Word of bishop’s appointment traveled slow

Whispers in the Loggia was not around in 1912 when a vacancy occurred in the bishop’s office of the Vicariate of Brownsville, but that did not stop Vatican watchers from speculating on who was next in line for the job.

In its Jan. 6, 1912 edition, the Corpus Christi Caller & Daily Herald reported, “Announcement Expected in the Next Few Days” on the naming of a new bishop.

There was no Internet, much less Catholic Web sites or blogs, but unsubstantiated reporting was rampant even then. The newspaper reported that there had been much speculation among both Catholics and Protestants on who the pope would name to replace Bishop Peter Verdaguer who had died in office. Adding interest to the gossip was the titillating tidbit that whoever was picked would make Corpus Christi the Vicariate See city. Verdaguer had moved the chancery to Laredo.

The Diocesan Consultors had met in November 1911 and voted in secret on a recommendation, the newspaper said, and forwarded it to Archbishop James Blenk in New Orleans. The assumption was that Father James M. Kirwin, the Vicar General of the Diocese of Galveston would be the next bishop.

All the speculation was for naught as 10 weeks later the Vatican announced, on March 25, that it would erect a new diocese in Corpus Christi. The naming of the new bishop, however, was put off for another year.

There was no local Catholic newspaper to report on these events, in fact the only Catholic media outlet in the entire state was the Southern Messenger based in San Antonio. Indeed, it was the Southern Messenger that broke most of the news regarding the new diocese and the new bishop.

More than a year after Pope Pius X issued the Papal Bull erecting the Diocese of Corpus Christi, the Messenger cited an Associated Press report from Rome, dated April 3, 1913, that the pope had named Passionist Father Paul Nussbaum as the bishop of Corpus Christi. At the time, Father Nussbaum was stationed at St. Michael’s Monastery in West Hoboken, New Jersey.

On May 5, the Messenger announced Bishop-designate Nussbaum was to be consecrated on May 20 at West Hoboken. The report was picked up by the local media, and on May 18, the Laredo Times reported the same story, including the same photo of the new bishop that had appeared in the Messenger two weeks earlier.

The Messenger reported on the “Great Ecclesiastical Pageant” in Hoboken in its May 22 issue. Unlike recent consecrations of local bishops, the faithful in 1913 were not able to participate or even observe the installation of their shepherd; there was no live feed on the Internet.

Bishop Nussbaum left West Hoboken for Corpus Christi and his first acts as bishop were performed far away from his Cathedral at St. Patrick’s. He confirmed a group at Baltimore on May 25; on June 1 he ordained nine priests in a St. Louis suburb; and then he stopped in New Orleans to pay his respects to Archbishop Blenk. He went on to San Antonio where he visited Catholic universities, orphanages and the Spanish Missions.

He finally entered his diocese on Sunday, June 12, making Beeville his first stop. His train next stopped at Skidmore, Taft and then at Gregory where Msgr. Claude Jaillet who had been acting as Administrator joined him along with a delegation from Corpus Christi. He entered his See City to great fanfare, greeted by a band, secular and church dignitaries, priests, religious, ecumenical leaders, students and laity.

After a full day of activities, the bishop retired to a suite at the new and elegant Nueces Hotel. The following morning he moved to the episcopal residence and began to receive visitors. The first was Father John Coma from Beeville. Sisters of Mercy and the Ursulines from Laredo and Mother Augustine from Refugio visited next. Visitors came all day.

Ten days after arriving in Corpus Christi, Bishop Nussbaum made an episcopal visit to Laredo and on Aug. 9, 1913 he made his first visit to the Rio Grande Valley.

It was an auspicious start for the young bishop, which would end seven years later rather dishearteningly with Bishop Nussbaum resigning at the age of 49 for health reasons. Two years later, he was named bishop for the Diocese of Marquette, Michigan where he served until his death in 1935 at the age of 64.