(1874 - 1885)

Most Rev. Dominic Manucy was consecrated Bishop for the newly established Vicariate of Brownsville, which included the city of Corpus Christi, on December 8, 1874. A year later he moved to Corpus Christi. The Catholic population was very small and very poor. He began the construction of a new church, named St. Patrick’s. It was through the generosity of a Protestant, Captain Mifflin Kenedy, that the construction was finished. During his brief administration he went to great efforts to open Catholic schools, believing that without an ongoing educational effort to fortify the efforts of his work and that of his priests, establishing a viable Catholic community would ultimately be lost. It was during this time that he invited the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament into the Vicariate to establish an Academy and other schools. He was a tireless worker, traveling from one end to the other of the large Vicariate for Confirmations and visiting his priests and people.