The History of St. Christopher Catholic Church, Part 2

The Knights of Columbus in Houston raised $300 and the Catholic Church Extension Society contributed $1,000 to the building fund. In the meantime, Fr. Tonson, a neighboring priest, began offering a Sunday Mass at Park Place School. Bishop Byrne dedicated the new church (pictured in the previous post) at 10 a.m. on August 31, 1924. He named Fr. Reicher, the diocesan Chancellor, as the first Pastor. For the next seventeen years, Fr. Reicher worked during the week at the Chancery in Galveston but drove up each Sunday and on holy days to offer Mass at St. Christopher. Here, I’d like to point out that in 1924 driving to and from Galveston to Houston was not as easy as it would be today. Fr. Reicher must have been a dedicated man to take on both jobs. He helped to establish organizations and groups like the Women’s Club, the Holy Name Society, and the Third Order Franciscans. One of the altar boys he trained to serve Mass later went on to become a seminarian at St. Mary’s Seminary and was ordained a priest in Rome in 1938. His name was Vincent Harris and he was the first priestly vocation from St. Christopher. As of today, I believe we have four young men in the seminary.  The Dominican Sisters took charge of religious education and in 1939 a school wing was added to the church building. In September of that year, there were fifty-six students enrolled. Within a year, the enrollment doubled.

Students from 1963

By 1941, the parish had grown to 173 families. The demands on Fr. Reicher were beginning to be too much. Therefore, Bishop Byrne appointed Fr. E.K. Fulkerson as the first resident pastor of St. Christopher. World War II brought many people to Houston. There was work to be done and there were the armed forces to join. In January of 1946, Fr. Fulkerson reported that the parish now included 506 families, a diverse mix of English, German, Italian, Polish, Mexican, and Czech families!! St. Christopher was probably more diverse then than now. But, such immense growth meant that the small church building from the parish’s humble beginnings was no longer able to accommodate. The City of Houston was also making plans for a new highway. Highway 45. It would cut straight through the existing property of the parish. So, Bishop Byrne approved the choice of a new site on Park Place Boulevard, near the original church, on land belonging to George Harris, the father of Fr. Vincent Harris. The Bishop broke ground for the new church on July 25th, 1948, the feast of St. Christopher. At the same time, the parish rejoice to learn that Msgr. Reicher, their first pastor, had been named Bishop of the newly-created Diocese of Austin. His consecration took place in Galveston on April 14, 1948. The parish held a reception in his honor before he left for Austin. Fr. Vincent Harris, whose family still lived in the parish, became the new Chancellor. Side note: Fr. Vincent Harris became the Bishop of Beaumont in 1966 and Bishop of the Austin Diocese in 1971.

Bishop Vincent Harris, Diocese of Austin (1971-1986)

(Some Information was provided by Lisa May, Diocesan Archivist)