A Brief Visual History of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

Transcription

1 A Brief Visual History of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

2 A production of the Diocese of Dallas Archives Steve Landregan, M.A., Archivist/Historian

3 The crest of the Diocese of Dallas reflects our history At the top is the Bishop s mitre or hat The crossed swords represent St. Paul Church, the first in the diocese The wavy white line stands for the Trinity River first named the Most Holy Trinity River The 3 fleurs-de-lis honor the early French priests and the Holy Trinity The star is the Lone Star of Texas

4 Catholicism came to Texas nearly 500 years ago when Spanish conquistadors and missionaries arrived a few decades after Columbus stumbled upon America while searching for the Orient

5 Nearly two centuries later the first missions were established in East Texas close to the Louisiana border where the French threatened Spanish sovereignty. A History of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

6 After Texas became independent the Spanish missionaries withdrew and Texas came under the care of the Diocese of New Orleans

7 In 1842 the entire Republic of Texas was made a Vicariate Apostolic and French-born Vincentian Jeanne Marie Odin was made Bishop and Vicar Apostolic. In 1847 Texas became a Diocese and Bishop Odin was made the first Bishop of Galveston.

8 Most Texas towns were on the Gulf coast but when Texas became independent settlers began coming to North Texas A History of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

9 In 1841 John Neely Bryan established a new town on the Trinity River on the border of Nacogdoches County to the East and Robertson County to the West He named the settlement after my friend Dallas

10 Circuit-riding priests from Nacogdoches began visiting the isolated communities in North Texas including Dallas A History of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

11 In 1859 the first recorded Mass was celebrated in Dallas at the home of carriage-maker Maxime Guillot by Father Sebastian Augagneur from Nacogdoches A History of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

12 In the 1860s a mission station was established at the Community of St. Paul in Collin County by Father Joseph Martiniere. Dallas was one of the places he served.

13 In 1872 Bishop Claude Dubuis of Galveston established a parish in Dallas. The first pastor was Father Marthurin Perrier. Parishioners chose to name the parish in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The first frame church built in 1873 was located at Bryan and Harwood streets

14 Six Ursuline Nuns from the Galveston convent arrived in Dallas in 1874 to open Ursuline Academy, the city s first Catholic School. This simple building, top, served as both school and convent. The Ursulines also opened the first parochial school, Sacred Heart, bottom, a year later A History of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

15 Corsicana 1871 The coming of the railroads resulted in growth of many new towns and the founding of many new parishes. Sherman 1874 Denison 1872 Waxahachie 1874 Ennis 1874 St. Patrick, Dallas 1880 Terrell 1876

16 In 1890 Pope Leo XIII created the Diocese of Dallas embracing 108,000 square miles of North and West Texas from Texarkana to El Paso a distance of 812 miles

17 The simple wooden church of the Sacred Heart built by Father Perrier and members of the parish became the temporary or Procathedral of the Sacred Heart A History of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

18 A young monsignor from the Diocese of Erie, Pennsylvania was named the First Bishop of Dallas by Pope Leo XIII. Bishop Thomas Francis Brennan arrived in his new diocese in April 1891

19 The Church in Dallas continued to grow with a new Catholic orphanage and Ursuline Academy A History of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

20 Bishop Brennan established the Texas Catholic, the first Catholic newspaper in Texas The Texas Catholic suspended publication after Bishop Brennan s resignation in 1892

21 During his short tenure as Bishop of Dallas: Eleven churches were built Four new religious orders came into the diocese The number of priests increased by eleven Father Joeffrey Hartnett had become the first priest to be ordained for the diocese. Fr. Hartnett later died from smallpox contracted while ministering to a dying patient

22 In 1892 Bishop Brennan resigned and the following year was replaced by Bishop Edward Joseph Dunne, who, like Bishop Brennan, was a native of Tipperary in Ireland. Brought to America as a boy he became a priest and a pastor in Chicago A History of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

23 In 1896 Bishop Dunne invited the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul to open the first general hospital in Dallas The first hospital was a modest building on Hall Street but in 1898 a new hospital was opened on Bryan

24 At the invitation of Bishop Dunne the Vincentian Fathers established Holy Trinity College in 1905, it would later be renamed the University of Dallas. The University closed in The building subsequently served as an orphanage and as Jesuit High School from 1942 until

25 Bishop Dunne had one major goal in mind for his time as Bishop of Dallas to build a new cathedral. He contributed a gift of $35,000 given to him before leaving Chicago. Until the cathedral was built, the bishop declined an episcopal residence and lived in a room in the cathedral rectory

26 Texas architect Nicholas Clayton had earlier been commissioned to draw up plans for a cathedral church. Bishop Dunne had the plans revised but lack of funds resulted in the two steeples being eliminated

27 . On June 17, 1898 Bishop Dunne set the cornerstone for the new cathedral.

28 Sacred Heart Cathedral was dedicated October 26, Although the steeples had been left off of the building they were shown on the dedication program.

29 In 1906 this color postcard of the new cathedral was mailed to a friend in Minnesota. Built on the outskirts of the growing city, Dallas Sacred Heart Cathedral was a source of great pride for both the Church and the city.

30 Bishop Dunne died in 1910 and was succeeded by his Vicar General, Joseph Patrick Lynch, in Bishop Lynch was destined to become one of the longest serving bishops in America. A History of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

31 As the Catholic population of Texas increased, new dioceses were carved out of the Diocese of Dallas The Diocese of El Paso was established in 1914 and the Diocese of Amarillo was established in 1926 decreasing the size of the Diocese of Dallas.

32 In 1936 Texas celebrated its centennial with an exposition in Dallas. Catholics joined in with an exhibit housed in a replica of Socorro Mission which was established in El Paso in 1680 A History of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

33 During the two years of the exposition over two million people visited the Catholic exhibit and more than eight million pieces of Catholic literature were distributed.

34 Catholic Day included a military Mass celebrated by Bishop Lynch in the Centennial Park band shell.

35 In 1942 Monsignor Augustine Danglmayr was appointed an Auxiliary Bishop to Bishop Lynch to assist him in administering the growing diocese.

36 In 1952 Bishop Thomas Kiely Gorman was named Co-adjutor Bishop of Dallas with the right to succeed Bishop Lynch upon his retirement or death. In 1954 Bishop Lynch died after serving as Bishop of Dallas for 43 years.

37 Shortly after his arrival in Dallas Bishop Gorman petitioned the Pope to change the Diocese of Dallas to the Diocese of Dallas-Fort Worth. A History of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas The change was made in October of 1953 and St. Patrick Church in Fort Worth was designated the Co- Cathedral with Sacred Heart Cathedral in Dallas

38 In 1954 Bishop Gorman invited a group of refugee Cistercian Monks from the Abbey of Zirc in Hungary to settle in Dallas The Cistercians established Cistercian Abbey in Irving and in 1962 founded Cistercian Preparatory School

39 Two new diocesan high schools were opened during Bishop Gorman s administration. Bishop Dunne High School, successor to Our Lady of Good Counsel, and Bishop Lynch High School, a new school in the Casa Linda area of East Dallas.

40 One of Bishop Gorman s first initiatives was to work with the Sisters of St. Mary Namur and local Catholic leaders in establishing the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas. The charter of the defunct University of Dallas was renewed in 1955 and classes began in 1956.

41 Holy Trinity Seminary was established in 1965 on the Campus of the University of Dallas and serves as a college level seminary and pre-theologate Dallas and six other dioceses. Three Holy Trinity alumni have become bishops.

42 Our Lady of Lourdes 1954 St. Monica 1954 St. Philip the Apostle 1954 St. Pius X 1954 Holy Cross 1956 Mary Immaculate 1956 St. Elizabeth of Hungary 1956 St. Paul the Apostle 1956 St. Rita 1961 St. Patrick 1963 Holy Family, Irving 1964 St. Francis, Frisco 1966 St. Mark, Plano 1966 St. Jude Chapel 1968 A History of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas In his 15 years as Bishop of Dallas Bishop Gorman established 13 parishes, a downtown chapel, two high schools, a university and a seminary. Holy Trinity Seminary The University of Dallas Bishop Dunne High Schol Bishop Lynch High School

43 1891 In 1954 Bishop Gorman restored the Texas Catholic newspaper which had been established first in 1891 by Bishop Thomas Brennan as the first Catholic Newspaper in Texas and ceased publication in

44 In October 1969 the Diocese of Fort Worth was separated and we once more were the Diocese of Dallas consisting of 30 counties in northeast Texas A History of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas Upon his retirement in 1969 Bishop Gorman petitioned the Vatican to divide the Diocese of Dallas-Fort Worth

45 When Bishop Gorman retired Bishop Thomas Tschoepe succeeded as Fifth Bishop of Dallas and became the first native son of the Diocese to become its Bishop. Prior to being named Bishop of San Angelo in 1966 Bishop Tschoepe had served as both Chancellor and Vicar General of the Dallas diocese. A History of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

46 In the 70s and 80s the population shifted out of Dallas and into the suburbs and outlying cities and Catholics did the same. Of the 19 parishes established during this period, seventeen were outside of Dallas, two were national parishes and two were of non-latin rites. Irving Lancaster Duncanville Rockwall Dallas Plano Richardson Ferris Quinlan Garland Allen Van Alstyne Coppell Irving - Ruthenian Grand Prairie Plano - Chinese Lewisville - Maronite Whitesboro Dallas - Korean

47 In 1967 the permanent diaconate was restored. The first deacon class in the Diocese of Dallas began in 1970 and Bishop Tschoepe ordained the first deacon, Deacon Ralph Gordon, in December 1973

48 In 1975 Bishop Tschoepe merged the Cathedral parish with Our Lady of Guadalupe parish. Fire destroyed the old Guadalupe church and in 1977 the cathedral was renamed from Sacred Heart to Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

49 In 1986 Pope John Paul II established the new Diocese of Tyler in East Texas with territory from the Dioceses of Dallas, Beaumont and Galveston-Houston The Diocese of Dallas which had been 108,000 square miles in 1890 now was reduced to less than 8,000 square miles

50 In 1990 the Diocese of Dallas marked its 100 th birthday with a Centennial Mass at Memorial Auditorium and the publication of a new history of the Diocese By Msgr. James I. Tucek, former editor of the Texas Catholic

51 In December 1989 Bishop Charles V. Grahmann of Victoria, was named Co-adjutor Bishop of Dallas. On July 14, 1990, he became Sixth Bishop of Dallas upon the retirement of Bishop Tschoepe

52 Recognizing that a large part of the burgeoning Catholic population was due to immigration of Hispanic Catholics, Bishop Grahmann made outreach to Hispanics a priority of his episcopacy. Santa Clara of Assisi church and school

53 Other highlights of Bishop Grahmann s administration were the opening of a new Chancery Office and John Paul II High School

54 After 103 years the cathedral bell tower and steeples were completed

55 Bishop Grahmann s tenure was a time of great growth for the Diocese of Dallas. At the time of his appointment in 1990 the Catholic population was about 200,000. When he retired in 2007 the Catholic population was over one million a fivefold increase

56 In December 2004 the Diocese of Galveston-Houston was made an Archdiocese by Pope Benedict XVI and Texas had two ecclesiastical provinces, San Antonio and Galveston-Houston

57 On May 1, 2007, Bishop Kevin Joseph Farrell, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, was installed as the Seventh Bishop of Dallas succeeding Bishop Charles Grahmann who retired at 75. Under the leadership of a new shepherd the Church of Dallas moves confidently into the future. A History of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

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