Roman Catholic Diocese of Brownsville

Diocese of Brownsville Dioecesis Brownsvillensis Diócesis de Brownsville
Immaculate Conception Cathedral
Location
Country	United States
Territory	Counties of Starr, Willacy, Hidalgo, and Cameron counties in Southern Texas
Ecclesiastical province	Galveston-Houston
Coordinates	25°55′49″N 97°29′04″W / 25.93028°N 97.48444°W / 25.93028; -97.48444Coordinates: 25°55′49″N 97°29′04″W / 25.93028°N 97.48444°W / 25.93028; -97.48444
Statistics
Area	4,226 sq mi (10,950 km2)
Population - Total - Catholics (including non-members)	(as of 2020) 1,377,861 1,171,182 (85.0%)
Parishes	72
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	July 10, 1965
Cathedral	Immaculate Conception Cathedral
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Daniel E. Flores
Metropolitan Archbishop	Daniel DiNardo
Auxiliary Bishops	Mario Alberto Avilés
Map
Website
cdob.org

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brownsville (Latin: Dioecesis Brownsvillensis, Spanish: Diócesis de Brownsville) is a Latin Church suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, in Texas, USA.

The diocese's first cathedral church is Immaculate Conception Cathedral, located in Downtown Brownsville, Texas.

History[]

• Founded on 1874.08.28 as Apostolic Vicariate of Brownsville / Brownsvillen(sis) (Latin), of territory split off from the then Diocese of Galveston.
• Designated the Diocese of Corpus Christi on 1912.03.23.
• Restored (and promoted) on 10 July 1965 as Diocese of Brownsville / Brovnsvillen(sis) (Latin), taking its territory from the above Diocese of Corpus Christi.

Statistics[]

As of 2020, it pastorally served 1,171,182 Catholics (85.0% of 1,377,861 total) on 111,125 km² in 72 parishes, 44 missions, 108 priests (85 diocesan, 23 religious), 103 deacons, 72 lay religious (12 brothers, 8608 sisters), and 12 seminarians.

The Diocese has the 2nd highest percentage of Catholics to total diocese population in the United States, second only to the Diocese of Laredo. As of 2020, the Diocese of Brownsville comprises 1,171,182 Catholics among a total population of 1,377,861, or 85.0%.^[1]

Bishops[]

Bishops of Brownsville[]

1. Adolph Marx (1965)^[2]
2. Humberto Sousa Medeiros (1966-1970), appointed Archbishop of Boston (Cardinal in 1973)
3. John Joseph Fitzpatrick (1971-1991)
4. Enrique San Pedro, S.J. (1991-1994; Coadjutor 1991)
5. Raymundo Joseph Peña (1994-2009)
6. Daniel E. Flores (2010–present)

Current Auxiliary Bishop of Brownsville[]

• Mario Alberto Avilés, C.O. (2018–present)

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop[]

• Joseph Patrick Delaney, appointed Bishop of Fort Worth in 1981

Education[]

Universities

• Catholic Campus Ministry University of Texas of the Rio Grande Valley

High schools

• Saint Joseph Academy, Brownsville
• Juan Diego Academy, Mission.

Middle and elementary schools

The diocese operates the following schools: Guadalupe Regional Middle School, 6-8 (Brownsville); St. Joseph's School, PK-8 (Edinburg); St. Mary's School, PK-6 (Brownsville); St. Luke's School, PK-8 (Brownsville);(Closed 2020) Our Lady of Sorrows School, PK-8 (McAllen); St. Anthony's School, PK-8 (Harlingen); Incarnate Word School, PK-8 (Brownsville); St. Martin de Porras School, PK-3 (Weslaco); Oratory Academy, PK-8 (Pharr); Our Lady of Guadalupe School, PK-6 (Mission); Immaculate Conception School, PK-8 (Rio Grande City).

Public broadcasting[]

The diocese's radio and television stations are operated under the license name of RGV Educational Broadcasting, Inc.^[3]

• KJJF 88.9 FM and KHID 88.1 FM - NPR-member stations

See also[]

• List of Catholic dioceses in the United States

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roman Catholic Diocese of Brownsville.

• GCatholic, with Google map - data for most sections
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Brownsville Official Site