History:

The history of the Catholic Church in Texas began with the arrival of Spanish explorers and missionaries in the 16th Century. Missions throughout Texas and the southwest were established by Franciscan friars for the care of souls. The Catholic Church has always been a part of the local scene as far back as the days when the shipwrecked explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza deVaca traversed this area in 1528. The explorers were followed by the zealous Franciscan Friars who dedicated themselves, even to the shedding of their blood, to the conversion of the Indians and to establish a chain of Missions throughout Texas a hundred years before Junipero Serra arrived in California.

There were three Missions established within thirty miles radius of modern day Beeville to evangelize the fierce, tall, cannibalistic Karankawas. Mission Espiritu Santo de Zuniga and close by Mission del Rosario were protected by the powerful La Bahia fortress. Mission Nuestra Senora del Refugio was moved from the coast to the present site of Refugio in 1794, the same year when the Missions were secularized and the friars recalled to Mexico.