Church Roman Catholic Died 1992 See Corpus Christi Successor Rene Henry Gracida | In office 1965 – 1983 Name Thomas Drury Ordination June 2, 1935 | |
Previous post Roman Catholic Diocese of San Angelo | ||
Predecessor Mariano Simon Garriga | ||
Thomas Joseph Drury DD LHD (1908–1992) served as the first Roman Catholic bishop of San Angelo, Texas and fourth bishop of Corpus Christi.
Biography
Drury was born on January 4, 1908 in Ballymote, Ireland. He was ordained a priest on June 2, 1935 after immigrating to the United States. He was appointed Bishop of San Angelo on October 30, 1961.
On July 19, 1965, he was appointed Bishop of Corpus Christi. He served as the bishop of Corpus Christi during the Second Vatican Council, as well after. The implementation of Vatican II caused a lot turmoil within the Church. This caused Bishop Drury's tenure to be stressful.
Bishop Drury expanded diocesan activities from two to thirty-two departments including the establishment of Catholic Charities, the Office of Catholic Schools, the Catholic Youth Organization, and the Department of Hispanic Affairs. Drury created a Diocesan Pastoral Council to advise hime on current issues in the diocese. He also established a weekly newspaper, in 1966. It was originally called, Texas Gulf Coast Register, later known as Texas Gulf Coast Catholic. Today the newspaper is the official diocese newspaper called South Texas Catholic.
He retired on May 19, 1983 and died on July 22, 1992.