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CHAPTER IV
ESTABJ.ISHMENT OF THE DIOCESES, 1847-1948
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Tl,e state of tl,,e cliurcli in 1846. Church conditions in Texas in 1846 were most encouraging. Eight short years had seen a remarkable revival, from the restoration of missions and reoccupation of parishes to the establishment of new parishes. The Prefecture of 1840, reorganized as a vicariate-apostolic in 1841, had, under the direction of its zealous and indefatigable shepherd, made incredible progress. Old churches had been repaired, new ones built, parish schools opened, and plans made for a girls' academy in Galveston to be placed in charge of the Ursuline Sisters. Immigration had been temporarily slowed by the war with Mexico, but not seriously arrested and the work of the church reorganization had continued without interruption. Bishop Odin, tired but filled with hopes and plans for the improvement of his rapidly growing Vicariate, landed in New York on April II, 1846, after an extended but most successful trip in Europe. However, anxious as Odin was to return to his field of labor, he decided to attend the Sixth Provincial Council, scheduled to convene in Baltimore on May IO. This council was destined to have far-reaching effects on Texas and on the general organization of the Church in the United States, of which Texas was now a part. Before adjourning. the Council recommended. among other things. the division of the Diocese of New York bv the establishment ' , of the two dioceses of Buffalo and Albany. the erection of the Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio. the raising of the Vicariate of Texas to the diocese of Galveston, and the designation of "The Blessed Virgin Mary Conceived Without Sin" as the patroness of the United States. 1 That the Vicariate of Texas was ready to be raised to the dignity of :t diocese there could be little doubt. Tl1e Catholic A lnia11ac , 1847. pre- sented a summary of the statns of the Church in Texas based on conditions in the preceding year, which shows that the Vicariate-Aoostolic was then more advanced than the dioceses of Hartford, Connecticut; Richmond. Virginia; Nashville, Tennessee; Dubuque, Iowa; Little Rock, Arkansas; 1 Donald Shearer, Ponlifida Americana, 239-244. For a detailed account of the work of thl~ Council see Peter Guilday, A History of the Councils of BaWmt1re, 1791-1884. [108]
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