Estabtiskment of the Dioceses, I847-I948
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in this country, he had been sent to Europe to complete his studies, being ordained to the priesthood on May 20, 1894. He was then assigned to parish work in the Middle Atlantic and Eastern states where he served for several years with marked zeal. For a short period prior to his appointment to the Diocese of Corpus Christi, he had been sent to South America. Shortly after his appointment to the new Diocese of Corpus Christi, he was consecrated in the Passionist Monastery Church in Hoboken, New Jersey, by the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop John Bonzano, on May 20, 1913. Immediately after the consecration, Bishop Nussbaum started for distant Texas, arriving in San Antonio on the morning of June 7. He was taken directly to Santa Rosa Hospital to say his first Mass in Texas. By a strange coincidence, Father Mariano S. Garriga, a young missionary priest, assisted the new bishop, never thinking that one day he would be called to occupy the same See. Early the next day, Bishop Nussbaum left by train for Corpus Christi, where he arrived in the afternoon. He was given a warm welcome by the large crowd that had waited impatiently for hours to greet the new bishop and was escorted to St. Patrick's, where he reverently gave thanks before the Blessed Sacrament for his safe arrival and prayed for grace and divine guidance in his new office. The veteran pioneer missionary Mon- signor Claude C. Jaillet then took him to one of the hotels in town where a reception and a dinner were held in his honor. The formal installation took place in the Cathedral that same evening." The population of the new diocese, Catholic and non-Catholic, estimated to be about I 58,000 at the time, was scattered over an area of some 88,ooo square miles. Of the 83,000 Catholics more than 70,000 were Mexicans, whose marvelous faith made their poor existence bearable. Bishop Nuss- baum began his labors energetically by intensifying the spiritual life of every parish. He was a firm believer in the salutary effect of Catholic Action. By the end of his first summer in Texas he had organized the Sociality of the Blessed Virgin Mary with one hundred members in Corpus Christi. Realizing the need for the young to have an active social life he founded the Corpus Christi Catholic Club to bring together the youth of the parish. Equally anxious to encourage spiritual growth he introduced devotional exercises such as the Holy Hour and congregational singing which he fostered by participating whenever his multiple duties permitted. "Sister Mary.Xavier Holworthy, o,;. cit., s 1.
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