A new beginning: The Vicariate of Brownsville

The Diocese of Corpus Christi, erected in 1912, originally consisted of the territory occupying the southern triangular point of Texas, comprising about 22,391 square miles, with miles of Gulf coast on the east and the Rio Grande on the south and west. This territory was the principal source of dispute and the explicit cause of the war between the United States and Mexico in 1846-1847.

During the Spanish period of colonization and missions, it was originally attached to the province of Mexico—initially to the Diocese of Guadalajara and then to the Diocese of Linares o Nuevo Leon.  It became part of the Church of Texas on July 16, 1841 when Pope Gregory XVI issued his Bull erecting the Vicariate Apostolic of Texas. 

With the annexation of Texas to the United States and the conclusion of conflict between the United States and Mexico, the vicariate was declared the Diocese of Galveston, with Bishop Jean Marie Odin, C.M. serving as the first ordinary. 

In the years that followed the erection of the Diocese of Galveston, the people experienced many trials but the population continued to increase and in the aftermath of the Civil War, the land had increasingly prospered with the development of ports, agriculture and ranching. 

In 1862, Bishop Claude Marie Dubuis was named to succeed Bishop Odin. He made his first episcopal visit, to what would become the Diocese of Corpus Christi, in late 1866 and returned the following year. When he attended the First Vatican Council in Rome in 1869-1870 he could have reported on the tremendous growth that had occurred in his flock since its humble beginnings. 

His diocese was clearly ripe for the next step in its development. Consequently, in 1874, Texas was divided into three distinct fields of ministry while remaining part of the Province of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. The Diocese of Galveston retained that portion of Texas lying east of the Colorado River; the Diocese of San Antonio, was created primarily out of the territory lying between the Colorado and Nueces Rivers; and the Vicariate Apostolic of Brownsville, roughly comprising the territory between the Nueces and the Rio Grande Rivers. 

Dominic Manucy was chosen as the bishop of the Vicariate of Brownsville. He was born in St. Augustine, Florida to Pedro and Maria Manucy who had emigrated from the Spanish island of Minorca. The future bishop left St. Augustine in 1837 to study at the Jesuit Spring Hill College before continuing his seminary formation in New Orleans.  He was ordained a priest on Aug. 15, 1850, on the Feast of the Assumption, in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile, Alabama. 

Father Manucy served as a Confederate chaplain during the Civil War. He was consecrated bishop of the new Vicariate of Brownsville at the cathedral in Mobile on Dec. 8, 1874, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Bishop Manucy traveled to Brownsville where he was installed in the church of the Immaculate Conception on Feb. 14, 1875.  It was estimated that the territory of the vicariate contained as many as 42,000 Catholics.

He immediately began preaching and hearing confessions in Brownsville, and made a Confirmation tour in April, traveling with the Oblates as companions. The Oblates had been working in the area for over a quarter of a century. 

Due to some concerns, and knowing that the Oblates were laboring faithfully in the southern part of the vicariate, Bishop Manucy moved from Brownsville in September 1875 and took up residence in Corpus Christi.  There he continued to travel the distances necessary to hear confessions, instruct and visit. 

In an 1879 tour with Oblate Father Peter Parisot, the bishop visited more than 80 ranches from Corpus Christi by way of Brownsville to Roma and Laredo—confirming almost 3,000 children and adults.  Beginning with six secular priests and about 12 Oblates, by 1884 Bishop Manucy had ordained five priests and built nine churches. 

Among the churches he built was the new St. Patrick’s church in Corpus Christi, constructed in 1881 on the corner of Antelope and Carancahua.  Mifflin and Petra Kenedy donated three bells, an organ and fresco paintings for the ceiling along with funds for construction.  Mary Margaret Healy Murphy donated statues and numerous local workers participated in the construction. 

The architect for this new place of worship was Charles Carroll, whose daughter Mary Carroll was an educator and the first female superintendent of the Corpus Christi School District.  Carroll High School is named in honor of her contributions to the local educational system.

This church became the cathedral of the Diocese of Corpus Christi upon its establishment in 1912.  A fire in one of its towers in the late 1930s led to plans to build the present Corpus Christi Cathedral.  Msgr. Adolf Marx, the last priest ordained in the church, offered the last Mass in the old cathedral for the soul of Charles Carroll in February 1951. 

Msgr. Marx later became the auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Corpus Christi and the first bishop of the Diocese of Brownsville when it was erected in 1965.  The old church was moved to the north side of the ship channel and remodeled where it serves today as Our Lady Star of the Sea. 

In 1884, Bishop Manucy—suffering from poor health—requested a less strenuous assignment and Pope Leo XIII responded by appointing him Bishop of Mobile. At the time, the vicariate had 12 churches, 12 chapels, 21 priests, a school for boys, three academies for girls and five convents.  The Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament had schools in Brownsville and Corpus Christi; the Ursuline nuns were active in education in Laredo; and Sisters of Mercy had schools in San Patricio and Refugio. 

Also by 1884 all debts had been paid, three more churches were in the process of being built, and the plans for a boys’ high school in Corpus Christi had been completed. In the far southern region of the vicariate, the Oblates continued to staff the parishes and had charge of about 110 ranches. 

After being installed as the bishop of Mobile, Bishop Manucy sent in his resignation as Bishop of Mobile and expressed his desire to return to the Vicariate of Brownsville.  His request was granted, but before he could make his move, he died on Dec. 4, 1885 just a few weeks short of his 62nd birthday. He was buried in the crypt of the Mobile cathedral. 

When Bishop Manucy left Texas for Mobile, Father Claude Jaillet had been appointed the Vicar General and Administrator of the vicariate and was reappointed after Bishop Manucy’s death.  In May 1887, San Antonio Bishop John Claude Neraz was appointed Administrator of the Vicariate of Brownsville while continuing to serve as bishop of San Antonio. 

Because of the enormity of his task in the Diocese of San Antonio, Bishop Neraz assigned Father Jaillet to continue his work as administrator of the vicariate. Father Jaillet had charge of the wellbeing of the Catholics in south Texas from 1885 to 1890, while the Holy See searched for a new shepherd.

He was well fitted for this task.  Brought to Texas by Bishop Dubuis, the young Frenchman had spent so many years in missionary work that he was known as the “saddlebags priest”. 

He had accompanied two bishops on their confirmation tours of the area and knew well the sacrifices the work entailed. 

Two days after his arrival at Galveston, before he could even learn English or Spanish, he was assigned to San Diego, Texas.  He built the first chapel there in 1867.  He described his “headquarters” there as a little hut, 12 feet by 8 feet wide. 

Father Jaillet twice refused the office of bishop. He served as a pastor of St. Patrick’s in Corpus Christi for nearly 40 years. 

He survived several hurricanes and was present in Spohn Hospital when it was torn apart during the 1919 storm. 

Father Jaillet was known for his generosity. He donated large sums for the construction of an early church in San Diego. He paid half of the cost in repairs to the roof of St. Patrick’s in Corpus Christi. In addition, he made regular offerings to two kind women, Concha Rodriguez and Charlita Verin, who operated a little “hospital” in their home where they took care of patients sent to them by Dr. Arthur Spohn. 

Father Jaillet also supervised the construction of the Incarnate Word Convent and School in 1886, which grew from 82 pupils in 1885 to 220 pupils in 1890. During his administration, the Incarnate Word Sisters established the St. Patrick Parochial School for Boys.  He spent most of his last years in residence and as chaplain for Spohn Hospital where he died on Nov. 30, 1929.