Establislmeent of t/&c Dioceses, 1847-1948
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Natchez, Mississippi; and the recently created Archdiocese of Oregon City, Oregon. 2 With a Catholic population estimated at more than twenty-five thousand, with ten churches-an increase of seven or eight-and some twenty Mass- stations, with twelve· priests actively engaged in tending to the spiritual needs of the faithful, and with the prospect of several young recruits then finishing their studies in the seminary, Odin had good reason to expect that the request of the Sixth Council of Baltimore would soon be granted. The Bishop knew, furthermore, that the Vatican had no longer to ponder the diplomatic impasse, which the uncertain status of the vast province had posed prior to the annexation of the Republic of Texas early in 1846 as a state of the Union. Almost a year elapsed, nevertheless, before action was taken to carry out the recommendations as regards Texas. Tlee Vicariate becomes a diocese. As soon as the Baltimore Council ended its sessions, Bishop Odin hurried back to Texas, where he arrived late in June. Shortly afterwards he set out on a visitation of his scattered flock. He went to Houston, the Lavaca country, San Antonio, Central Texas, and West Texas. Ferdinand von Roemer, the renowned German scientist who met Odin in New Braunfels, later recorded his impression of Odin with the admiration which sincerity invariably envokes. "Bishop Odin lives as did the early Christian evangelists. He journeys incessantly up and down the country in order to tend to a flock scattered in all directions. Knowing neither fear nor fatigue, he crosses the lonely plains and prairies on horseback. By his energetic labors and unaffected amia- bility he has won the respect even of those who do not share his beliefs." 3 The recommendations of the Sixth Provincial Council of Baltimore, however, had to await the consideration of the successor of Pope Gregory XVI. His demise, on June 1, 1846, particularly unfortunate for the cause of Texas, naturally occasioned an unexpected delay. Almost a year passed before Pius IX issued his Bull Apostolicae sedis fastigio, on May 4, 184i, raising the Vicariate-Apostolic to a diocese and designating Galveston as the seat of the new See. This action had been taken, Pius IX wrote, at the request of the Archbishop of Baltimore and the Bishops of the United States assembled in that city and with the approval of the Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide. 4
2 The Catholic Almanac, I847, 225. 3 Ferdinand von Roemer, Texas, 257.
4 The original Bull has long since been lost and is not included in the compilation of Shearer's Pontiftcia America11a. Foruntately there is an excellent copy in the Notre Da»l4 Archives, South Bend, Indiana, a photostat of which is in the Cat/Jolie Arc/Jives of Texas.
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