. The diamond
jubilee of the Galveston Cathedral
will be celebrated at the same time.
The history of the faith in the
diocese goes back to the French Re
collects who came with La Salle, and
who attempted in 1(185 to found the
first missions among the Indians in
Texas. These were followed by
the Spanish Franciscans, who, al
though at first meeting -with re
verses, persevered and • after num
erous failures, succeeded in the early
part of the nineteenth century in
re-establishing many of the old mis
sions and extending them in var
ious directions. These flourished
until 1812, when ihey were suppress
ed by the Spanish government, and
religion, kept alive only by a hand
ful of priests whose names are to
be found in old records, languish
ed. Father Michael Muldoon is
mentioned as having participated in
many of the stirring events preced
ing the Texas revolution and Fath-
er Henry Doyle is referred to as
having served the Irish colonists
who settled near Refugio and San
Patricio on the Neuces River. The
descendants of these Irish colonists
are now among the leading Catholic
families of the diocese of Corpus
Christi.
FIRST MASS IN GALVESTON
Two, years after the establishment
of the Republic of Texas in 183(1,
Archbishop Blanc of New Orleans
wrote Bishop Rosati of St. Louis and
Father John Timon, then visitor of
the Congregation of the Mission in
the United States, declaring that the
Holy See desired that a trustworthy
person be sent into Texas to report
on conditions there. Father Ti
mon, accordingly, accepted the com
mission and set out for Galveston,
where he celebrated what was prob
ably the first mass said in this
city on the Feast of the Holy Inno
cents, 1838.
Father Timon at once stimulated
the people of Galveston to build a
church and provide means for the
support of a priest. Pushing on
to Austin, the State Capital, lie pre
sented letters from Cardinal I'ran-
soni which were virtually a recogni
tion by the papal government of
the independence of the Republic.
Vice-President David G. Burnet re
ceived Father Timon and he preach
ed in the capitol more than once,
creating a very favorable impres
sion. With the diplomatic aid of
M. de Saligny, minister from France
to the Republic of Texas), a bill pre
pared by Monsignor John F. Odin,
later the first bishop of Galveston,
and which called for the restoration
of church property, which had h"f>n
secularized in 1794 by decree of~n
Pedro de Nava, was spontaneously
endorsed by the legislators, to
whom it was first read in private.
Later the bill was introduced into
Congress and passed.
Through this act there were re
stored to “the Chief Pastor of the
Catholic Church in the Republic of
Texas,” the churches of San Fernan
do, the “Alamo” or San Antonio de
Valero, La Purissima Concepcion,
San Juan Capistrano and five others,
including Refugio.
The prefecture Apostolic of Texas
was made a vicariate apostolic in
1842 by the Bull of Pope Gregory
XVI, and the Right Rev. Jeon-Marie
Odin, previously vice-perfect apos
tolic, was consecrated Bishop of
Claudiopolis and made Vicar-Apos
tolic. In 1847, the state of Texas,
with the exception of El Paso coun
ty, was erected into a diocese. There
were then 18 priests, including the
Bishop, in the vast territory, with
Bishop Odin as first prelate. Of
these at least six were members
of the Congregation of the Missions
who are still doing splendid work
in Texas fields, and who now con
duct, among other institutions, Dal
las College at Dallas. Three Oblates
of Mary Immaculate were shortly
brought from Canada and made a
foundation which also has thrived
with the years. Schools, colleges
and churches have risen under their
direction. The very existence of
religion ‘among the Mexicans along
the Rio Grande is due largely to the
zeal of the Oblate priests.
New Dioceses Formed
The Statonf Texas was ecclesias
tically divided for the first time in
1874, the county of El Paso, then
under the jurisdiction of Vicariate
Apostolic of Arizona, being except
ed. All east of the Colorado River
remained as the diocese of Galves
ton, while out of the territory west
and south of this river and within
(he limits of the state were erected
the diocese of San Antonio, reaching
from the Colorado to the Neuces
River, and the Vicariate Apostolic
of Brownsville, now the diocese of
Dallas was formed out of the north
and northwestern portions, reaching
to what is now Oklahoma and
forming today the largest diocese,
in territorial extent, in the United
States. The i diocese of El Paso,
comprising nearly 40,000 square
miles in Texas and 30,000 square
miles in New Mexico was erected
in 1914.
The diocese of Gulveston now has
a Catholic population of more than
85,000. ilidre are 115 priests and
132 churches, according to the lat
est statistcis and more than 6,000
children attend its Catholic schools.
The diocese of San Antonio has a
Catholic population of 146,000; Dal
las, 37,027; Corpus Christi, 91,035;
and El Paso 112,504. The total
Catholic population of Texas, esti
mated at close to 500,000 is about
9 per cent of the total population
of the state.
Latest Photograph of His Holiness Pope Pins XI
OHIO PRIEST KILLED
Shot While Trying to Calm
Infuriated Man.
Lima, O.,-—While endeavoring to
calm an intoxicated man who had
terrorized the neighborhood, the
Rev. Richard Schwietermann, C. PP.
S, a Catholic priest of Minester,. near
here, was fatally shot.
Father Schwictermannn had been
called upon to intercede with
Charles'Pricning a horse trader, and,
in the company of Priening’s broth
er, had gone to the home. As he
entered the man fierd a shot gun in
to the priest’s „ chest. Previously
Priening had fired a revolver at his
brother, the bullet deflecting after it
struck his watch.
Following the second shooting,
Priening dashed from the room and
hid in the barn. Neighbors, with
the aid of the police, induced him
to surrender.
Doctor Endorses Ancient
Benedictine Health Rule
Baltimore, Md.,-—In a review
of the new translation of the
Rggimen Sanitatis (Rule of
Health) of the famous benedic-
tine medical school of Salerno,
Dr. John Rurah, of the Maryland
Colleg of Pbysicans and Sur
geons, has shown that many of
the ancient hygienic prescrip
tions and prohibitions date from
the flourishing days of this Ben
edictine institution in the tenth
century.
This Regimen Sanitatis of Sa
lerno was c< » eted and edited
in leonine verse in the thirtenth
century and it is from, this origi
nal that the recent Translation
was made. It appeared in the
“Medical Record” of New York.
One of the quaint bits of ad
vice—still sound and applicable
—given in this poetic Regimen is
the following: v.
“If thou to health and vigor’
wouldst attain
Shun weighty cares—all anger
deem profane;
From heavy suppers and much
wine abstain
Nor trival count it, after pompus
fare
To rise from the table and take
the air.”
Physicans regard these Saler
no rules of hygiene as by no
menas antiquated.
MARTIN C0NB0Y NEW
CATHOLIC CLUB HEAD
ENTIRE TRIBE IN NEW
GUINEA IS CATHOLIC
Chicago, 111.,—How the seed of the
Catholics faith was sown, and how
it has grown and spread to embrace
9,000 of the savage population of
New Guinea in a few years, was told
to the Medievalists, a club of
Catholic men, at a recent meeting
by tlie Rev. Francis Neuhaus of the
Society of the Divine Word, one of
the exiled German missionaries,
now stationed at Techny, III., home
of the order. Father Neuhaus illus
trated his lecture with ingny slides,
both of his own making and from
the Field Meseum.
After Father Neuhaus had talked
most interestingly of the three
savages races that inhabit the island
of their primitive life and strange,
though fixed customs, one of the
Medievalists asked:
“But Father, what was there in
their philosophy on which you
could gain a foothold to work for
the Catholic faith?”
1 here is in the mind of everv
man, no matter how primitive”, said
the father, “that to which the
truths of God appeal. And so it was
there. The young children in our
schools are the easiest, naturally,
but the adults and even the old
accept the true faith when they are
instructed in it. In one of the tribes
practically every member is a
Catholic.”
The medievalists is an organiza
tion of Catholic men, whose purpose
is to entertain and give a forum
to prominent characters who may
liaVe* a message for Catholics, or
information bearing on subjects in
which Catholic men are interested.
Its membership is at present limit-
New York.—Martin ,1. Conboy,
director of the second draft in New
York during the world war has been
elected president of the Catholic
Club to succeed William E. Walsh.
Judge Martin T. Manton of the
United States Circuit Court has been
elected first vice-president; Peter
.1. Maloney, second vice-president.
Alfred M. Barrett, treasurer and
Edward K. Hanlon, secretary. Nine
new members of the Board of
Directors elected arc Dr. Francis .1.
Quinlan, George MacDonald, Peter
MacDonnell, Charles Murry, William
.1. Bowe, Clarence F. Cavanaugh.,,
Andrew .1. Connick, Arthur ,1. Morris
and William P. Kearney, the last-
named being elected for one year
to serve in the place of Michael II.
Lynch, resigned. The new presi
dent is one of the most prominent
lawyers in New York and was edu
cated at Gonzaga College, Washing
ton and at Georgetown Unuiversity.
FATHER DRISCOLL ELECTED
Scranton, Pa.—The Rev. F. A.
Driscoll, O. S. A., president of Vil-
lanova college was el# ted president
of the Catholic Educational Associ
ation of Pennsylvania at the annual
convention of that organization held
here in Central High School and at
tended by 700 delegates representing
the Catholic school system of the
state.
ed to 250, having been recently in
creased from 200. There is still a
long waiting list. The organization
was Suggested by the lit. Rev.
Frances C. Kelley, president of the
Catholic Church Extension Society
and formed by him and several
associates.
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