From the Annals of Rome – In 1847, Pope Pius IX established the Catholic Diocese of Galveston.   Jean Marie Odin was called to be the new diocese’s first bishop. The Diocese  covered a huge area which included all of Texas and parts of Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming. Odin and twelve priests served the approximately  20,000 Catholics in the Diocese which included only ten established churches and a convent of Ursuline Sisters in San Antonio. The Diocese of Galveston underwent the first of many divisions in 1874, when the Diocese of San Antonio and the Vicariate Apostolic of Brownsville were established. The Diocese of Galveston is now known as the Diocese of Galveston-Houston.