Wendelin Joseph Nold

Wendelin Joseph Nold (January 18, 1900 – October 1, 1981) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston in Texas from 1950 to 1975. He previously served as coadjutor bishop of Galveston from 1948 to 1950.

Biography

Early life Wendelin Nold was born on January 18, 1900, in Bonham, Texas, to Wendelin Joseph and Mary Elizabeth (née Charles) Nold. After attending parochial schools in Cleburne and Fort Worth, he studied at St. Mary's Seminary in La Porte, from where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1921. Upon his return to Texas, Nold served as a curate at Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish in Dallas, and became the first pastor of Christ the King Parish in Dallas in 1941.

Due to the tremendous growth in the City of Houston, the Vatican allowed Nold in 1959 to designate Sacred Heart Church in Houston as a co-cathedral. The diocese now had two cathedrals: Sacred Heart Cathedral in Houston and St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica in Galveston. The Vatican renamed the diocese as the Diocese of Galveston-Houston on July 25, 1959.

In 1959, Nold suffered a heart attack. Around that same time, he started suffering from kidney disease. In September 1961, Nold ordered that all Catholic schools in the diocese be racially integrated. During a hospitalization in 1963, he went blind. Later that year the Vatican appointed Bishop John Morkovsky in 1963 as coadjutor bishop, in charge of administering the diocese. Nold attended the Second Vatican Council in Rome from 1962 to 1965. During his tenure he established forty-seven parishes and fourteen missions, as well as several schools.

Retirement and legacy On April 22, 1975, Pope Paul VI accepted Nold's resignation as bishop of Galveston-Houston. Nold died in Houston on October 1, 1981, at age 81.