The Diocese of Tyler will celebrate its 30th anniversary this month. Courtesy

The Diocese of Tyler will celebrate its 30th anniversary this month, an occasion to be marked with joy over the growth and optimism about the future.

Missionary priests were the first people to serve Tyler’s Catholic community starting in 1878, when they rode on horseback from Palestine and Nacogdoches to Tyler to celebrate Mass.

However, it was more than 100 years later when Pope John Paul II formed the new diocese in 1986 at the request of the bishops of Texas.

Although the announcement about the new diocese and its first bishop was made that year, the service officially establishing the diocese and designating the then ImmaculateConception Roman Catholic Church as the cathedral church happened on Feb. 24, 1987.

The first bishop, Charles E. Herzig, who came from the Archdiocese of San Antonio, was ordained that day as well.

Current Bishop Joseph Strickland was associate pastor of the Immaculate Conception Church at the time and had been a priest for less than two years. He said it was an exciting and busy time.

“Everything was new and challenging, but full of hope and new possibilities,” he said.

When formed, the Diocese of Tyler pulled together the Catholic community from more than 30 counties in three other dioceses: the one in Beaumont, Galveston-Houston and Dallas.

At the time, the diocese, which was the 14th in the state, had a population of almost 1.2 million. It served a Catholic community of about 45,000.

The late Patrick Flores, then archbishop of San Antonio, said the diocese was created to give better ministry to the population in this area.

“These counties have actually been too far out from any of the three see cities to be given adequate attention,” Flores said at the time.

Since that time, the diocese has grown in almost all ways with almost three times the number of Catholics, almost twice as many parishes, the ordination of many deacons and almost three times as many priests.

“Thanks to the faith of so many in the East Texas area, these 33 counties have proven to be rich soil for a new Catholic diocese to develop,” Strickland said. “We are grateful to the faith-filled non-Catholic community who have supported and welcomed us in so many ways.”

 

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IF YOU GO

Who: Diocese of Tyler

What: Mass of Thanksgiving

When: 1:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17

Where: Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

Why: To celebrate the diocese’s 30th Anniversary. A public reception will follow at 3 p.m. in the Cathedral Center.