This article is about the cathedral basilica of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. For other uses of St. Mary Basilica, see Basilica of St. Mary (disambiguation).
In 1840, the Rev. John Timon, the newly appointed Apostolic Prefect of Texas, named fellow Vincentian priest Rev. John Odin, C.M., to be the resident Vice-Prefect of Texas. Fr. Odin embarked from New Orleans on a schooner bound for the Texas coast, arriving in Galveston early in 1841. There he found a community of Catholics eager to build a church for their small congregation.
In the months that followed, Father Odin procured enough money to begin construction of a wooden-frame church.[6] He was assisted in this venture by Colonel Michel Branamour Menard and Dr. Nicholas Labadie, prominent Galvestonians. Colonel Menard is to be remembered as one of the founders of the City of Galveston.
On February 6, 1842, one month before his consecration as a bishop, Odin dedicated the completed structure to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The small, rectangular building measured 22 feet (6.7m). Odin, now the Apostolic Vicar of Texas, purchased a five-room cottage as the episcopal residence. He made an addition to the church structure of a small sacristy, and bought thirty benches for the convenience of his parishioners.
Stereoscopic view of the cathedral, circa 1865Sanctuary of St. Mary Cathedral BasilicaSt Mary's Cathedral, Galveston
In 1845, Bishop Odin purchased 500,000 bricks from Belgium, which were shipped to Galveston as ballast. He would use the bricks in the construction of his dream: a larger, permanent church.[7] The little frame church was moved out into the street, and work on the new St. Mary's began in 1847. The ceremony of laying the cornerstone took place on Sunday, March 14. Father Timon came to Galveston for the event and preached the sermon before a large crowd. On May 4, 1847, Pope Pius IX approved the establishment of the Diocese of Galveston and named Odin as its first bishop.[6][8][9]
On November 26, 1848, the cathedral was ready for dedication.[6] Once more Father John Timon was chosen as the principal speaker because of his close association with, and his pioneer work in, the diocese.
The cathedral basilica is notable as being one of the few buildings in Galveston that survived the devastating 1900 Galveston hurricane with only minimal damage.[9]
Due to the tremendous growth in the City of Houston, in 1959 the Most Reverend Wendelin J. Nold, fifth bishop of the diocese, asked that the diocese be re-designated the Diocese of Galveston-Houston. This created a co-capital or "see" city in Houston, and Sacred Heart Church in Houston was named the "co-cathedral" of the diocese. This did not change the status of Galveston as a see city nor St. Mary Cathedral's place in the diocese.[10] Since St. Mary Cathedral was the first Catholic cathedral in the state of Texas, and the original Diocese of Galveston encompassed the entire state, it has the distinction of being the mother church of all the Catholic dioceses in Texas.[1]
St. Mary's Cathedral, Galveston, Texas (postcard, circa 1890–1924)
St. Mary Cathedral was named a Texas state historic landmark in 1968 and a national historic landmark in 1973. In 1979, in recognition of the cathedral's importance to the community and the state of Texas, as well as the historical impact it had on Catholicism in the state of Texas, Pope John Paul II elevated St. Mary Cathedral to the status of a minor basilica.[11]
The basilica today
The cathedral basilica sustained significant water damage during Hurricane Ike in 2008 and was closed for repairs until Easter 2014.[12]
In 2009, the archdiocese appointed a director of special projects to oversee the cathedral basilica's restoration. As of July 2012, the roof was replaced, the pews were rebuilt and refinished, steel armature reinforcements were added to the two front spires, the confessionals and Stations of the Cross were refinished, and exterior masonry repairs, coating and chemical remediation had all been completed. A new concrete substructure was being built to support the floor, which is currently supported by the original wooden beams that were installed when the cathedral basilica was constructed in 1847.[13]
A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or cathedra, with another cathedral, often in another city. Instances of this occurred in England before the Protestant Reformation in the dioceses of 'Bath and Wells', and of 'Coventry and Lichfield'. These two dioceses were each named for both cities that served as bishop's seats.
The Archdiocese of Galveston–Houston is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction—an archdiocese—of the Catholic Church in the United States. The archdiocese covers a portion of Southeast Texas, and is the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province covering east-Texas. The archdiocese was erected in 2004, having been a diocese since 1959 and the "Diocese of Galveston" since 1847. It is the second metropolitan see in Texas after the Archdiocese of San Antonio.
Joseph Anthony Fiorenza was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the seventh bishop and the first archbishop of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in Texas, serving from 1985 to 2006. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of San Angelo in Texas from 1979 to 1984.
Daniel Nicholas DiNardo is an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the second and current archbishop of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in Texas serving since 2006. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Sioux City in Iowa from 1998 to 2004.
John Timon, C.M. was a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the bishop of the new Diocese of Buffalo in Western New York and founder of the brothers of the Holy Infancy religious order.
The Diocese of Beaumont is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory. or diocese. of the Catholic Church covering nine counties in the state of Texas in the United States. It is a suffragan see in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica serves as the cathedral church.
The Diocese of Brownsville is a Latin Church diocese in southeastern Texas in the United States.
The Diocese of Tyler is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in eastern Texas in the United States. The episcopal see is Tyler, and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Tyler is its mother church.
The Diocese of Victoria in Texas is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southern Texas in the United States. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Victory serves as the cathedral church. The diocese is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. The bishop as of 2023 is Brendan J. Cahill.
The Diocese of Amarillo is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic church in the Texas Panhandle region in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of San Antonio.
The Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart is a place of worship located at 1111 St. Joseph Parkway in downtown Houston. The co-cathedral seats 1,820 people in its 32,000-square-foot (3,000 m2) sanctuary. Together with the venerable St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica in Galveston, Sacred Heart serves more than 1.2 million Roman Catholics in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
Claude Marie Dubuis was a French-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the second bishop of the Diocese of Galveston in Texas. from 1862 until his death in 1892. He founded the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.
John Joseph Lynch was an Irish prelate of the Catholic Church. A member of the Congregation of the Mission, he served as the third Bishop (1860–1870) and first Archbishop of Toronto (1870–1888). He founded Our Lady of Angels Seminary in 1856.
Saint Anthony Cathedral Basilica in Beaumont, Texas, is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Beaumont. The cathedral was raised to the status of a minor basilica in 2006.
Jean-Marie Odin, C.M. was a French-born prelate of the Catholic Church and a member of the Congregation of the Mission. He served as the second Archbishop of New Orleans from 1861 to 1870.
Nicolaus Aloysius Gallagher was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Galveston in Texas from 1892 until his death in 1918.
Wendelin Joseph Nold was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston in Texas from 1950 to 1975.
The history of Galveston, Texas, begins with the archaeological record of Native Americans who used the island. The first European settlements on the island were constructed around 1816. The Port of Galveston was established in 1825 by the Congress of Mexico following its successful revolution from Spain. The city served as the main port for the Texas Navy during the Texas Revolution. Galveston was founded in 1836 by Michel Menard, Samuel May Williams, and Thomas F. McKinney, and briefly served as the capital of the Republic of Texas. The Battle of Galveston was fought in Galveston Bay during the American Civil War when Confederate forces under Major General John B. Magruder attacked and expelled occupying Union troops from the city.
Christianity is the most widely practiced religion in the city of Houston, Texas. In 2012 Kate Shellnutt of the Houston Chronicle described Houston as a "heavily Christian city". Multiple Christian denominations originating from various countries are practiced in the city; among its Christian population, the majority are either Catholic, Baptist, or non/inter-denominational.
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