The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston–Houston (Latin: Archidiœcesis Galvestoniensis–Houstoniensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. It encompasses of ten counties in the southeastern area of Texas: Galveston, Harris, Austin, Brazoria, Fort Bend, Grimes, Montgomery, San Jacinto, Walker and Waller. The chancery of the archdiocese is located in Downtown Houston. The archdiocese's first cathedral church is St. Mary Cathedral Basilica in Galveston, with a co-cathedral, the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, located in Downtown Houston. The co-cathedral is used for all major archdiocesan liturgies. History The archdiocesan history began with the erection of the prefecture apostolic of Texas in 1839, thus making Galveston the "Mother Church of Texas". The prefecture was elevated to a vicariate apostolic on July 10, 1841. On May 4, 1847, the vicariate became the Diocese of Galveston in the Province of New Orleans and St. Mary Cathedral Basilica was designated the cathedral. In 1926, the then-diocese was placed in the newly created Province of San Antonio. After the devastating Galveston Hurricane of 1900, Houston began to expand after the Port of Houston was completed. At the request of Wendelin J. Nold, fifth bishop of Galveston, Pope John XXIII authorised the construction of a co-cathedral of convenience in Houston, and on July 25, 1959, the name of the diocese was changed to the Diocese of Galveston–Houston. Sacred Heart, a parish church located in downtown Houston, was named the co-cathedral of the diocese. This change made Houston an episcopal see city, and permitted full episcopal ceremonies to be held in both Galveston and Houston. In 1979, Pope John Paul II recognized the importance the diocese's cathedral played in the development of Texas and the western United States and elevated the status of St. Mary Cathedral by naming it a minor basilica. By the end of the 20th century, the diocese had become one of the largest in the United States with its episcopal see cities becoming internationally important. Recognizing this, in December 2004, Pope John Paul II created the new Ecclesiastical Province of Galveston–Houston and elevated the See of Galveston–Houston to a metropolitan see. Bishop Joseph Fiorenza, who had led the diocese for 20 years, became the first Archbishop of Galveston–Houston, and Bishop Daniel DiNardo became Coadjutor Archbishop. The Archdiocese of Galveston–Houston oversees the following suffragan dioceses: Austin, Beaumont, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Tyler and Victoria in Texas. Many landmark