Establislmzcut of tlec Dioceses, 1847-1948
1 59
person of ecclesiastical dignity. It was further requested that "as soon as possible at least a small diocesan seminary be erected, as prescribed by the Code and Regulations of the Sacred Congregation of Seminaries.'"' On August 25, 1926, Pius XI appointed Father Rudolph A. Gerken, "to care for, rule and administer the things spiritual and temporal in the Diocese of Amarillo." The pastor of Santa Rita Church in Ranger, Texas, thus became the first bishop of the new diocese. Two days before, on August 23, the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Fumasoni-Biondi, had delegated to the then Bishop Drossaerts of San Antonio his powers to erect the new diocese of Amarillo. Drossaerts waited almost a year, until April 21, 1927 to carry out his commission, not because of neglect but because he wished to wait until the new bishop had been consecrated and was ready to be installed. The Bishop-elect was as much a Texas product as Bishop Schuler was a man of the West, in spite of his birth in Dyersville, Iowa. Rudolph Aloysius Gerken, one of a family of 13, was born on March 7, 1887. As a child he attended the St. Francis parochial school of Dyersville. He continued his studies in the Catholic Normal School at St. Francis, Wisconsin, and later went to St. Joseph's College in Ransselaer, Indiana. He then came to Texas and taught for two years in the public schools at Scotland (Texas). While teaching here he came under the influence of the magnetic personality of Bishop Lynch of Dallas who took a deep interest in the young man and induced him to study for the priesthood. After a year at the University of Dallas (Catholic), he was sent to Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis. Upon completion of his courses, he was ordained in the Sacred Heart Cathedral of Dallas by Bishop Lynch on June 10, 1917 and put in charge of Sacred Heart parish in Abilene as his first assignment. Here he had the care not only of the parish but its missions scattered in six counties. He, like many other missionaries, took a deep interest in the candid faith of the Mexicans. Moved by their plight, he built in 1918 a church and parochial school for them in Abilene. During the next two years he founded missions at Ranger and Cisco and built two new churches. In 1920 he was instructed by Bishop Lynch to take up his residence at Ranger. Here, in the fall of 1921, he opened a parochial school that 99 Such were the general provisions of the Decree of Erection already cited. Copy in C. A. T. In a letter to the author Bishop FitzSimon of Amarillo says: "I have found no mention of the particular church that ,vas to become the Cathedral, nor do we have any documents to the effect." As regards the seminary, he said none had been established as yet. Bishop L. J. FitzSimon to C. E. Castaneda, April 10, 1950.
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