Establislement of tlee Dioceses, 1847-1948
1 55
the attention of the Vatican, the Consistorial Congregation of Cardinals recommended that the matter be given favorable consideration. In recognition of the growing importance of the Southwest in eccle- siastical affairs, and more particularly of the great development of Cathol- icism in Texas, the Holy Father issued a Bull on August 3, 1926, Past.oris A etemi by which he promoted the Diocese of San Antonio to the dignity of an archdiocese and created an ecclesiastical province making its Cathedral a Metropolitan Church. The Bull of erection placed under the jurisdiction of the new ecclesiastical province the Sees of Gal- veston, Dallas, Corpus Christi, Oklahoma, and Amarillo (a new diocese created concomitantly), leaving El Paso as a suffragan of the Metro- politan Church of Santa Fe. By the terms of the Bull the limits of the new ecclesiastical province included all of Texas and the State of Okla- homa, with the exception of the Diocese of El Paso. 93 The news was received in San Antonio in September and was hailed with enthusiasm by Catholics and non-Catholics alike. The Bull that raised the diocese to the dignity of an archdiocese also appointed Bishop Arthur J. Drossaerts the new archbishop. It was a well merited reward for eight years of faithful and devoted service as a shepherd of his flock. Since his consecration in December, 1918, sixty new churches and fifty schools had been built, representing a total value of more than $8,000,000. The ceremonies attendant upon the erection of the new archdiocese and the investiture and installation of Archbishop Drossaerts outrivaled in splendor and genuine fervor any other civil or ecclesiastical function ever witnessed in the old city of the Alamo. The festivities opened on Febru- ary 1 5, 1927, Tuesday night, with a reception at the Municipal Audi- torium. attended by more than 6 ,000 persons. High state and city officials, the hierarchy of Texas and Oklahoma, representatives of the regular and secular clergy, and countless admirers of the kindly, beaming honoree graced the occasion. Introduced by Reverend M. S. Garriga, the master of ceremonies, Lt. Governor Barry Miller, acting for Governor Dan Moody, declared that Archbishop Drossaerts had warranted the high honor conferred upon him "by fighting for the basic principles of democratic government and the right to civil and religious freedom." Nat Washer, speaking for the laity, pointed out that it had been not "self-seeking but self-sacri- ficing devotion" that had commanded recognition. Archbishop Shaw of New Orleans, who had endeared himself to San Antonio as its former
93 Tlte Snulltern Messen.fer, In:r1tallation Edition, Febniary 17, 1927.
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