| Marker Text |
Born in the Cataluna region of Spain, the most Rev. Peter Verdaguer de Prat studied in the United States. He was ordained (1862) in San Francisco and ministered at Catholic Indian missions in California. While serving at Our Lady of the Angels Church in Los Angeles, he was nominated for the Vicariate of Brownsville. Consecrated a Bishop in Barcelona in 1890, he sailed to Corpus Christi and in 1891 took up residence in Laredo. Entrusted with the care of 42,500 Catholics, Bishop Verdaguer faced two severe problems: the extreme poverty of the Vicariate and the mobility of the many Mexican-Americans among his flock. The great drought of the early 1890s aggravated the situation. Bishop Verdaguer spent much of his time traveling on horseback from Laredo to Victoria and Brownsville, baptizing, marrying and confirming the faithful on South Texas ranches. Despite hardship, three new churches were built in Laredo from 1896 to 1909. During the tenure of the most Rev. Verdaguer, the number of Catholics in the Vicariate rose to 82,000, and the number of churches, schools and clergy increased significantly. After his death, the Vicariate continued to exist until 1913, when the Diocese of Corpus Christi was established. (1978) |
