Establisliment of tlee Dioceses, I847-I948
1 49
with concern over the vigorous campaign of proselytizing which he dis- covered was being carried on by various sectarian agencies. Fully aware of the danger arising from ignorance, he dedicated a good part of his energy to the instruction of his scattered flock by preaching missions and giving lectures. For this purpose he made an ardent appeal to the superiors of the American Passionists and the Holy Father himself for men. He deplored the lack of priests and frequently chided the faith- ful for the lack of vocations, pointing out that during his years in Corpus Christi only one boy from the diocese had volunteered to study for the priesthood. The greatest danger to the growth of Catholicism lay in ignorance, he frequently declared. This could be dispelled only through education, he reasoned, and urgently pleaded with all Catholics to send their children to Catholic schools. He was a great believer in a supporter of Catholic education. He insisted, however, that Catholic schools had to be the equal of any others. It grieved him that there was not a Catholic school for boys in Corpus Christi. "If, when I arrived in Corpus Christi, I had found not a Cathedral, no place of worship ... but had found a college for boys, I would have been thoroughly satisfied." His fervor was well rewarded. When he came to the diocese in 1913 there were but nine parochial schools. By the time he left, 17 seven years later, the number had doubled. The students attending Catholic schools had likewise more than doubled. From a scanty I I 50 they had increased to more than 2600. Before his resignation in February, 1920, while in Rome on his ad limina visit, Bishop Nussbaum had laid the firm foundations on which his successors have so ably built and are building today. One of his last projects was the creation of a fund for the construction of a more adequate cathedral. His dream has since become a reality. 11 Diocese of El Paso. The vast area of northwest Texas, southern New 87 Bishop Nussbaum resigned on March 26, t ()20, because of his health. Two year.: later he was appointed Bishop of Marquette on November 14. 1922. He died June 24, 1935. 88 Sister Mary Xavier Holworthy, op. cit., 55-63. The subsequent Bishops of the Diocese of Corpus Christi are: Most Reverend Emmanuel B. Ledvina, D.D., ap- pointed April 30, I 92 I ; consecrated June I 4, I 92 I ; Assistant at Pontifical Throne, May 30, I 931 . Resigned March 15, I 949. Most Reverend Mariano S. Garriga, D.D., LL.D., ordained July 2, 191 I; appointed Titular Bishop of Siene and Co- adjutor to the Bishop of Corpus Christi c11m furt, successio-ms June 20, 1936; con- secrated September 2 I, 1936; succeeded to See March IS, 1949. T/,e Official Calh• olic Direclor,:.•. 19.'iO, p. 302.
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