Our Mission
The mission of the Catholic Archives of Texas is to collect, preserve and make available for research books, artifacts, records, and photographs that document the Catholic experience in Texas from the sixteenth century to the present.
Our Story
The Catholic Archives of Texas (CAT) is nationally recognized as one of the most valuable resources for the history of the Catholic Church in Texas. Its records span nearly five centuries of development of the Catholic religion in the southwestern region of the United States and Northern Mexico.
The Archives was founded in 1923 under the auspices of the Texas Knights of Columbus Historical Commission. Their goal of publishing a history of Catholicism in Texas culminated in the seven-volume work, Our Catholic Heritage in Texas, 1519-1936, authored by Carlos E. Castañeda of the University of Texas at Austin.
Today, CAT exists under the auspices of the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops (TCCB) and its board of directors, all bishops of Texas. The repository is the only archives in the United States servicing one religion for an entire state.
The Archives cooperates closely with all Catholic dioceses in Texas, the Texas State Council of the Knights of Columbus, the Texas Catholic Historical Society, and cultural and historical institutions to achieve common goals of historical preservation and interpretation.