Christianity in Houston

===Roman Catholics===
[[File:CoCathedralsoutheastHoustonTexas.JPG|thumb|The [[Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (Houston)|Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral]] in [[Downtown Houston]]]]
The city's Roman Catholic diocese is the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston]]. The chancery of the archdiocese is located in [[Downtown Houston]].<ref>"[http://www.archgh.org/form/ContactUs.asp?id=10 Contact Us] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702142037/http://www.archgh.org/form/ContactUs.asp?id=10 |date=2014-07-02 }}." Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. Retrieved on February 27, 2011. "1700 San Jacinto Houston, TX 77002."</ref> The archdiocese's original [[cathedral church]] is [[St. Mary Cathedral Basilica (Galveston, Texas)|St. Mary Cathedral Basilica]] in [[Galveston]] with a [[co-cathedral]], the [[Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart]], located in Downtown Houston.<ref name="Archdiocese Cathedral History">[http://www.archgh.org/cocathedral/cathedral-history.htm Archdiocese Cathedral History] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070125042116/http://www.archgh.org/cocathedral/cathedral-history.htm |date=January 25, 2007 }}</ref>

The first Catholic church in Houston, St. Vincent's Church, opened in 1839.<ref>Carroll, Jill. "[http://www.chron.com/life/houston-belief/article/Family-history-tied-to-church-s-project-3583872.php Family, history tied to church's project]" (). ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. May 24, 2012. Retrieved on May 3, 2014.</ref> John Odin, a bishop arrived in 1841 to help establish it, and in the fall of 1842 the building, in the [[Second Ward, Houston|Second Ward]], was fully built. This church converted into a parish catering to [[German Americans]] in 1871 when the larger Annunciation Church opened.<ref>McWhorter, Thomas. "[https://houstonhistorymagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/vol-8-no-1-Second-Ward.pdf From Das Zweiter to El Segundo, A Brief History of Houston’s Second Ward]." ''[[Houston History Magazine]]''. Volume 8, No. 1, p. 39. Retrieved on April 21, 2019.</ref>

The city's first black Catholic church was St. Nicholas, located in the [[Third Ward, Houston|Third Ward]].<ref name="Steptoep195">Steptoe, Tyina Leaneice ([[University of Wisconsin-Madison]]). ''Dixie West: Race, Migration, and the Color Lines in Jim Crow Houston'' (PhD thesis for a history degree). [[ProQuest]], 2008. {{ISBN|0549635874}}, 9780549635871. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=0a2CFNeOh4UC&pg=PA195 195].</ref>
[[File:HoustonOLGChurch.JPG|thumb|left|[[Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church (Houston)|Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church]] in the [[Second Ward, Houston|Second Ward]]]]
In 1910 there were no Mexican Catholic churches in Houston. Some Mexicans were excluded from attending English-speaking Catholic churches. Mexicans who did attend found themselves discriminated against.<ref name="Trevino32">Treviño, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=OxsfuWARmCQC&dq=%22In+1910+Houston%27s+Mexican+Catholics%22&pg=PA32 32].</ref> In 1911 the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Galveston]] brought the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a series of priests intended to minister to the Mexican population of Houston.<ref name="Trevino09">Treviño, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=6tNaAAAAMAAJ&q=%22The+years+1911-72%22 9].</ref> In 1912 [[Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church (Houston)|Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church]], the first Mexican Catholic church, opened.<ref name="Trevino32" /> Due to an increase in demand in Catholic services, oblates established missions in various Mexican-American neighborhoods.<ref name="GarzaNatalie17">Garza, Natalie, p. 17.</ref> The Roman Catholic Church established Our Lady of Guadalupe so that white people accustomed to segregation of races would not be offended by the presence of Mexican people in their churches.<ref name="GarzaNatalie15">Garza, Natalie, p. 15.</ref> The second Mexican Catholic church, Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, opened in the 1920s.<ref name="Esparza3">Esparza, p. 3.</ref> It originated as an oblate mission in [[Magnolia Park, Houston|Magnolia Park]], on the second floor of the residence of Emilio Aranda. A permanent two-story building, funded by the community, opened in 1926.<ref name="GarzaNatalie17" />
[[File:OurMotherofMercyChurchHouston.JPG|thumb|[[Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church]] in the [[Fifth Ward, Houston|Fifth Ward]]]]
In the 1920s, a group of [[Louisiana Creole people]] attended the Hispanic [[Our Lady of Guadalupe Church (Houston)|Our Lady of Guadalupe Church]] because OLG was the closest church to the Frenchtown area of the Fifth Ward.<ref name="Steptoep195" /> Because the OLG church treated the Creole people in a discriminatory manner, by forcing them to confess and take communion after people of other races did so and after forcing them to take the back pews,<ref name="Steptoep195196">Steptoe, Tyina Leaneice ([[University of Wisconsin-Madison]]). ''Dixie West: Race, Migration, and the Color Lines in Jim Crow Houston'' (PhD thesis for a history degree). [[ProQuest]], 2008. {{ISBN|0549635874}}, 9780549635871. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=0a2CFNeOh4UC&pg=PA195 195]-[https://books.google.com/books?id=0a2CFNeOh4UC&pg=PA196 196].</ref> the Creoles opted to build their own church.<ref name="Steptoep196">Steptoe, Tyina Leaneice ([[University of Wisconsin-Madison]]). ''Dixie West: Race, Migration, and the Color Lines in Jim Crow Houston'' (PhD thesis for a history degree). [[ProQuest]], 2008. {{ISBN|0549635874}}, 9780549635871. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=0a2CFNeOh4UC&pg=PA196 196].</ref> The [[Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church]] in the Fifth Ward, Houston's second black Catholic church, was officially founded in June 1929.<ref name="CathYouthp76">Catholic Youth Organization, Diocese of Galveston. Houston District. ''Centennial: The Story of the Kingdom of God on Earth in that Portion of the Vineyard which for One Hundred Years Has Been the Diocese of Galveston''. Catholic Youth Organization, Centennial Book Committee, 1947. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wG5aAAAAMAAJ&q=Our+Mother+of+Mercy 76]. "Our Mother of Mercy Church, the second Negro parish to be established in Houston, was founded in June, 1929. Bishop Christopher E. Byrne purchased two city blocks, on Sumpter Street, and ground was[...]" ("Negro" is an outdated term for African-American).</ref>

The number of African-American Catholics in Houston increased after the [[Great Mississippi Flood of 1927]] affected rural areas in the [[Southern United States]].<ref>Pruitt, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=-YSzAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA114 114].</ref> Most of them moved to the [[Fifth Ward, Houston|Fifth Ward]].<ref>Pruitt, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=-YSzAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA114 114]-[https://books.google.com/books?id=-YSzAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA115 115].</ref> Due to a perception of the Catholic Church being more favorable than Protestant churches to African-Americans, the Catholic Church in Houston increased in popularity with African-Americans in the 1930s.<ref name="Pruittp116">Pruitt, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=-YSzAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA116 116].</ref> St. Anne de Beaupre in [[Sunset Heights, Houston|Sunset Heights]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Harris County Assessor's Block Book|volume=35|page=110}} - [https://books.tax.hctx.net/v035/AE1997_35-36_0113.jpg JPG] - Church location indicated.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.archgh.org/parishes/st-anne-de-beaupre-houston/|title=St. Anne de Beaupre|publisher=[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston]]|access-date=2020-06-09|quote=St. Anne de Beaupre Houston, TX 2810 Link Rd Houston, Texas 77009}}</ref> the third black Catholic church, named after the [[Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré]] in [[Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré]], Quebec, Canada, opened in 1938.<ref name="SteptoeHoustonBoundp117">Steptoe, Tyina L. ''Houston Bound: Culture and Color in a Jim Crow City'' (Volume 41 of American Crossroads). [[University of California Press]], November 3, 2015. {{ISBN|0520958535}}, 9780520958531. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=30-bCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA117 117].</ref> By 2012 the church held Swahili masses due to it gaining African immigrant parishioners.<ref>{{cite web|author=Rogan, Catherine|url=https://www.archgh.org/news-data/texas-catholic-herald/historic-st-nicholas-turns-125/|title=Historic St. Nicholas turns 125|newspaper=[[Texas Catholic Herald]]|publisher=[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston]]|date=2012-12-11|access-date=2020-06-02}}</ref> In particular St. Nicholas has a group of Cameroonians in the congregation served by the Assumption Cameroonian Catholic Community, so it has services each month tailored to that group.<ref>{{cite book|author=Takougang, Joseph|title=Cameroonian Immigrants in the United States: Between the Homeland and the Diaspora|publisher=[[Lexington Books]]|date=2014-03-06|isbn=<!--Old: 0739186949-->9780739186947|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QpYXAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA75 75]}}</ref>
[[File:St. Andrew Kim Church - Houston, Texas.jpg|thumb|St. Andrew Kim Catholic Church ({{lang-ko|휴스턴한인천주교회}}) in [[Spring Branch, Houston|Spring Branch]]]]
In 1972 the Catholic church leaders and lay Hispanics in Houston participated in the ''Encuentro Hispano de Pastoral'' ("Pastoral Congress for the Spanish-speaking"). Robert R. Treviño, author of ''[[The Church in the Barrio: Mexican American Ethno-Catholicism in Houston]]'', said that the event "stands as a watershed in the religious history of Mexican American Catholics in Houston".<ref name="Trevino09" /> Treviño also said that Mexican-American Catholics "competed for cultural space not only with the Anglo majority, which included various groups of white Catholics, but also with a large black population and a Mexican protestant presence as well."<ref>Treviño, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=OxsfuWARmCQC&dq=%22Mexican+Catholics+competed+for+cultural%22&pg=PA10 10].</ref> St. Faustina Catholic Church, popular with Greater Katy's Venezuelan population, is in proximity to Cinco Ranch. It previously held its services at Joe Hubenak Elementary School, but in 2017 it moved into its own 1,600-seat building. It has worship services in Spanish.<ref name="HerreraKatyZuela">{{cite news|author=Herrera, Sebastian|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/In-Houston-s-Katy-suburb-a-Venezuelan-population-11028051.php|title=In Houston's Katy suburb, a Venezuelan population thrives|newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]]|date=2017-03-25|access-date=2018-07-11}}</ref>

The first wave of Vietnamese immigrants to Houston, occurring after the end of the [[Vietnam War]], was mostly Catholic.<ref name="Klinebergp39">Klineberg, Stephen L. and Jie Wu. "[http://kinder.rice.edu/uploadedFiles/Center_for_the_Study_of_Houston/Kinder%20Institute%20Houston%20Area%20Asian%20Survey.pdf DIVERSITY AND TRANSFORMATION AMONG ASIANS IN HOUSTON: Findings from the Kinder Institute’s Houston Area Asian Survey (1995, 2002, 2011)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131126220304/http://kinder.rice.edu/uploadedFiles/Center_for_the_Study_of_Houston/Kinder%20Institute%20Houston%20Area%20Asian%20Survey.pdf|date=2013-11-26}}" (). [[Kinder Institute for Urban Research]], [[Rice University]]. February 2013. - Cited: p. 39.</ref> In 1999 the Houston area had about 40,000 Filipino Catholics, about 30,000 ethnic Vietnamese Catholics, 350 Chinese Catholic families, over 1,000 Korean Catholics, and about 500 Indian Catholics.<ref name="Varatogether">Vara, Richard. "Area Asian Catholics to come together in celebration." ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. August 21, 1999. Religion p. 1. [[NewsBank]] Record: 3159522. Available from the ''[[Houston Chronicle]]'' [http://houstonpubliclibrary.org/newspapers website's newspaper databases], accessible with a library card and PIN.</ref> Vietnamese Catholic churches in the Houston area as of 2008 include Christ Incarnate Word Parish ({{lang-vi|Giáo Xứ Đức Kito Ngôi Lời Nhập Thể}}<!--Vietnamese name from: http://www.giaoxungoiloi.org/li-n-l-c--contact-.html-->), Holy Rosary Parish, Our Lady of Lavang (Giáo Xứ Đức Mẹ Lavang<!--http://lavangchurch.org/-->), Our Lady of Lourdes, and Vietnamese Martyrs (Giáo Xứ Các Thánh Tử Đạo Việt Nam<!--http://gxcttdvn.org/-->).<ref name="Latson">Latson, Jennifer. "[http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Mass-honors-those-lost-in-Sherman-bus-crash-1602188.php Mass honors those lost in Sherman bus crash]" (). ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. September 8, 2008. Retrieved on May 5, 2014.</ref> In 1999 there were four Vietnamese Catholic churches and five other churches with large numbers of Vietnamese people. In 1988 the Chinese Catholic church, Ascension Chinese Mission (美華天主堂)<!--http://www.ascensionchinesemission.org/-->, opened. The Korean Catholic church, St. Andrew Kim Catholic Church ({{lang-ko|휴스턴한인천주교회}}), named after [[Andrew Kim Taegon]], is in [[Spring Branch, Houston|Spring Branch]]. There were no particular Filipino and Indian Catholic churches.<!--Implied by: "Filipino Catholics, estimated at 40,000, and about 500 Indian Catholic families worship at several parishes."--><ref name="Varatogether" /> On August 8, 2008, [[Sherman, Texas bus accident|a bus with Vietnamese Catholics from the Houston area was traveling to a Missouri festival to honor the Virgin Mary and crashed]] near [[Sherman, Texas|Sherman]] in [[North Texas]]. 17 people died.<ref name="Latson" />

The city has a [[Polish American]] church, Our Lady of Czestochowa Roman Catholic Parish in [[Spring Branch, Houston|Spring Branch]], established in the 1980s. At the time Polish immigrants who resisted Communist rule in that country arrived in Houston.<ref>{{cite web|author=Orozco, Yvette|url=https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Polish-American-community-celebrates-traditions-13819790.php|title=Polish-American community celebrates traditions at festival|work=[[Houston Chronicle]]|date=2019-05-04|access-date=2019-10-18}}</ref>