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The Catholic Church in Alice:
As soon as the first traces of a permanent settlement became apparent in the vicinity of present-day Alice, the Catholic priest who was then assigned to this region bent himself to the task at hand – that of building a church to house the parishioners. Fr. J. P. Bard, ‘Padre Pedro’ as he was affectionately called, was vigorous and resourceful man with a tireless love for God’s Faithful. One of the first priests this region knew, he held the love and respect of the entire populace, as he traveled determinedly in his two-horse carriage from ranch to ranch, holding Mass at whatever shelter he could find, baptizing babies, performing marriage ceremonies and administering the Easter Sacraments.
The Catholic community of Alice had its first church structure around the year 1885. In spite of his numerous duties and with the limited means of travel, Fr. Bard managed to complete a church building. Although it was a small, 20 by 35 foot building of wooded frame construction with built-up roof and a bell (which was uncommon then), the church was sufficiently large to house the parishioners.
About the year 1888, the site of the new settlement took a more permanent location in Alice, and the church building, along with practically all the buildings, was moved to a lot about six blocks west of what is now the Southern Pacific Depot. Until Mr. G. Kennedy, a devout Catholic, donated a parcel of land consisting of two front lots for the church and two lots adjoining on the road for a convent on First Street.
Fr. Bard was succeeded by Fr. Manill, who took up permanent residence in the Alice Mission in 1911. Fr. Manill was the first priest in Alice to regularly keep church records. He celebrated Mass regularly and the first recorded sacraments was a baptism dated August 2, 1911 and a marriage dated August 4, 1911.
Fr. Manill was succeeded by three pastors: Fr. Erasmas Gloeckmer, C.P. (1914), Fr. Joseph Salsona (1915) and Fr. Juan Canals (1916-1919). In 1916, during the pastorate of Fr. Canals, the church was blown down by a storm. As the people began to rebuild, they decided to build two churches to accommodate the growing population. And so a new site was selected for the church on the corner of West Dewey and the southeast corner of South Wright. It was here that the old frame church was reconstructed from the blown down remnants and named Sacred Heart Mission. Fr. T.J. Connolly served as pastor of the Sacred Heart Mission Community from 1920 until 1931. He was followed by Fr. J.P. Muras who was in the mission only a short time.
Under the pastorship of Fr. Connolly, who was assigned to this parish in 1918, another church—new and larger one—was built at the northeast corner of the original property. This new church was named St. Elizabeth, and, for a while at least, it seemed that the places of worship for the Catholic populace were adequate.
In 1926, the Mexican Revolution at its height. Because of the religious persecution aimed fiercely at the Church, priests and sisters fled to the US for safety. Therefore, Bishop Ledvina invited Dominican priests who had left Mexico to take over several parishes in the Diocese of Corpus Christi.
The Dominican Fathers made their central residence the parish of St. Francis de Paula in San Diego, Texas, and from that mother parish, they sent priests to the surrounding mission churches, of which Sacred Heart in Alice was one. Fr. Juan Zabala, O.P. (pictured left) was appointed the pastor of St. Francis; and after surveying the situation of a growing Catholic population in Alice, he recommended to Bishop Ledvina that the mission of Sacred Heart be raised to the status of a parish and that a new and larger church be built.
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