EstablislemeN-t of tlie Dioceses, I847-I948
1 33
The numerous problems that confronted the new Bishop, the frequent long journeys over his broad diocese, and the unavoidable hardships of pioneer life undermined the health of the willing shepherd, who had never been robust. The diabetes which he had developed prostrated him early. He died on April 14, 1880. Fitting tribute to his unselfish devotion and great zeal was paid to his earthly remains by the citizens of San Antonio, who, without distinction of creed, attended his funeral services. He was buried in San Fernando Cathedral after the Requiem Mass cele- brated by his cousin, Bishop Dominic Manucy of the Vicariate Apostolic of Brownsville, who also preached his eulogy. 51 Figures, although cold in themselves, are eloquent witnesses of accom- plishment. In the short six-year period under the administration of BishoJ;> Pellicer, the new Diocese had grown considerably. He left fifty churches and eight chapels, fifteen churches and seven chapels more than he had reported in 1875 at the end of his first year; parochial schools found no place in his first report, but there were twenty-five wht:n he died. Where he had found one college (so termed in those days) for boys, there were now two, with about 450 students, boarders and day students. The eleven academies for girls, however, had decreased by two, possibly because of the increased number of parochial schools. With great effort he had been able to add only three priests to make the number thirty-eight. Santa Rosa Hospital and St. Joseph's Orphanage for girls still served the Catholic population which had increased twenty per cent to forty-eight thousand. 59 Tke Vicariate Apostolic of Brownsville. The Most Reverend Dominic Manucy, Bishop of Dulma, in partibus infidelium, consecrated with his cousin Bishop Pellicer in the Cathedral in Mobile, Alabama, had come to Texas in 1875 as the Vicar of the newly created Vicariate Apostolic of Brownsville. Acceding to the request of the Third Provincial Council of New Orleans, Pope Pius IX, by his Bull Cmn ven[erabilis] Frater, issued on September 18, 1874, had "detached that part of the State of Texas from the Diocese of Galveston, which lies between the Neueces River to the east and the Rio Grande River on the west," and erected the territory so detached into the Vicariate Apostolic of Brownsville. 60 This third ecclesiastical division of Texas was the smallest, for it took only about one-eighth of the State. As previously noted, the simple boun- daries of the new Vicariate Apostolic were amended by the Pontifical
58FitzSimon, op. cit., 7-8. 59The Catliolic Almanac, z879, 1880, 1881. 60 Shearer, op. cit., 358-359.
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