Peter Verdaguer y Prat

Peter Verdaguer y Prat (Sant Pere de Torelló, December 10, 1835 — Texas, October 26, 1911) was a Spanish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Vicar Apostolic of Brownsville from 1890 until his death in 1911.

Biography

Peter Verdaguer y Prat was born in Sant Pere de Torelló, county of Osona in Catalonia, to Francisco Verdaguer and Maria Prat Verdaguer. He attended the seminaries of Vic and Barcelona before coming to the United States, where he completed his theological studies at St. Vincent's Seminary in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Thaddeus Amat y Brusi on December 12, 1862. He then did pastoral work in the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles, California, serving as a missionary and pastor of San Bernardino and in Los Angeles.

On July 25, 1890, Verdaguer was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Brownsville, Texas, and Titular Bishop of Aulon by Pope Leo XIII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following November 9 from Bishop Jaime Catalá y Albosa, with Bishops José Morgades y Gili and José Meseguer y Costa serving as co-consecrators, in Barcelona. Returning to the United States, he arrived in his new vicariate the following spring. He then removed the episcopal see from Corpus Christi to Laredo. He invited several religious orders into the vicariate, including the Sisters of Mercy, Claretians, and Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. He opened two hospitals, several churches and parochial schools, and an orphanage. He also increased the number of Catholics by 40,000, and the number of priests from 10 to 32.

Verdaguer later died while traveling to Mercedes for Confirmation ceremonies, aged 75. He is buried at Laredo Catholic Cemetery.

References

Preceded by Dominic Manucy

Bishop of Corpus Christi 1890—1911

Succeeded by Paul Joseph Nussbaum (as Bishop of Corpus Christi)