A new dawn rises for graduates
Herald salutes this year’s valedictorians, salutatorians and outstanding students
Shia LaBeouf stars in non-bio film of saint.
▪ PAGE 30
Proclaiming
Herald salutes this year’s valedictorians, salutatorians and outstanding students
Shia LaBeouf stars in non-bio film of saint.
▪ PAGE 30
Proclaiming
Texas Catholic Herald
HOUSTON — Not even a fire could stop their journey.
Father Zachary Muldrow, Father Matthew Krusleski and Father J Serrato were ordained to the priesthood by Daniel Cardinal Dinardo at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston on June 3.
More than 1,200 turned out to witness the occasion, including Auxiliary Bishop Italo Dell’Oro, CRS, 75 priests, 22 deacons and many beloved family, friends, former teachers. Also, in attendance, which Cardinal DiNardo pointed out, was their future pastors.
The crowd of 1,276 was not deterred by the small electrical fire that caused smoke and minor damage at the downtown CoCathedral on the early morning of June 2. No injuries were reported, and the Houston Fire Department responded promptly to extinguish the small fire.
“We give thanks to God that no one was harmed in this minor incident. I am grateful for the prompt and attentive care of the men and women of the Houston Fire Department to prevent any significant damage to our sanctuary,” said Father Jeffrey L. Bame, rector and administrator of the CoCathedral.
During his homily, Cardinal DiNardo congratulated
the three new priests.
“God’s blessings upon you, who has brought you to this day,” he said.
Cardinal DiNardo stressed that when it comes to the priesthood, preaching is “pretty significant.”
“This will be a major work that you will have,” he said. “The first part of the Liturgy is for you to be attentive to the Word of God as it’s already filtered through the lives of your people to distill it as it is heard in the readings, and then to preach and teach.”
Cardinal DiNardo said that the kind of preaching and teaching he is looking for is “a sacrament of words.”
“That when you preach, the visibility of the invisible
See PRIESTHOOD, page 4
HOUSTON — A colorful mural with swirls of red pouring from Christ on the cross into a chalice for all to partake is the latest to join Houston’s vibrant street art scene.
Daniel Cardinal DiNardo blessed the painting on May 31, located at the downtown intersection of Fannin and Jefferson, across from the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. He described the
creation as a collaboration with area Catholic high school students and renowned street artist GONZO247, himself a former Catholic school student.
“This is a beautiful synthesis of our students’ work as well as GONZO, who himself was a student at Blessed
See MURAL, page 32
In the past few months, we have celebrated the major mysteries of the Lord’s Life, Death and Resurrection, His Ascension and Pentecost, and completed the 175th Anniversary of our local Church. This has been done amid a very worrisome national and international scene of disruption and fragmentation, disharmony and grief, and war and social discord. Our celebrations are those of joy and trust in the Lord and confidence in the human person. Our own diocesan history shows the remarkable guidance of the Lord Jesus during great challenges and sorrows; it is this guidance that has brought us such resilience and a positive outlook even amidst our present worries.
During Holy Saturday Night and the Easter Season, almost 2,000 people were baptized, entered full communion with the Church, confirmed and made their first Eucharist. Further, almost 1,600 adults were confirmed either at Pentecost or Epiphany this year. There have been thousands of our children who received First Communion, and thousands of our youth confirmed. Numbers do not tell us everything
about our local Church, but the quantity and quality of all those who have accompanied our neophytes, newly confirmed and “Eucharistized” people, do tell us a great deal.
The families, sponsors, Godparents, religious educators, Catholic school teachers, catechists, deacons, and priests form an ordered and intricate web of personal relationships, friends, and mentors, which help spell out and manifest us as Catholics.
This phenomenon was also revealed in our recent consultations for the Synod in Rome to be convened this October. We, indeed, are a blessed and fortunate Catholic population gathered from every nation on Earth. Our Catholic unity in our rich diversity of cultures and languages is a hallmark and important sign in a world of so much disunity. That disunity needs a calm dose of our Catholic realism.
Even in our beautiful city, there are serious issues that need our prayers and action. Human trafficking, greater incidents of violence, ongoing concerns
about poverty, and the growing number of homeless are difficult, but not intractable, challenges. As Catholics, we need to be among the citizens who can contribute to solutions to these problems. My hope is that we bring our long-standing Catholic social teaching on the human person and our calm and reasonable frame of mind forged in the beauty of our prayer and liturgical tradition to address these concerns. I am genuinely concerned about how angular and extremely sharp our debates over matters on which people disagree are framed, on outbursts of emotion and uncharity that flare up all too frequently. We can be different from that scene because we are refreshed constantly by prayer and our sacramental life, which nourishes love.
We are in a year of Eucharistic Revival, a time of careful thinking and consideration about our love of the Eucharist, the summit and center of worship, and the backbone of our mutual charity. Let us remember our heritage, our history, our recent joys of adding new members, and our wellfounded hope: Christ!! †
THE HOLY FATHER’S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR JUNE
PRAYER INTENTION: FOR THE ABOLITION OF TORTURE
We pray that the international community may commit in a concrete way to ensuring the abolition of torture and guarantee support to victims and their families. †
Scan to watch this month’s prayer video from Pope Francis
You make the ministry of our future Priests possible.
Nearly 50 men are currently in formation to become the next generations of priests at St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston. These men spend anywhere from 5 to 7 years preparing for their Ordination to the Priesthood.
To read more about our seminarians and how you can support them, scan the QR code, at left, with your phone’s camera or visit www.archgh.org/smseminary. St.
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The Texas Catholic Herald, an awardwinning member of The Catholic Media Association, is published semi-monthly on Tuesdays, with one issue in June, July and August, by The Texas Catholic Herald Publishing Co., Inc., 1700 San Jacinto St., Houston, TX 77002. Periodical postage paid at Houston, TX and other distribution points.
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“We, indeed, are a blessed and fortunate Catholic population gathered from every nation on Earth.”
This summer we’re exploring the stories of some of the Church’s most interesting saints, and we’re starting with St. Anthony of Padua, whose feast day is June 13. The late Pope Benedict XVI preached about the Portuguese saint on Feb. 10, 2010:
“St. Anthony of Padua is one of the most popular saints in the whole Catholic Church, venerated not only in Padua, where a splendid Basilica has been built that contains his mortal remains, but also throughout the world. Dear to the faithful are the images and statues that portray him with the lily a symbol of his purity or with the Child Jesus in his arms, in memory of a miraculous apparition mentioned in several literary sources.
With his outstanding gifts of intelligence, balance, apostolic zeal and, primarily, mystic fervour, Anthony contributed significantly to the development of Franciscan spirituality.
It is only the prayerful soul that can progress in spiritual life: this is the privileged object of St. Anthony’s preaching. He is thoroughly familiar with the shortcomings of human nature, with our tendency to lapse into sin, which is why he continuously urges us to fight the inclination to avidity, pride and impurity; instead of practising the virtues of poverty and generosity, of humility and obedience, of chastity and of purity.
In meditating on these words we are better able to understand the importance of the image of the
HOUSTON — Join church choir members of all denominations for a performance on Saturday, June 17.
The ecumenical choir concert is set for 7 p.m. at the Dunham Theater at Houston Christian University, located at 7502 Fondren Rd. in Houston.
For more information, schedule and to purchase tickets, visit www.archgh.org/choralfestival. †
Crucified One for our culture, for our humanity that is born from the Christian faith.
Precisely by looking at the Crucified One we see, as St. Anthony says, how great are the dignity and worth of the human being. At no other point can we understand how much the human
person is worth, precisely because God makes us so important, considers us so important that, in his opinion, we are worthy of his suffering; thus all human dignity appears in the mirror of the Crucified One and our gazing upon him is ever a source of acknowledgement of human dignity.” †
Name:
Man climbs Mount Kilimanjaro after donating kidney and part of his liver to strangers. ▪ SEE PAGE 11
PRIESTHOOD, from page 1
Jesus — but really He’s visible through you — will come about. And will come about because your preaching touches hearts,” he said.
Cardinal DiNardo said it is true that when a priest preaches — when they studied long for that — preaching is also “supposed to hit the head.”
“It’s really dangeous after a while for a priest who only wants to reach the heart and forgets about his head,” he said. “You have to understand what you’re doing, and you have to preach with intelligence. But preaching with intelligence has very little to do with giving a lecture.”
Cardinal DiNardo said the great importance to the Catholic faith and the faithful is that there be a parallel between the breaking of the bread in the Word and the breaking of the bread in the Eucharist.
“That you and with you — your people — realize that when you’re breaking open the Word of God in the Liturgy of the Word, something of the presence of Christ is there admittedly, not to the same extent as what happens in the Eucharist when Christ becomes substantially present through your ministry,” he
said. “The sacrament of preaching is a sacrament in words; a visibility in speech manifesting in the great works of God in you and in all the people around you.”
Father Krusleski, who will be a parochial vicar at Sacred Heart parish in
Starting July 1, the three new priests will begin their ministries at these parishes:
SACRED HEART PARISH, CONROE Father Matthew Krusleski, parochial vicar
ST. MARTHA PARISH, KINGWOOD Father Zachary Muldrow, parochial vicar
SACRED HEART OF JESUS PARISH, MANVEL Father J Serrato, parochial vicar
The Ordination can be viewed online using the QR code to the right
Conroe beginning July 1, said he attended Catholic schools from kindergarten through high school, becoming an altar server in fifth grade. That is where he began to love service in the Liturgy. After his high school graduation, he attended
Texas A&M University, where he graduated with a degree in engineering technology.
“While I was there, I became more convinced of entering seminary through the influence of holy priests and friends,”
he said.
Father Muldrow, who will be a parochial vicar at St. Martha parish in Kingwood, was also an altar server at a young age. After discerning throughout high school, he studied philosophy at the University of Dallas and Holy Trinity Seminary before being sent to St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston for graduate theology studies.
Father Serrato was born in Mexico,
the youngest of nine siblings, moved from Mexico to Texas to New Jersey and back to Texas before becoming a Eucharistic minister and joining the Spanish Choir at St. John of the Cross in New Caney. It was there that his calling to the priesthood became clear, and he was accepted as a seminarian by the Archdiocese. The former altar server will serve as a parochial vicar at Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in Manvel. †
HOUSTON — Dressed mostly in white with colorful scarves as accents, hundreds of Hispanic women celebrated Mass on May 16 with Daniel Cardinal DiNardo and more than a dozen pastors and deacons.
They were all participating in the graduation of those completing a five-year program of classes at their Catholic churches. The immigrant women have been learning English, family communications, basic computer and other life skills, including spiritual development, as part of a program called the Association for Comprehensive Enhancement of the Family (AMSIF).
Cardinal DiNardo told the nearly filled Catholic Charismatic Center, “AMSIF has been such a blessing to our churches and our community. Thank you all for being a part of this and sharing all that you’ve learned with your families and others.”
Veronica Ramos stood out among the crowd as she rocked her two-monthold son Jose Antonio in her arms. After the Mass, she described traveling with her large group of parishioners from Sacred Heart of Jesus in Conroe to the Charismatic Center off the Gulf Freeway to celebrate all together.
“This program teaches us so much. My son is the youngest of my three children, and I can help teach my daughters about our faith,” Ramos said. “I also help with Bible studies for adults.”
AMSIF was founded by a group of Catholic laywomen in Mexico more than 40 years ago as Asociación Mexicana de Superación Integral de la Familia. AMSIF was then introduced to the Houston-Galveston area in 2013 by the Archdiocesan Office of Hispanic
Ministry. Now more than 1,000 local women participate and meet at more than 30 Catholic churches as part of the “Advancement Family Centers” in the Archdiocese.
“Since AMSIF came into our Archdiocese, they made a positive impact in the lives of many of our Catholic Hispanic women throughout different parish communities. They do an outstanding job in accompanying and strengthening mothers, grandmothers and other family members,” said Lazaro Contreras, director of the Office of Hispanic Ministry.
He added, “I have personally visited with them, and I am very impressed with the life of community and resources
they provide not only for the wellbeing and spiritual enrichment of each of the women who participate but of their families. Their presence and participation in AMSIF not only impact their own lives as individuals but the whole family unit.”
Cardinal DiNardo, after Mass, posed for photos with one of the largest groups of women who were from St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, where AMSIF first started locally 10 years ago. Right on the front row, beaming proudly for the picture, was St. Charles Borromeo parishioner Claudia Santiago sitting straight in her wheelchair.
The 48-year-old said, “This program gives us support so we can evangelize to our families and even strangers to show where we receive our joy!”
Now the program has quickly expanded over the decade, with St. Leo the Great Catholic Church and Prince of Peace Catholic Church having some of the largest groups.
One of the newer formed AMSIF groups is at St. Benedict Abbot Catholic Church off Hiram Clarke and W. Fuqua.
As the hundreds of women streamed out after Mass, Father Brandon Nguyen, CSSp., pastor of St. Benedict, and Deacon David Johnson said their AMSIF group only has five women so far. “But they’re really excited to keep growing their program, especially after seeing this gathering,” Deacon Johnson said.
For more information on AMSIF, visit fb.com/AMSIF.HOUSTON or call the local Catholic parish offices for referrals to the church program. †
HOUSTON — The Society of St.Vincent de Paul (SVdP) is shepherding people to move from crisis to sustainability in its “Getting Ahead” program that held a recent graduation ceremony.
So far, 49 people — mostly women, four men and minorities — have graduated from the 16-week program that helps participants gain resources and networks to pull themselves out of poverty.
SVdP Program Manager Michelle Gonzalez said, “When you live in poverty, your main goal is to survive. You may feel like you’re stuck on a hamster wheel with no opportunity to dream.”
The life skills classes taught online from laptops provided by the program, along with supplies, focus on basic finances and planning, as well as health care, nutrition, and other self-care topics, she said.
The most recent 17 Getting Ahead graduates received their certificates on May 16 at the St. Dominic Chancery off Holcombe. The group joyfully celebrated completing their weekly two-
hour sessions on Wednesday evenings over four months with online trained facilitators.
“This ceremony was the first time
many of them met each other in person. Their excitement and enthusiasm made the occasion one to remember,” Gonzalez said.
A previous graduate, Valerie Weathers, 59, said she saw the difference the program made in her 20-year-old daughter when attending the Getting Ahead program.
“She learned life skills and became
eat was at school or whatever we could find in the trash. I went to 11 different elementary schools,” she said.
“This program taught us the way to escape poverty. They provided resources and education from mentors to be positive, persistent and motivated. They also showed us time management skills, how to push away procrastination and not to let negative thoughts get you down,” Weathers said.
She needs that positivity right now after the church closed the counseling program, and she was left without a job. While sending out resumes for a new job and doing telephone interviews, Weathers still volunteers to co-facilitate continuing education for the Getting Ahead program graduates.
“We are like a family. And the Getting Ahead staff members are the heart of it,” Weathers said. “It’s like we’re coming in out of the rain after five or six storms. They are our harbor helping us to rebuild our lives. I thank God for them.”
Gonzalez said another participant, a political refugee from Afghanistan, came to Houston with a pregnant wife and four children. After graduating from the program, he was able to work and save enough to buy a house for his family, she said.
The program recruits and attracts a diverse clientele; some may have a degree and are employed, but many are
“We are people of faith, but we don’t require that of our participants,”Gonzalez
New program sessions start up twice a year, with class enrollments starting this July and again in January 2024. For svdphouston.org or check the program
Mateo Albrecht
Hassan Ali
Luke Anigbogu
George Antill
Julian Arrona
Khaled Barakat II
Nicolas Felipe Barriga
Jamey Beston II
Conrad Billings
Charles Boettcher Jr.
Patrick Bourg
Preston Bowman
Benjamin Brown
John Brown
Benjamin Burch
Austin Burke
Isaac Cabello
Joshua Caldwell
Eduardo Carstensen
Jacob Castillo
Arjun Chahal
Finnian Charnquist
Matthew Chavez
Jack Clinton
Dominic Considine
Samuel Cordova
Samuel Cornell
Max Dagley
Benjamin Dalton
Stephen Davidson
Caleb Davis
Eldon De Anda
Evan De Anda
Brian Deavers
Jack DeGregori
Austin Deshotel
David Dick
James Dickinson
Colin Dixon
Nathan Doiron
Sean Donovan
Fayez Droubi
Paul Dunn
Logan DuPlantis
Anthony Equale
Thomas Erb
Alexander Erickson
Tyler Faseler
Jackson Fazande
Nicholas Ferruzzo
John Feucht
Charles Fleming
Matthew Fote
Philip Gallagher
Jesse Gonzalez
Nicolas Gonzalaz
John Griffiths
Leo Grover
Charles Guscott
Jackson Guyre
Grayson Haight
Hudson Hamilton
Bradley Helmholz
Shaffer Henderson
Daniel Hernandez
Ryan Hernandez
John Heyburn
Rocco Hill
Brayden Holle
William Hollingsworth
Josiah Howard
Nathaniel Hulvey
Nathan Hunt
Vincent Iandoli
Jonathan Jackson
Matthew Jones
Maximilian Kaase
John Keeler
Blake Keller
Garner Kelling
Cole Kelly
James Kimzey
Nicholas King
Jackson Knower
Tyler Langin
Vincent Le
Seth Levy
Anthony Lilly
Zihan Lin
Brian Lively II
Luka Ljuboja
Alexander Lynn
Benjamin Madden
Logan Mahoney
Emon Malek
Luke Malveaux
Luke Martin
Ian Martinez
Jack Mathis
Erik Maus
Brandon Maya
Evan McCarthy
Caleb McClure
Ryan McGuire
Christopher Mendoza
Alexander Metry
Jacob Michael
Noel Moreno
Jorge Morfin Jr.
Gabriel Morse
Onezieme Mouton
Theodore Naeher
Aidan Nanquil
Aidan Nget-Garcia
Ryan Nguyen
Graham Nieland
Michael Oaks
Charles O’Leary IV
Mitchell Onufrow
Jackson Parker
Zackary Parker
Eduardo Pena Jr.
Jacob Pena
Logan Peterman
Brandt Peterson
Thomas Peterson
Thomas Pham
Jacob Pike
Wilson Pilibosian
Dimitrios Platsas II
Samuel Pratt III
Steven Prusak
Jonathan Ridley
Aidan Riordan
Colton Ritchey
Robert Rivera
George Rizzo III
Trey Robinson
Zachary Rocha
James Rodriguez
Andrew Roy
Ryan Ruiz
Alejandro Saenz Valle
Santiago Saenz Valle
Luka Salcado
Braydan Salinas
Casey Salvatierra
Sam Saman
Diego Sanchez
Jonathan Saracho Jr.
Trey Schaider
William Serrett
Ryan Shirley
Luke Shivers
Peter Smetek
Perri Soper
Michael Staron
Campbell Stefan
Matthew Stevens
Daniel Sudduth
Caleb Sudkamp
Henry Tardy
Collin Tautfest
Samuel Tellez
Ryan Torres
Matias Touchstone
Matthew Villafranca
Frans Vingerhoedt
Ethan Vinson
Edward Wagner
Jackson Ward
Harrison Watts
Jack Weaver
Aric Weeks II
Parker Weiss
John Westby
Bradley Wight
John Williamson
Damian Wilson
Julian Winstone
William York
Brian Zakarevicz
Victor Zamora
Jad Zeidan
Houston’s Catholic, identity-forming, college-prep school for girls age three through grade 12
The Class of 2023 graduates earned more than $ 7.8 million in merit-based scholarships and were accepted to 129 colleges and universities:
Allegheny College
American University
Arizona State University
Auburn University
Baylor University
Belmont University
Berry College
Blinn College
Boston College
Boston University
Bryn Mawr College
Bucknell University
California Polytechnic State University
Carnegie Mellon University
Centenary College of Louisiana
Claremont McKenna College
Clark University
Alexis Lynn Robertson Alexandra Noelle Schoener
Evelyn Grace Smith
Gabriela Marisol Smith
Pilar Ivonne Valdez
Casey Delaney Van Pelt
Victoria Carolina Vasquez
Alexis Marie Vazquez
Carolann Elizabeth Vazquez
Bella Hallie Shannon
Villavechia-Bailey
Charlotte Cates Waltermire
Jacqueline Waterman
Angele Lsh Wei
Emma Danielle Wheatfall
Kyra Anne Williams
Clemson University
College of Charleston
College of the Atlantic
College of William & Mary
Colorado School of Mines
Colorado State University
Creighton University
Denison University
DePaul University
Earlham College
Eckerd College
Elon University
Flagler College
Fordham University
Franklin University Switzerland
Hawaii Pacific University
High Point University
Hofstra University
Hollins University
Indiana University, Bloomington
Kansas State University
Lafayette College
Louisiana State University
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola University Chicago
Lynn University
Manhattan College
Marquette University
Mercer University
Miami University, Oxford
Mississippi State University
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Montana State University
Oberlin College
Oglethorpe University
Pennsylvania State University
Purdue University
Reed College
Rhodes College
Rice University
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rollins College
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Saint Edward’s University
Saint Louis University
Saint Mary’s College
Sam Houston State University
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Scripps College
Smith College
Southern Methodist University
Southwestern University
St. John Fisher University
Stevens Institute of Technology
Suffolk University
Sweet Briar College
Syracuse University
Temple University
Texas A&M University, College Station
Texas A&M University, Galveston
Texas Christian University
Texas State University
Texas Tech University
The George Washington University
The New School
The University of Alabama
The University of Tennessee
The University of Texas, Austin
The University of Texas, Dallas
The University of Texas, San Antonio
The University of the South
Trinity University
Tufts University
Tulane University
United States Air Force Academy
University of Arizona
University of Arkansas
University of California, San Diego
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of Colorado, Boulder
University of Dallas
University of Delaware
University of Florida
University of Georgia
University of Houston
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
University of Kansas
University of Kentucky
University of Limerick
University of Massachusetts, Boston
University of Miami
University of Mississippi
University of Missouri
University of Notre Dame
University of Oklahoma
University of Oregon
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh
University of Rochester
University of San Diego
University of San Francisco
University of South Carolina
University of St. Thomas
University of Utah
University of Virginia
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin
Ursinus College
Utah Valley University
Villanova University
Wittenberg University
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
SUGAR LAND — Tom O’Driscoll was running when a thought came to mind.
“Why do I spend so much time keeping my body fit?” he questioned. “And the first answer that came into my head was, “Because I want to look good. That was not a good answer and was vanity.”
“But a second thought came into my head, and I really got the feeling that the Holy Spirit was working within me. It was saying, ‘Maybe you are keeping your body healthy so you can help someone else who is unhealthy.’
“I can’t say that I’ve ever had mystical experiences before, except for that one,” O’Driscoll said.
That spiritual calling caused the Sugar Land resident to make two of the most unselfish decisions of his life.
That very same day in 2010, O’Driscoll ran home and contacted organ donor Chaya Lipschutz, a New Yorker and Orthodox Jewish woman he heard on the National Public Radio program “This American Life” a few weeks earlier. She talked of becoming a living organ donor by donating her kidney to a complete stranger.
After O’Driscoll’s call, Lipschutz helped to match him with Carolyn, the recipient of his first living organ donation — a kidney.
Carolyn, on dialysis at the time, had polycystic kidney disease for which there is no cure. Her sister also suffers from it, and her mom died from it.
Following the required physical tests and paperwork, surgery occurred in Los Angeles.
Carolyn, with a new kidney, now lives in Las Vegas.
For years, O’Driscoll’s closest friends didn’t know he had literally given of himself to help another. They found out when, over a decade later, O’Driscoll shared his kidney donation story because he planned to donate again.
This time, it would be a different stranger (who happens to also live in Las Vegas), and a portion of O’Driscoll’s liver would save the man’s life.
The February 2022 surgery in Los Angeles was a success.
“My left kidney is in a woman, and 60% of my Irish liver is in a Korean man,” he said. “I’m spread out.”
The lifelong Catholic and parishioner of St. Laurence Catholic Church in Sugar Land said his faith in God has led the way during his journey. He talked about St. John Paul II’s Law of Giving which says that “your being increases in the measure that you give it away.”
“By being an organ donor and by giving away two organs, I’m as much a beneficiary as the recipients, and it makes me feel so grateful that I was able to do that,” O’Driscoll said. “And by doing this, I saved two lives.”
He references 1 Corinthians when he notes that all people have gifts to offer in this world.
“’There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone,’” he quoted. Priests devote themselves to the church and its congregation. O’Driscoll’s niece adopted
four children with special needs.
And O’Driscoll was healthy and unafraid of surgeries, so why not become an organ donor while he himself is alive, he thought.
Now, his focus is on convincing others to do the same. To bring awareness to living organ donations, O’Driscoll, 59, did something unconventional.
He took his message to the mountaintop.
Earlier this year, he joined a group of 32 organ donors, recipients, spouses, doctors, nurses and advocates who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. It was organized by the nonprofit Living Donor Adventures, of which O’Driscoll is the first president.
The group reached the peak of Africa’s tallest mountain on March 9, World Kidney Day.
O’Driscoll’s faith followed him on the trek.
“I carried up the mountain my rosary in my left pocket,” he said. “I said lots of Hail Marys, and on Sunday, when we were climbing, I went off by myself and said a full Rosary.
“I got really emotional getting to the top and thinking about why we were there and being grateful that I was able to make it and share the experience with other donors,” he said.
Among trip sponsors was United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), a nonprofit organization that manages the Organ Procurement and Transportation Network in the United States.
The climb, which took 6½ days to go up (altitude challenges) and 1½ days to come down, required no special equipment, “just a good pair of boots.” They hiked about five miles each day.
It was not the first time this 10-time Ironman finisher had been challenged.
“I completed all 10 of my Ironman races with only one kidney, and I completed my 10th Ironman race less than nine months after my liver donation surgery,” O’Driscoll said.
Which brings him to another message he wants to spread.
“It’s my goal to show everyone that saving a life by becoming a living organ
donor in no way limits one’s health or fitness,” he said. “I’m not the least bit harmed in doing this. In fact, I’m
doing Ironman triathlons and climbing mountains.”
Media coverage in the U.S. and Tanzania has brought attention to the cause. One reporter who interviewed the team before their climb in Africa will soon arrive in America to report on how a kidney registry works because there is no such registry in Tanzania.
“I like to view organ donation as an
See ORGAN DONOR, page 15
“I like to view organ donation as an example of Christ’s radical love... I’m totally healthy, but no doubt about it that there is something radical about saying, ‘Go ahead and take my kidney and part of my liver’.”
TOM O’DRISCOLL
Congratulations
Lily Arrajj
Taylor Barrera
Lainey Blackburn
Olivia Bogard
Fabiana Bracho
Morgan Brosch
Trey Carron
Anabella Celma
Kenechukwu Chibuogwu
Jeffrey Cohen
Patrick Cohen
Claire Cohen
Daniel Coker
Elisa Collins
Lauren Cook
Dallas Copelin
Maya Coutinho
McKenna Coveny
St.
Sarah Delaune
Avery DeYoung
Daniel Diebra
Thomas Docog
James Donnelly
Joseph Engelking
Grant Esch
Trey Fikac
Mariana Flores
Savannah Focke
Taylor Garcia
Alice Gardner
Daniel Gideon
Jackson Glover
Karl Gomez
Alexis Gorham
Moises Granados
Preston Gray
Liam Hennen
Melina Hickel
Mia Hietpas
John Hodgetts
Timothy Ilagan
Hanna Lacy
Marissa Lance
Ashley Lance
Ryan Lang
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Arthur Matos
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Lauren Morrison
Kaitlyn Munguia
Anne New
Travi Laura Ngo-Nguyen
Isabelle Nguyen
Cody O'Brien
Kamden O'Connor
Andres Oxi
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Evan Rand
Troy Randolph
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Gabriela Rendek
Natalie Rico
Cecilia Rider
Andrew Riemann
Aurelie Rijken
Chloe Rossi
Emily Sallman
Tyler Seale
Mattie Shrader
Skylar Sodolak
Isabela Solano
Theoharris Stefanides
Ioannis Stellakis-
Arvanites
Jacob Tice
Kaitlyn Treece
Avery Tribe
David Trinh Jr
Eva Turner
Xaviera Villegas
Caitlyn Wall
Shane Walsh
Suzanne Wells
“Whoever has a heart full of love, always has something to give.”
Pope
John XXIIIBY KERRY MCGUIRE Herald Correspondent
HOUSTON — Empowering women released from incarceration to identify their strengths, set their own agenda, and make constructive changes is an effective way to help them transition back into their communities and lead productive lives.
For over two decades, this has been the mission of Angela House, a ministry of the Archdiocese, which has journeyed with over 558 women released from prison. Staff and volunteers provide these women who take up residence at Angela House with emotional, spiritual and educational support as they seek to change the patterns and behaviors that led to their incarceration.
“There are so many different components of the transition process, and our ministry addresses each one,” said Valencia Lewis, executive director of Angela House. “Our program provides free and safe housing, therapy and educational and employment resources. We support the ladies in their journeys of sobriety, growth and a renewed identity.”
Angela House was established as a “good work” of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in 2001 and became an independent 501c3 organization in 2006. Women who are currently incarcerated and looking for transitional housing may apply to Angela House, as well as women on probation or parole. They receive access to medical, dental and mental health services; individual and group therapy; creative arts groups; faith-based support groups; twelve-step recovery meetings; job readiness training; financial management; and exercise and healthy living skills.
In 2013, the ministry took possession of the current property located at 6725 Reed Rd. in Houston, which has a more spacious dining room, kitchen, community room, chapel and office space that doubled the ministry’s capacity to serve up to 16 women.
Barbara Amelio, a volunteer with Angela House who began serving
under the leadership of original founder Maureen O’Connell, OP, said she wanted to be a part of the mission to create a successful program to empower these women using a standard of care other programs could emulate.
“It is important for me to give back and help the women,” said Amelio. “I am a woman who has been pushed to the side and overlooked, and I want to help these women not be overlooked. I want to make a difference.”
A current resident, who has asked to remain anonymous, is an example of how the women at Angela House can build a stable life and escape the cycle of recidivism.
“I have dealt with so much shame and disappointment, and Angela House is helping me overcome that and see myself differently,” said the resident. “I finally feel included, safe and comfortable, and I have gained self-awareness so I won’t make the same decisions that lead to mistakes. I appreciate the staff because I see they want each lady to succeed; I am being taught resilience.”
Lewis said since it is important to continue supporting and providing resources to the women who “graduate” from Angela House, the ministry is increasing its Aftercare Program with additional wraparound services and
referrals.
“Our Aftercare Program continues to surround them with all the resources, support and community they experienced while at the house,” said Lewis. “Each service is still available to help the ladies successfully continue their journey back into society.”
Angela House is one of 64 ministries supported by the annual Diocesan Services Appeal (DSF). Lewis said through the DSF, the faithful in the Archdiocese are given the opportunity to serve those in need of God’s healing through their donations.
“Funds provide ministries to those on the periphery, the least and often most forgotten among us,” said Lewis. “If more DSF funding became available, we would expand our program and provide more resources and opportunities for our residents and graduates. Angela House has an extensive program, and we rely on amazing community partners to fill in the gaps for some of the programming we are unable to do ourselves.”
A former resident and now staff member at Angela House, who has asked to remain anonymous, agrees the DSF is
important to Angela House continuing its good works.
“By supporting DSF, you can help change lives, communities and generations,” said the staff member. “The impact may not be immediate, but there will be a change.”
Lewis said Angela House provides a unique opportunity for the members of the Archdiocesan community to participate and welcome residents through various volunteer opportunities.
For more information on how to volunteer, go to www.angelahouse.org. To learn more about how you can donate to Angela House and the 64 ministries supported by the DSF, go to archgh.org/ DSF.
The DSF supports each of these ministries, whether direct service or education, which requires this critical funding to remain in operation. Out of each gift given to DSF, 100% of every dollar goes directly to supporting these ministries. †
Special to the Herald
HOUSTON — “We left Venezuela because of the violence and not enough jobs. And even when I could get a job, it didn’t pay enough to feed my family and make it through a week,” said Jose Sanchez, standing with his wife and three young children in a shelter not far from Bush Intercontinental Airport, where Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston operates its Houston Transfer Center.
Sanchez is one of more than 3,000 migrants served by Catholic Charities in Houston since the center opened in October.
Migrant families and individuals arrive at the center from a shelters in El Paso and Eagle Pass. The bus pulls in before sunrise after the long overnight drive and lets off its passengers — some carrying sleepy children and a single plastic bag with all their possessions.
“Jesus called on us to treat others with the same mercy as the Good Samaritan showed to the stranger by the side of the road,” said Catholic Charities President Cynthia N. Colbert, MSW. “Catholic Charities has been blessed by the opportunity to welcome our brothers
and sisters through the Houston Transfer Center and other programs that serve newcomers who seek to build a new life in our country.”
The center is a stop along the way to join family members or friends who are willing to serve as their sponsors until the new arrivals can plead their case for
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ready to depart the same day. Catholic Charities ensures they get to the airport or bus station.
A FEMA grant that funds the center helps Catholic Charities purchase tickets for those who need one. The center also houses migrants at the hotel if their flights leave the next day.
asylum in immigration court. Everyone on the bus must have paperwork proving that they have government authorization to remain in the U.S. until their court dates, which may be up to three years or more in the future.
“We see the newly arrived migrants as our neighbors and want to provide a safe, comforting place to coordinate the next steps on their journey,” said Karina Hernandez with Catholic Charities, who directs the center. “They’re exhausted from their travels, many of them traveling for weeks, months or even years to escape from dire conditions in their home countries.”
As Sanchez described his family’s trek, he was overcome with emotion when asked about the most difficult part of the journey: “Mexico was the worst. We had to walk for three days. There were days when we didn’t have water to drink. But thank God there were people willing to help us along the way.”
Many of the families served by Catholic Charities staff at the center share stories of harrowing ordeals.
One Venezuelan mother with eightand 10-year-old daughters recounted the horrific sights they encountered while making their way through the rainforest. The family had to pass travelers who lost their lives along the path, succumbing to factors such as dehydration, malnutrition, disease or exhaustion.
Most migrants arriving at the Houston Transfer Center come with travel plans and tickets purchased by their sponsor,
When the center opened in the fall, border community migrant shelters were severely overcrowded. Originally the center was designed to receive a busload of migrant passengers daily. Unexpectedly, the flow of migrants slowed dramatically following the end of Title 42, the border policy originally put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic that allowed immediate refusal of migrants at the border. The number of buses is determined by the border communities: in May, only one was needed each week.
In mid-May, Auxiliary Bishop Italo Dell’Oro, CRS, visited the center to pray with families, including the Sanchezes, who were heading to New York to meet a friend willing to help. Sanchez told the bishop that he dreams of enrolling his children in school to create a good future for them.
“I am so happy that I am finally here in the U.S. with the plane ticket in hand,” said Sanchez.“And I don’t even care about myself. I am doing it all for my kids.”
That same day, Bishop Dell’Oro also visited Casa Juan Diego in Houston, also a waystation for migrants and families led by Louise Zwick and other Catholic Workers. Bishop Dell’Oro met with clients at the house, and though the numbers at the border had dropped, the house had continually reached capacity since Title 42 was lifted last month.
Zwick said the house has welcomed visitors not just from Latin and Central America, but also from the Caribbean, Africa and the Middle East, coming from as far as Iran. She also said volunteers are always needed.
“It’s a mystery who is going to come tomorrow, but we’ll be here to help,” Zwick said. †
- James Ramos contributed to this story.
example of Christ’s radical love. Christ, of course, suffered and died for us. He was totally innocent and yet was persecuted, suffered and died,” O’Driscoll said. “I’m totally healthy, but no doubt about it that there is something radical about saying, ‘Go ahead and take my kidney and part of my liver.”
Connor O’Driscoll, Tom’s son, said that the fact his father is a double organ donor is an incredibly rare occurrence in the U.S.
“For his first donation, the kidney donation, I was very young and don’t remember it at all happening. When I was eventually informed of it, I remember thinking it was so cool,” Connor said.
“Mostly, since I was young, I just thought it was cool that an organ could even be donated to someone else. Obviously, as I grew up and then even became directly involved with my father’s second donation, going with him to California for the surgery, I now understand how generous and selfless he was.”
Connor said that it is still hard for him to comprehend that his dad has had two different surgeries in which he’s given a whole kidney and the majority of his liver.
“I’m very proud of him doing so, and even prouder of him becoming an advocate for organ donations, helping spread the word and perhaps influencing others to become organ donors,” Connor added. †
Pray for the following priests whose anniversaries of death are during the month of July.
July 1, 1993 Rev. Anthony T. Orlando
July 2, 1991 Rev. Edbert Staresinic, OCarm
July 4, 1888 Rev. Pierre Dumont
July 4, 1989 Rev. Justin O’Connell, OCarm
July 4, 1992 Rev. Rene M. Vermillion, CSB
July 5, 1895 Rev Patrick Kellett
July 5, 1984 Msgr. Thomas M. Cemon
July 6, 1927 Rev. M.J. Crowe
July 7, 1939 Rev. Patrick J. O’Reilly, CSC
July 8, 1920 Rev. Michael Martin Crowe
July 8, 2002 Rev. Guy Fregeau
July 9, 1930 Rev. James Chaland
July 9, 2005 Rev. Walter N. Sheffield
July 10, 1989 Rev. John D. Oster, SJ
July 10, 2003 Msgr. C.J. Alleman
July 11, 2002 Rev. Warren J. Freret
July 12, 1968 Rev. A.M. Maechler
July 12, 1980 Rev. John C. McDonald, MS
July 13, 1999 Rev. Angelo Moscato, cs
July 14, 1962 Rev. Eugene Burbott, CSB
July 14, 2014 Rev. Charles Lynch,CSB
July 15, 1970 Rev. Chester C. Ball, SSJ
July 15, 1985 Rev. Peter S. Harnett
July 15, 2008 Rev. John LaBauve, SVD
July 16, 1960 Msgr. Matthew J. Daly
July 16, 1962 Rev. Joseph G. Robinson
July 17, 1932 Rev. John Joseph Harte
July 17, 1994 Bishop Enrique San Pedro, SJ
July 18, 1943 Rev. R.C. Frei
July 18, 1996 Rev. John Nijenhuis, OCarm
July 18, 2002 Rev. Eugene Gillece
July 18, 2002 Rev. Clifton J. Natho
July 19, 1947 Rev. Louis A. LeBlanc
July 19, 2001 Rev. Ralph G. Schmidt, Jr.
July 19, 2011 Rev. Richard DiLeo, SCJ
July 19, 2013 Rev. Bernard C. Snock
July 20, 1918 Rev. William J. Lee
July 22, 2002 Rev. J.B. Huynh Ngoc Tran
July 23, 2009 Msgr. Leroy H. Braden
July 24, 2000 Rev. Thomas D. Sheehan, OP
July 25, 1968 Rev. William B. O’Toole, CSB
July 26, 1988 Rev. Rodney Poythress
July 29, 2011 Rev. Frank W. Jones
July 30, 2001 Rev. Alvin F. Dixon, SVD
July 31, 1997 Msgr. Gilbert F. Pekar
July 31, 2001 Rev. John O’Rourke, SSJ
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In a continuing effort to provide pastoral care to victims of sexual abuse by clergy or Church personnel, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo would like to remind the faithful of the Archdiocese of the availability of the Victims Assistance Coordinator. Anyone who has been the victim of sexual abuse by clergy or Church personnel is encouraged to call Diane Vines at 713-654-5799. Please keep in daily prayers the healing of victims of abuse and all who suffer in any way.
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As graduates of a Catholic, Jesuit institution, these young men of the Class of 2023 are uniquely prepared for both college and the world that awaits them. They are Men for Others, formed to live out the call of Christ to actively contribute to building a more just and loving society. The six traits that they carry with them are described as the Strake Jesuit Graduate at Graduation. These young men have been challenged to become Open to Growth, Intellectually Competent, Religious, Loving, Committed to Doing Justice, and Physically Fit.
Graduation is upon us, and for high school seniors, this is the twilight of their childhood education. This summer, the seniors will pack their bags and see a new dawn on the horizon — college.
The following is a glimpse of the valedictorians, salutatorians and outstanding students of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston’s 10 Catholic high schools who excelled during their high school days, going above and beyond the call of duty to be exceptional in academics and serve in their community.
Megan Toussaint is the Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart Class of 2023 Valedictorian. She plans to attend the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, majoring in history on a pre-law track and considering a double major in economics. At Duchesne, Toussaint was president in the Mock Trial club.
One of the two Outstanding Students from Cristo Rey Jesuit College Preparatory School’s 2023 graduating class is Maria Barsallo. She will be going to Benedictine College in Illinois.
Johnatan Cabrera is also an Outstanding Student from Cristo Rey Jesuit College Preparatory School’s 2023 graduating class. He will be attending the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Jenan Othman, Duchesne’s Salutatorian, will be studying biological sciences at Carnegie Melon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At Duchesne, she was involved in robotics, the cyberpatriot club and CAVE.
apprenticeship.
The Frassati Catholic High School Class of 2023 Valedictorian, Collin Dufrene, will be attending the University of Texas at Austin in the fall to study philosophy.
In the community, Dufrene has been a regular volunteer at the Montgomery and Houston Food Banks, and was a volunteer faith formation teacher at his parish, St. Anthony of Padua, where he also serves as an altar server.
At Frassati, he was in the Culture of Life Club, YMCA Youth and Government, National Honor Society, World Languages Club and National French Honor Society. He was also involved in cross country and tennis.
When asked about his hopes and dreams for the future, Dufrene said, “I plan to either become a university professor, plant biologist or lawyer if God calls me to marriage, or to become a Dominican priest if I am called to the religious life.”
The Frassati Catholic High School’s 2023 Salutatorian, Sophie Blakesley, will be attending Texas A&M University in the fall and study biomedical sciences.
In the community, Blakesley volunteered as a Confirmation teen assistant in her parish, St. Anthony of Padua, served at St. Anthony’s Bread Pantry and the Houston Food Bank, and organized a toy drive for Northwest Assistance Ministries. At Frassati, she was in the Culture of Life Club, Acts of Mercy Club, World Language Club, Musical Theater and National Honor Society.
She was also involved in swimming and softball, both of which she was named to Academic All-State Teams. Blakesley hopes “to become a physician’s assistant after finishing at Texas A&M. My dream is to have a family and be able to serve others in whatever line of work I end up in.”
Incarnate Word Academy’s 2023 Valedictorian, Xiomara Salinas, will attend the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and major in chemical and biomolecular engineering.
Throughout the last four years, she has given back to the community by volunteering at a variety of organizations and programs, such as the Texas Wildlife Rehabilitation Coalition, Houston Food Bank, Star of Hope Soup Kitchen, and Camp Blessing in Brenham, Texas. Additionally, during her sophomore year of high school she worked with several classmates to organize and execute a service project called Casa de Esperanza Collection, a donation drive to collect toiletries and hygiene products for at-risk
youth in the Houston area.
Throughout high school she’s been involved in student council (as sophomore class vice president, junior delegate and student body secretary), Falcon Ambassadors (event team executive officer), Spanish Culture Club (co-president), engineering club (president and founding officer), campus ministry team (service and retreat teams), National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta and Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica.
Her dream for the future is to study how chemical engineering and human biology interact at the biomolecular level to make advances in the ever-changing and evolving fields of engineering, medicine, biochemistry and pharmaceuticals. Salinas hopes to pursue a career in which she can follow her academic and professional passions, but also have the ability to help and serve others and make a positive impact on her community.
IWA’s 2023 Salutatorian, Anna Gardner, plans to attend Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, where she’ll major in biology and minor in art. She will also play Division 3 NCAA tennis for the Belles.
While at IWA, her primary focus in service was helping animals. She volunteered at the Texas Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and the wildlife center at the Houston SPCA. While at the SPCA, she worked primarily with birds. When the pandemic started and interactions were limited, her service involved making and distributing blankets, holiday placemats, and Christmas cards to the Star of Hope in downtown Houston.
In her four years at IWA, Gardner participated in the St. Thomas High School band for two years, the Admissions Department’s Executive Ambassador and Recruitment Team, tennis, National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta. She also
successfully completed the requirements for a leadership certification. Outside of school, Gardner participated in private flute lessons, the Houston Flute Club, and USTA tennis.
After earning a degree in biology, she hopes to continue her education in veterinary studies.
The O’Connell College Preparatory School Class of 2023 Valedictorian is Elizabeth White. She will attend Texas A&M University’s School of Visualization as an animation major.
“One of my greatest aspirations is to provide ways to expose children and young adults to creative outlets who might not otherwise have the resources to do so,” she said. “I have big dreams of working for one of my favorite animation studios, DreamWorks Animation!”
White was able to raise over a thousand dollars for Ronald McDonald House Galveston, St. Dominic’s Village Senior Care, and Holy Family Catholic School, as well as dedicate volunteer hours to support their causes.
The O’Connell College Preparatory School Class of 2023 Salutatorian is Mathew Strueby. He will attend Galveston College, then move onto a four-year university to complete his bachelor’s degree.
At the school, Strueby was a member of the student council, National Honor Society, and a Dual Credit student with Galveston College. He was also a varsity player on both the football and basketball teams.
“I have many interests and have not pinpointed as to which direction I plan to pursue for the future,” he said. “I know I will find a way to serve my community and family in the future.”
The St. Agnes Academy’s Class of 2023 Valedictorian is Blythe Bath. She will be attending Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
She was called to action when she founded the non-profit organization “The Food Allergy Allies,” whose mission is to expand the food options available to individuals who face both food insecurity and dietary restrictions. Bath was also president of the senior class, a varsity soccer player and a National Merit Scholarship Winner.
The St. Agnes Academy Class of 2023 Salutatorian is
Anika Shethia. She will be attending Yale University in Connecticut to study environmental science.
At the school, Shethia was the student body vice president and a National Merit Scholar. In the community, she was part of the Houston Youth Climate activism group.
The St. John XXIII College Preparatory’s Class of 2023 Valedictorian is Mark Parmenter. He will be attending the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma, majoring in chemical engineering.
A National Merit Scholar, at school, Parmenter served as captain of the Comedy Sportz team, as well as president of the Quiz and Science Bowl teams. He also served as head altar server for two years assisting at Mass in many capacities. He was a member of the National Honor Society and the National Science Honor Society. As a member of Aquinas House, he was elected to be a representative all four years at the school and has enjoyed participating in many school theater productions.
Parmenter volunteered often at the Brookwood Community, playing basketball with the citizens. He also assisted riders at Reining Strength. Mark has been an altar server at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church for over eight years and has volunteered in many other church activities.
The St. John XXIII College Preparatory’s Class of 2023 Salutatorian is Laura Ngo-Nguyen. She will be studying at the University of Texas at Austin and will be participating in the School of Human Ecology Honors Program to study advanced nutritional sciences.
Ngo-Nguyen hopes to pursue a career in medicine and use her research experience and education to make healthcare more accessible in the U.S.
In school, Ngo-Nguyen served as the treasurer of the International Club and Checkers Club as a junior and senior. She served as the secretary of the National Honor Society and is a member of the National Science Honor Society, Lion Ambassadors, and other various clubs. During these past four years, she has regularly volunteered at Mamie George Community Center and Loaves & Fishes Soup Kitchen.
The St. Pius X High School Class of 2023 Valedictorian is Stephanie Birkelbach. She will attend Texas A&M University, majoring in computer science.
In school, Birkelbach, a national merit scholar, was a member of the National Honor Society and ju-
nior class secretary in the student council. She was also in the varsity swimming team. In the community, she volunteered at the Houston Food Bank and a math tutor for students at SPX and in her community.
Logan Landry is the St. Pius X’s Class of 2023 Salutatorian. He will attend Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma, majoring in finance.
In school, he was in the Student Honor Board and National Honor Society. In sports, he was part of both varsity rugby and football teams.
In the community, he volunteered at the Salvation Army, St. Vincent De Paul Food Pantry, Houston Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity Restore and the Middle School Academic Rally.
The St. Thomas High School Class of 2023 Valedictorian is Caleb Davis. He will attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the fall to pursue engineering and business.
He was a two-year leader in Round Up student fundraiser for St. Thomas tuition assistance. He is also a permanent member of the St. Thomas Club, and member of National Honor Society and St. Thomas Eagle Ambassador Program.
Davis was also editor-in-chief of the Eagle Online his junior year and feature editor his senior year. In sports, he was in the baseball and football teams, serving as captain in football.
The St. Thomas High School Class of 2023 Salutatorian is Thomas Pham. He will be attending Texas A&M University, where he was accepted into the Business Honors program.
He is a member of the National Honor Society, a College Board AP Scholar with Distinction and a permanent member St. Thomas Club. He served in the student council and student body government as executive board secretary, chaplain and class representative.
Pham is also a member of the Archdiocesan Youth Council, the St. Thomas Eagle Ambassador Program and a St. Thomas Senior Leader. Active in journalism, Pham wrote a few columns for the Texas Catholic Herald as well as participate as morning news anchor on the Eagle Broadcasting Network and as yearbook editor-in-chief, writer and photographer. In sports, he was in varsity Eagle soccer and Eagle track and field.
Cristian Barinaga is Strake Jesuit’s Class of 2023 Valedictorian. He is going to attend Purdue University as a Stamps Scholar this fall and is planning on studying electrical engineering.
While at Jesuit, Barinaga founded the school’s Crusader Educator tutoring club, connecting over 30 Strake Jesuit student-tutors to peers and other students in the Houston Area. He also served in his faith, leading Freshman and Kairos retreats, serving at daily and schoolwide Masses, and assisting in many Pastoral Ministry Center events. During his time at Jesuit, Barinaga was involved in a variety of organizations: he was on the Advisory Committee for Crusader Crew (Freshman Orientation), a three-year house captain in the school’s student council, president of the Crusaders for Life Club and Strake Jesuit Photo Club, and on the Junior Discipline Board. Moving forward, Barinaga hopes to integrate his passion for innovation with his dedication to Catholic Social Teaching and confront humanitarian issues, such as a lack of reliable electricity, internet and sanitation.
The Salutatorian of Strake Jesuit, class of 2023, is Jackson Amorosa. He plans to attend the University of Notre Dame in Indiana in the fall where he plans to study engineering in the College of Engineering.
Amorosa served his community in a number of ways throughout his high school career. He volunteered at the retirement community, Gardens of Bellaire, the Houston Food Bank, and at Camp Blessing, a Christian summer camp for people with disabilities and/or special needs.
While he was a competitive gymnast outside of school, Amorosa was able to participate in multiple activities at Strake Jesuit. Amorosa played Quiz Bowl, practiced martial arts, and was a commentator for Crusader Sports Network. Amorosa was also a Kairos Retreat Leader and a Ciszek Advisory Leader for two years.
Amorosa’s biggest hope for the future is that he continues on a similar path that he set for himself in high school. A path that includes a good work ethic, a developing friendship with Christ, and a commitment to being a good role model for his younger siblings.
Amorosa dreams to have success in college by excelling in the classroom and meeting new people. After college, Jackson hopes to have the opportunity to find a job that he is passionate about and where he can strive to be the best version of himself. †
Makenzie Scout Adame
Isabella Teresa Alvarez
Danielle Nicole Bartholet
Kathryn Kristine Bauman
Kaitlyn Christine Faye Bourgeois
Erin Renee Buckle
Ava Lauren Canales
Emilia Carbajal
Catherine Grace Cerda
Lila May Coenen
Allyson Katelyn Cortes
Fiona Athena Parry Coulbourne
Marie Therese Culbreth
Itzel De Leon
Amelie Trieu An Dinh
Sarah Jane Douglass
Sophia Durkes
Sarah Elizabeth Edwards
Madelyn Michelle Figueroa
Stephanie Marie Fish
Julia Rose Fisher
Mary Katherine Flaherty
Clarissa Victoria Flores
Devin Lea Fowler
Anna Paola Galan-Perez
Alexandra John Ganim
ΩAnna Catherine Gardner
Kady Elisa Gidney
Karissa Hope Glover
Drew Gold
Mandy Lourdes Gonzales
Sophia Elizabeth Gracia
Iman
Estefania Haddad-Burgos
Olivia Lorraine Hill
Reagan Hucke
Vera-Faith An Huddleston
Elizabeth Amanda Hunt
Sophia Ryan Hunt
Anna Sofia Jansen
Jordan Claire Kahn
Lyla Danielle Kaminski
Leila Yasmeen Khan
Isabelle Medellin Lavoie
Erin Joan Lenahan
Faith Celest Martinez
Isabelle Catherine Martinez
Claire Elise McTaggart
Avery Melanson
Zoe Olivia Meuser
Claire Theresa Michael
Jade Alexis Muse
Nora Abigail Navarro
Milla M. Nguyen-Urena
Kambili Nkolika-Mmelichukwu Nwora
Jorri Adya Odom
Anthonia Chinweze Ogbo
Jacqueline Marie De La Rosa Olmos
Alexandra Nicole Perez
Mackenzie Arianna Peugh
Hien Thanh Phan
Alexis Roca
Kylie Elyse Salch
*Xiomara Fatima Salinas
Rachel Marissa Sanchez
Sheridan Victoria Simmons
Julia Marie Smith
Sarah Marie St. John
Caroline Mae Stander
Jasmine Valladares
Isabel Melissa Vasquez
Elizabeth Pham Vu
Sofia Isabella Wagner
Nanea Emiko White
Madison Anne Whitley
Zoe Izabella Yokubaitis
Please join the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament, the IWA Board of Advisors, faculty and staff in extending congratulations and prayers for the IWA Class of 2023! total graduates
$14m cumulative service hours
8,817
139 in scholarships and awards
75 acceptances to colleges and universities
Agnes Scott College
Arizona State University
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Dillard University
Emerson College
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Loyola Marymount University
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Rice University
Saint Louis University
Saint Mary's College
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St. John's University
Texas A & M University
The George Washington University
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The University of Texas at Austin
United States Military Academy
Universidad de Navarra
University of Colorado Denver
University of Georgia
University of Hawaii at Manoa
University of Michigan
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University of South Carolina
University of Virginia
University of Washington
Western Colorado University
On June 19, 1865, in Galveston, General Gordon Granger announced to all the slaves of Texas that they were free. Even though President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, the word of that “freedom” took almost 2½ years to reach Texas. General Robert E. Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865, and that word would still be unknown to my people for two more months.
Starting in 1866, Juneteenth, a word that combined the words “June” and “nineteenth,” became a day of celebration for former slaves and their descendants all throughout Texas to commemorate this auspicious event. As a person who is a descendant of those slaves who were freed, I can personally attest that Juneteenth is not just a secular holiday in Texas.
In my small Texas town, it was a weekend-long celebration that was often sponsored by the Church. When freedom was first granted to our people, the only
by CHERIE WADE WASHINGTONsafe place we had to celebrate God’s gracious deliverance was in the Lord’s House. Many times, this day of celebration included a Church service with the singing of spirituals, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” games, educational activities, good food and fun.
I remember as a child, I remember looking forward to the end of the school year because summer brought Memorial Day, 4th of July, and most importantly, Juneteenth. I recall my grandmother and great-aunt going grocery shopping in the week leading up to June 19. They would buy ribs, chicken, brisket, ground beef, hot dogs, corn on the cob, baked beans, greens, Blue Bell ice cream, watermelons, and it seemed like
hundreds of popsicles for us kids to enjoy.
These annual celebrations instilled in me pride in my history and my faith. Slavery was one of the darkest times in our nation’s history, but Africans and their Black American offspring persevered and shaped this country. Through our families being torn apart and sold to parts unknown, never to be seen again, being beaten to within an inch of their lives, and forced to eat foods that were deemed inedible, we kept our faith in God and knew that He would be the source of our deliverance. When one year ran into the other, then a decade into a decade, generation after generation, my ancestors never gave up.
When the news of their freedom came, I believe they immediately thanked God. They trusted in God’s grace and mercy to see their children through to freedom and were rewarded for their faithfulness.
Throughout our history, be it the
experience of slavery, Jim Crow laws, lynchings, segregation and the Civil Rights movement, Black people have relied on their faith to see them forward. Many of our faith leaders have been at the forefront of our movement. Men of faith like Martin Luther King Jr., Jesse Jackson, Reverend William Lawson, or the late Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza.
Our pastors were not only in the pulpits preaching each Sunday about change and equality, but they were also in the streets marching Monday through Saturday. They knew that if they sat idly by and offered thoughts and prayers, change would not come.
Catholic schools in Houston were the first private schools to integrate. The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston recognized there was an injustice among our schools and fixed it even before it was popular. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to
See JUNETEENTH, page 22
Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. This stark judgment of St. Jerome highlights the importance of having direct and personal knowledge of the inspired books of the Holy Bible. The Church “forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful... to learn ‘the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ,’ by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures” (CCC #133).
To fully recognize Christ in the Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith, it is necessary to recognize Him in the Scriptures. The Catechism teaches that “for this reason, the Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerates the Lord’s Body, and she never ceases to present to the faithful the bread
of life, taken from the one table of God’s Word and Christ’s Body” (CCC #1030). College students must study Scripture to deepen their familiarity with God and his plans. By opening the Scriptures, they are more able to recognize God’s presence in their lives and be more able to have the Holy Spirit change and transform them. So, a key priority of our campus ministry program at Sam Houston State University (SHSU) has been to engage more students in this activity. I want to share the stories of
several students as they journeyed into Scripture, their initial apprehensions, challenges, experiences and outcomes over this past academic year.
One freshman had only passively experienced Scripture, hearing it read aloud at Mass or prayed aloud but not reading it for themselves.
by SIMON POWELLComing to the SHSU Catholic Student Center, he became involved with our small group Scripture study sessions. Soon he realized what he had been missing as he reflected at the end of the semester. “I realized that by only surface-reading a passage, I was missing out on a deeper connection with God.”While the readings at Mass are vital components of Liturgy, they must be supplemented with personal interaction with Scripture to experience its immeasurable benefits.
A sophomore student had grown up with many friends deep in the “evangelical Protestant” community. Whenever a discussion on Scripture arose, he felt overwhelmed by these friends’ adeptness at quoting verses and even chapters from memory.
These experiences left him feeling that getting closer to Scripture meant memorizing several verses. During the year, he recognized Scripture as more than a book to be studied and memorized but as a book to worship and pray with. For him, the practice of Lectio Divina was critical in building a stronger relationship with God and the Eucharist. As St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI taught, we are not a “religion of the book” but of the “Word.”
Other students had tried engaging with Scripture but had needed clarification. As we know, many passages in Scripture are not “crystal clear” and are open to various interpretations.
To help with this, we reminded them of the importance of the Magisterium (the Church’s teaching authority), which Jesus delegated to Peter and all popes since then. Along with the early Church
justice everywhere” in his Letter from Birmingham Jail that was a plea for a change of heart by white clergy and black advocates of violence and, while I was not there, I like to believe this plea was heralded by our Archdiocesan leaders.
“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage, where the grapes of wrath are stored; He has loos’d the fateful lightning of His
fathers, saints, and doctors of the Church, we have legitimate interpretations of key verses that can alleviate most areas of confusion. It also helped to review with them the methods of interpretation used by our Church:
• The literal sense (the meaning intended by the author at the time of writing);
• The spiritual sense (signs of the more profound meaning);
• The moral sense (how we act justly); and
• The anagogical sense (where earthly realities point to our heavenly goal).
The most common challenge to nearly all students was their desire to study Scripture within a small group of peers.
This method has proven highly effective as students can explore and share the meaning of Scripture together. These small groups form the basis for a strong and vibrant Catholic student community. For example, a graduating senior reflected that a “small group is where you can be yourself, share your struggles, and connect with others like you. These people are my family while at SHSU, and they push me to follow God’s path for my future!”
So, what has been the impact of these efforts? The number of students involved in Scripture study increased from three to 15 throughout the year. It is good to see growth, but we must reach more students than that.
More critical was observing in these students the attitudinal changes, hearts inspired and lives profoundly moved for good through more profound knowledge of Scripture, particularly with a renewed vigor for the Eucharist. We will continue reaching out to them where they are to introduce them to Jesus via the Scriptures. †
Simon Powell is the director of Campus Ministry at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville.
terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on.” I like to believe that when abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe wrote these words and saw them published in 1862, she knew in her heart that the descendant of African slaves in Texas would sing this song one day with pride. †
Cherie Wade Washington is a middle school catechist and youth minister at St. Mary of the Purification Catholic Church.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The flag of Vatican City, yellow and white with crossed keys under the papal tiara, is incorrect in many emojis, flying outside the United Nations and often even on Vatican buildings.
Through confusion possibly caused by an erroneous Wikipedia entry, the Vatican flags waving outside its buildings and sold in Roman souvenir shops differ from the official design first published by the Vatican in 2000.
In that official illustration of the flag, the base of the papal tiara over the crossed keys is white.Yet for more than five years, the flag displayed on the Vatican City Wikipedia page depicted the tiara’s base as red. The correct version with a white base was uploaded in January 2023 after a back-and-forth on an internal Wikipedia forum.
As the top Google search result for “Vatican flag” and one of the only highquality images available in the public domain, the flag formerly displayed on Wikipedia became the most commonly sold version in Roman souvenir shops.
And the error appears to have seeped into the Vatican itself, as can be noted on the different versions of the flag waving outside Vatican-owned properties.
On the façades of the many Vatican properties that line Via della Conciliazione, the long road leading to St. Peter’s Square, no two Vatican flags are the same. Some have papal tiaras with red bases, while others are white. Some tiaras have colored jewels on them, while others are solid gold. And almost all of them have very different-looking lappets, the decorative flaps attached to the papal tiara that resemble those on a bishop’s miter.
Where all the flags come from isn’t exactly clear.
The Floreria Apostolica Vaticana is the Vatican office responsible for the provision, set up and maintenance of Vatican furnishings, covering everything from the plastic chairs put out for papal audiences in St. Peter’s Square to the art on Vatican office walls — as well as for the flags flying on its buildings. In response to an email inquiry, a Floreria official told Catholic News Service (CNS) on June 1 that the flags used in the pope’s residence at Domus Sanctae Marthae and in the Apostolic Palace’s San Damaso Courtyard, where heads of state arrive when meeting the pope, are all produced by the same flag maker outside of Rome.
Yet the official noted that the Floreria, which also provides furnishings to the Vatican’s “extraterritorial” properties in Rome — Vatican-owned buildings outside the walls of Vatican City — had never received a request for a flag from an extraterritorial Vatican property.
The doorman at one of those properties,
a Vatican-owned office building that had an incorrect and tattered flag over its door, told CNS on June 1 that the building gets its flags online or “from one of the shops around the building.”
The top result for “bandiera Vaticana” (Vatican flag) on Italian Amazon is a flag with the incorrect red base under the papal tiara.
According to Graham Bartram, chief vexillologist, or flag expert, at the U.K.based Flag Institute, discrepancies on even official national flags are common.
“What you often find in government is that there is no department or person responsible for flags, and so there is likely no one walking around the Vatican area of Rome and going into buildings to say, ‘Get the correct flag,’” he told CNS in a phone interview May 31.
Asked about the differences among the flags on Vatican properties, the Vatican press office told CNS that the Vatican City flag has not been altered since the first official illustration was published in 2000. But virtually no Vatican properties
outside the walls of Vatican City use that flag today.
Prior to the illustration published in
2000, only a description of the flag was provided in Vatican City’s Fundamental Law from 1929, the year the micronation was founded. It specified that the flag was a “drape split in yellow and white,” featuring “in the center of the white, crossed keys surmounted by the papal tiara.”
Bartram said that prior to the late 20th century, uniformity among flags was a rarity since flag makers would rely on descriptions of a flag’s design and create their own artistic interpretation of the flag rather than reproduce a standardized image.
The differences in the Vatican City flag, he said, are likely the result of different flag makers “who thought, for instance, the tiara would look prettier with colored jewels on it.”
Apple’s Vatican City flag emoji features a tiara with those colored jewels, which have never been included in the Vatican’s official flag illustrations, and several Vatican buildings have the jewels on their flags as well.
“Virtually every flag in the world we manage to get wrong in some way or another: shades of color, proportions, angles,” Bartram told CNS. “The more complicated the flag, the more variations you’re going to spot.”
And those variations can make their way into official uses. For example, the Vatican City flag outside the U.N. headquarters in New York, where the Holy See has permanent observer status, has a tiara with a red base.
In this instance, Bartram said the United Nations “would have made a flag based on the best information they had, and they would have shown it to the Vatican ambassador to get approval.”
“The problem is that the Vatican ambassador is a senior clergyman and not a vexillologist,” he said. †
The San Jose Clinic is offering an outstanding opportunity for a qualified Chief Exeutive Officer. Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) will be responsible for the overall leadership and management, technical aspects, daily operations, and all functions of San José Clinic (SJC). The CEO will assure the Ministry is in compliance with all regulatory agency rules and regulations and the Clinic’s organizational policies, mission, vision and values.
San José Clinic is the leading charity care provider of healthcare services for the underserved in Houston. Since 1922, the Clinic has worked to provide a health home for the most vulnerable in the Greater Houston area. Its mission is to provide healing through quality healthcare and education with respect and compassion for those with limited access to care.
The San Jose Clinic is offering an outstanding opportunity for a qualified Medical Director. We seek physician candidates interested in utilizing their proven experience providing quality health care and solid operational leadership in a setting that enables them to make a real difference.
Qualified candidates are strongly encouraged to inquire about these positions by contacting our Chief Human Resources Officer Enjoli Marchand at enjoli.marchand@sanjoseclinic.org or 713-286-6412
The Board of Trustees, administration, faculty and staff of Frassati Catholic High School are proud to recognize the Class of 2023.
The 57 members of the Class of 2023 have been accepted to 98 colleges and universities including Arizona State University, Baylor University, Benedictine College, Catholic University of America, Creighton University, Fordham University, Howard University, Louisiana State University, New York University, Savannah College of Art and Design, Saint Louis University, Texas A&M University, The University of Texas at Austin, Universidad de Navarra, University of Notre Dame, University of St. Thomas, Vanderbilt University, and Villanova University. Combined, they have been awarded more than $5.7 million in scholarships.
Anthony Ryan Abib*
Elizabeth Rose Abib*
Rebeca Amparan*◊
Kiara Angelica Auza*◊
Michelle Marie Benitez
Sophie Anne Blakesley*
Alexis Oluwaseun Selinam Bodunrin*‡
Sean Christopher Carroll
Yasmin Adriana Cedeño
Ainslie Villarama Chun
Teresa Katherine Coleman*‡
Shaine Francisco Cruz*
Jonathan Thomas Davis*◊
Collin Paul Dufrene*◊
Maya Nasir El Hawi
Ryan Feras Elhajj*‡
Caleb Wayne Erickson*‡
Sean Eseoghene Chioma Esiri
Anna Marie Farfan*◊
Isabella Garrigos
George Eucharius Gregory IV
Nathaniel Edgar Guion*‡ Tomás E. Guzmán Cover
Anthony Minh Ha*
Lucille Lorraine Hammond
Kayla Rose Hellen*‡
Grant Howard Johnson*
Natalia Kacprzak*
Catherine Ann Laher*‡
Clayton Oliver Landry
Paulina Natasha Lenz*
Christopher Julian López‡
Renato Carlo MagDaleno
Bianca Lourdes Marsan*
Cristina Maria Martinez‡
Adrian Mathew Medina
Emma Claire Monhollen
Ian McStravick Morrison*◊
Marianna Isabella Munguia*‡
Andrew James O’Brien
Kyle George Okruhlik
Matthew Jin Padilla*
Greyson Anderson Padula
Roman Nicholas Payan*‡
Emily Kate Perry*‡
Christopher Ryan Prihoda*
Mary Elizabeth Rathe
Bernardo Andres Roblesgil*‡
Diego Fidencio Segura
Mason Payne Sexton*
Lauren Nicole Sharpless*
Tristan Patrick Shorey
Michael Thomas Sibille*‡
Ricky Nicole Skinner*‡
Sarah Therese Thome*
Tiffany Hope Twellman*
Evan Colt Van Ryder
*National Honor Society
◊
National French Honor Society
‡National Spanish Honor Society
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As First Communion season winds down and wedding fever rises, Catholic counters are busy.
The Central Office of Church Statistics, a department of the Vatican Secretariat of State, keeps track of Baptisms, First Communions, Confirmations and Catholic marriages reported by dioceses around the world.
The statistics are one way of “showing adherence to the Church,” including the continuing practice of the faith over time, said the introduction to the chapter “Practice of Religion” in the 512page volume Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2021.
Using statistics reported as of Dec. 31, 2021, the book was published in February this year. It counted more than 1.3 billion Catholics in the world, or 17.7% of the global population.
Dioceses and other Church territories around the world reported more than 13.7 million Baptisms in 2021, and more than 11.1 million of those, 81%, were Baptisms of children under the age of 7. The yearbook for 1991 reported 18.1 million Baptisms worldwide, 89% of which involved welcoming into the Church children under the age of 7.
The statistical yearbook noted, “a general downward trend in the relative number of Baptisms, following closely the trend in the birthrate in most countries.”
The yearbook also provided a look at the percentage of Baptisms of people
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis has named U.S. cardinal, Kevin Cardinal Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life, to be the next president of the supreme court of Vatican City State.
Until Pope Francis modified the judiciary of the city-state in April, the president of the court always was the prefect of the Apostolic Signature, the Holy See’s highest court. The current president is Dominque Cardinal Mamberti.
The Vatican announced on June 2 that Cardinal Farrell, 75, would become president of the Court of Cassation, as the Vatican’s highest civil court is known, beginning Jan. 1. The position is not a full-time role.
As judges on the court, Pope Francis named Cardinals Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, Paolo Lojudice of Siena and Mauro Gambetti, the papal vicar for Vatican City.
All four cardinals were appointed to five-year terms.
The Court of Cassation is the highest court of appeals for Vatican City State and can interpret Vatican City law.
In addition to serving as prefect of the dicastery, Cardinal Farrell also is camerlengo or chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church. While the pope is alive, the job is basically just a title. But when a pope dies or resigns, the chamberlain is charged with sealing the papal apartments, chairing consultations about the papal funeral, making the practical preparations for the conclave to elect the next pope, and chairing a committee of cardinals that takes care of
to the Vatican’s Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2021, the Catholic Church baptized 13.7 million people in 2021, more than 81% of whom were children under the age of 7.
over the age of 7 by continent from 2016 to 2021, providing an indication that missionary activity is holding steady everywhere but the Middle East. Africa leads the world in the percentage of Baptisms in which the new Christian was over 7 years of age. In 2016 close to 33% of the Baptisms on the continent involved older children and
the church’s ordinary affairs until a new pope is elected. †
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Business leaders must fight the temptation to seek financial gain above all else and instead promote a “culture of encounter” that improves their balance sheet and the lives of their employees and communities at the same time, Pope Francis said.
“It is essential to approach work from a culture of encounter. The values of this culture can enable the world of business to defend itself from the shadows of evil that invade us when profit at all costs distorts our relationships to the point of degrading or even enslaving people,” the pope told business leaders from Latin America on June 1.
The Latin American Business Council was holding its annual meeting in Rome on May 31 to June 2 and used the opportunity to meet with a variety of Vatican officials to discuss social themes that, Pope Francis said, “affect us all.”
The culture of encounter, Pope Francis told them, is an expression of the search for the common good, and it becomes concrete in “the many daily efforts and sacrifices that your companies make to get ahead and to train and update their workers, avoid conflicts and avoid the pain of letting someone go.”
The pope prayed the business leaders would be inspired and strengthened by their faith as they “face the sea of the world and the storms that arise,” helping one another and working to create a better world. †
adults; by 2021, it had grown to 36%.
Both the Middle East and Europe reported in 2016 that about 4.5% of all Baptisms involved people over the age of 7; by 2021, the Middle East reported only 2.9% of Baptisms involved that population, while Europe stood steady at 4.5%. North American dioceses reported 8.7% in 2016 and 8.6% in 2021.
The number of Catholic weddings celebrated around the world in 2021 was over 1.8 million; of those, only 9.2% involved a Catholic marrying a nonCatholic. On the low end, only 1.7% of marriages in Central America were between a Catholic and a non-Catholic, while in Oceania, the figure was 28.3%. North America was close, with 20.2% of all sacramental marriages involving a Catholic and a non-Catholic.
The yearbook for 1991 reported more than 3.8 million Catholic weddings, with 8.9% of them involving a Catholic marrying a non-Catholic.
In 2021, the yearbook said, 8.5 million people received their first Communion, and 7.3 million people were confirmed.
In addition to listing the number of first Communions and Confirmations reported country by country and continent by continent, the 2021 yearbook also gives the number of those Sacraments per 1,000 Catholics in the country or region, giving a sense of how many children those Catholics are having and how they are or are not bringing their children up in the faith.
The global average was 6.2 first Communions for every 1,000 Catholics; in Asia, the ratio was highest at 9.1, while the Americas were on the low end with 5.2. The yearbook said there were 7.3 first Communions per 1,000 Catholics in the United States in 2021 and 3.1 first Communions for every 1,000 Catholics in Canada. †
Full descriptions for each open position are available online: www.archgh.org/ employment
Internal Audit: Director
Senior Internal Auditor
Finance: Accounts Payable Coordinator
Development Department: Development Coordinator
Legal Department: Legal Counsel
Office of Aging: Administrative Assistant
Catholic Cemeteries: Family Services Associate
Special Youth Services: Pastoral Minister Administrative Assistant
St. Dominic Village Retirement Home: Support Specialist to Retired Priests
Interested candidates may send a cover letter, with salary requirement, and resume to resume@archgh.org with the job title on the subject line.
*Submissions that do not include the salary requirement will not be moved forward for consideration.
LAURIE, Mo. (OSV News) — The night before He allowed Himself to be betrayed and executed, Jesus prayed aloud that all who would come to know Him would be made one, just as He and the Father are one.
The next day, while nailed to the cross, He entrusted His beloved disciple to the care of His mother, and vice versa.
“Mary thus became the tender Mother of the Church, which Christ begot on the cross,” Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City proclaimed from the outdoor pulpit of the National Shrine of Mary, Mother of the Church, in Laurie.
“Mary, Mother of Christ, is also Mary, Mother of the Body of Christ — the Church — our mother!” he said in celebrating morning Mass May 29, the feast of Mary, Mother of the Church, which coincided this year with Memorial Day.
An ample congregation of local parishioners and Memorial Day visitors to the Lake of the Ozarks gathered in the tiered seating area of the shrine, pausing to thank God for the gift of His mother.
The clear sky, mild temperature and restful breeze made for an almost perfect day for outdoor worship. Strains of “Immaculate Mary” and “Hail Holy Queen, Enthroned Above” echoed through the
hills and valleys.
“We gather at this national shrine in order to remember the role of Mary in the story of her Son and in the story of the Church,” Bishop McKnight said. He asked everyone also to remember their own mothers in prayer, “especially those who have gone before us and are deceased.”
The bishop clarified that although Mary was conceived and born without sin, and although the fullness of her grace meant that she was free from sin her entire life — “she was a woman, of flesh and blood, human as we are human, and so we neither worship nor adore her.”
Instead, it’s important to give thanks for her and to honor, love and venerate her.
Bishop McKnight urged all the faithful never to stop seeking Mary’s powerful intercession.
“Especially on this day, may her prayers for us help us to be more faithful and holy members of the Body of Christ,” he said.
In Mary, the bishop emphasized, the Church receives the gift of a mother’s love. “A mother who nurtures, intercedes for, and loves with an unconditional and unflinching love,” he said.
Through her, Jesus joined His earthly
family to His spiritual family, with the Blessed Virgin presiding over both as “Mother.”
Bishop McKnight pointed out that Mary has always played an important role in the history of the Church, and that faithful recognition of her role as Mother of the Church dates back to antiquity.
In 1964, St. Paul VI, at the conclusion of the third session of the Second Vatican Council formally declared Mary as “Mother of the Church — that is to say, of all Christian people, the faithful as well as the pastors, who call her the most loving Mother.”
In 2018 Pope Francis decreed the feast of Mary, Mother of the Church would be celebrated on the Monday after Pentecost, which this year was May 28.
The pope did so“after having attentively considered how greatly the promotion of this devotion might encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety,” said Bishop McKnight.
This annual celebration is a necessary reminder “that growth in the Christian life must be anchored to the mystery of the Cross, to the offering of Christ in the Eucharistic banquet and to the Mother
of the Redeemer and Mother of the Redeemed — the Virgin who makes her own offering to God,” Bishop McKnight stated.
Joining Bishop McKnight at the altar for Mass were several priests, including Father John Schmitz, who is rector of the National Shrine of Mary, Mother of the Church and pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Laurie and the Mission of St. Philip Benizi in Versailles.
An estimated 50,000 people each year visit the National Shrine of Mary, Mother of the Church, and enjoy the scenic, well-manicured grounds that include the avenue of flags, a prayer path, fountains and a larger-than-life image of the Blessed Mother.
The shrine was dedicated in 1992, having been conceived in the mid-1980s in what was once a drainage ditch at the rear of the St. Patrick Parish property in Laurie.
Longtime pastor Father Fred Barnett, now deceased, had the idea of developing the 6,000-seat outdoor shrine in the form of a grotto to make room for more weekend communicants each summer.
The centerpiece is a 14-foot, 2,840-pound stainless steel sculpture of Mary, created by sculptor Don Wiegand, who described his subject as “an ageless lady, depicting love, balance and grace.” The sculpture sits on a revolving pedestal above a reflection pool.
Weather permitting, Sunday Mass is celebrated at the shrine each Saturday at 8 p.m. and on Sundays at 8:30 a.m. between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends.
The shrine also contains the Mother’s Wall of Life, a series of polished black granite panels inscribed with the names of mothers from all over the world in gratitude for the gift of life.
Now-retired Bishop John R. Gaydos of Jefferson City dedicated the Mother’s Wall on Mother’s Day in 1999.
Father Barnett emphasized repeatedly that the shrine’s purpose is to honor the Blessed Mother and to help promote a deeper overall appreciation of motherhood, the preciousness of human life and the integrity of the family.
Calling it a “wonderful tribute to motherhood,” he said the shrine honors all mothers, living and deceased, and of every race, creed and skin color.
In May 2003, the U.S. Catholic bishops granted the Shrine of Mary Mother of the Church the rare designation of a national shrine, an acknowledgment that it was already a pilgrim destination for people from all over the United States. †
UVALDE (OSV News) — Community members gathered in Uvalde, Texas, to pray and honor the 21 lives lost last year in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.
“We kneel once again today before God, united and looking for ways to support each other. We continue sharing the pain while we give thanks for the greatness of the short lives that were taken from us a year ago,” said San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo GarcíaSiller during a bilingual Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Uvalde May 24, the first anniversary of the tragedy.
The Remembrance Mass, which community members requested, drew more than 500 people to Sacred Heart Church, according to the San Antonio Archdiocese. People were standing in the back and sides of the church and others outside of the sanctuary to honor the memory of those who were killed, most of whom were 10 years old.
The pastor greeted people from different sectors of the city, including families and friends of the 19 children and two teachers who were killed. Also present were students and teachers from different schools, including Sacred Heart Catholic School, and members of the archdiocesan Catholic Charities, religious sisters, counselors and Catholic Extension representatives.
In his homily, Archbishop GarcíaSiller recognized the difficulties felt within the hearts of suffering families, acknowledging different grieving processes and adding that their presence at the Mass was a testament of love, present even in sorrow.
“United with Jesus, making His will our own, we are guaranteed to share one day in the fullness of the Lord’s own joy, together with those we have been called to love in this life,” he said.
The Holy Spirit, “the consoler,” is sent by the Father at Pentecost to make Jesus present and “can heal all wounds,” he said in Spanish.
With the Holy Spirit, healing is possible so “so that the tears which we unite to Christ’s are not shed in vain,” he
added. “He can enable us to build bridges which unite the community.”
Archbishop García-Siller said that “our desire for unity in this community, for healing, consolation and blessing is only possible if we, brothers and sisters, commit our own lives to hard work to make that reality possible.”
“Let’s love one another and teach our youth to choose the path of peace instead of violence. May we overcome evil with good,” he said.
Following the Mass, organizers read the names of the honored victims. Family and friends brought forth candles in remembrance as each person’s name was read and placed them in front of the altar and the artwork of the hearts and the Virgin Mary.
There were 22 candles present, with the extra candle representing the husband of Irma Garcia, a member of the Sacred Heart community and one of the two teachers killed by the shooter. An archdiocesan spokesperson said he died due to a heart attack he suffered while visiting a memorial to his wife less than 24 hours after the shooting.
POINT COMFORT — No longer is the seafarer ministry in Point Comfort in the Diocese of Victoria the only one without a physical structure to welcome seafarers.
On May 16, people who support the seafarers ministry celebrated the building and Victoria Bishop Brendan J. Cahill blessed the structure.
“Today is the feast day of St. Brendan. That is my patron saint, and St. Brendan is the patron saint of seafarers,” said Bishop Cahill, who is the episcopal promoter for Stella Maris in the United States. Around the world, and in Galveston-Houston, Stella Maris centers arrange for visits of clergy and others in ministry to seafarers when they are in port.
Before the new sea center, the Victoria ministry was operated out of the homes of local organizers. During the pandemic, they helped many workers get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Since the center is located within the port, its visibility and ease of access is a draw for the thousands of seafarers, especially since they do not have to leave the area, which can be a difficulty for some with immigration access.
In the U.S., the Stella Maris ministry has a presence in 53 maritime ports in 48 archdioceses and dioceses in 26 states. There are over 100 chaplains and pastoral teams made up of priests, religious, deacons and lay ministers. †
Since the shooting, it has been reported that the city of 15,000 residents has experienced division over gun control and calls for accountability and transparency in investigations into law enforcement officers’ response to the
shooting.
“With the help of each other, we need to grow together, to stay together, to build bridges together,” Archbishop GarcíaSiller told OSV News. He also stressed the need for mutual respect in his homily.
Uvalde and surrounding towns are part of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, which has been assisting family members affected by the violent act. In the days after the tragedy, Archbishop García-Siller celebrated Mass at Sacred Heart daily and has continuously visited the community. Chicago-based Catholic Extension, which supports the church in America’s poorest regions, provided scholarships for some of the surviving children to attend Sacred Heart Catholic School and has provided additional support for the community.
Counselors from the Bereavement Center of San Antonio released butterflies at a ceremony following the Mass, and children were given clothespins for a project to craft artwork butterflies as a tribute to the victims of Robb Elementary. They also sang hymns and prayed.
“We trust that Our Lady of Guadalupe will continue to accompany the families of Uvalde,” Archbishop García-Siller said. †
Hace unos meses atrás les compartía que la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos había anunciado un Avivamiento Eucarístico Nacional con un proceso de tres años. Este Avivamiento Eucarístico busca renovar la Iglesia católica de los Estados Unidos a través de una mayor apreciación del misterio Eucarístico, de la presencia sacrificial de Jesucristo que es la razón misma de la existencia de la Iglesia en primer lugar.
¿Por qué un Avivamiento Eucarístico? Lamentablemente, en 2019 una institución de renombre publico una encuesta hecha en los Estados Unidos, donde adultos generalmente pudieron responder preguntas básicas sobre la Biblia y el cristianismo y siete de cada diez católicos (69%) dicen que personalmente creen que durante la Misa Católica, el pan y el vino que se usan en la Comunión “son símbolos del cuerpo y la sangre de Jesucristo”, y solo un tercio de los católicos de los Estados Unidos (31 %) dice creer que “durante la Misa Católica, el pan y el vino se convierten en el cuerpo y la sangre de
por ADRIAN HERRERAJesús”.
¡Esto es preocupante! Porque demuestra la carencia y la falta de formación en la fe de nuestros adultos sobre lo que la Iglesia enseña sobre la transustanciación.
En pocas palabras, nosotros los Católicos creemos que:
“Por la consagración se realiza la transustanciación del pan y del vino en el Cuerpo y la Sangre de Cristo. Bajo las especies consagradas del pan y del vino, Cristo mismo, vivo y glorioso, esta presente de manera verdadera, real y substancial, con su Cuerpo, su Sangre, su alma y su divinidad (Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica, n. 1413).
Aún así, uno de cada cinco católicos (22%) rechaza la idea de la transubstanciación, a pesar de que conocen las enseñanzas de la iglesia. Es por eso, que la Iglesia Católica en los Estados Unidos quiere unir y reavivar
esfuerzos alrededor del Misterio Eucarístico y formar a la gente de manera apropiada. La Arquidiócesis de Galveston-Houston a través de su Oficina de Evangelización y Catequesis, la Diócesis de Dallas y la Federación de Catequesis con Hispanos invitan a la comunidad a una serie de cinco presentaciones virtuales, gratis pero requiere inscripción sobre temas que ayudarán como comprender la presencia sacrificial de Nuestro Señor a través de las cinco tareas de la Catequesis que propone el nuevo directorio para la Catequesis. Los participantes pueden optar por asistir a cualquiera o todas las sesiones. El primero se celebró el 8 de junio.
Las presentaciones serán impartidas en español por cuatro colegas profesionales y expertos en la Catequesis a nivel nacional. Estas serian las fechas y los temas a estudiar:
• 13 de julio, 7 p.m., “Iniciar en la celebración del Ministerio” JC Moreno (Dallas);
• 10 de agosto, 7 p.m., “Formar en la vida de Cristo” por Lia Garcia
(Baltimore);
• 14 de septiembre, 7 p.m., “Enseñar a Orar” por Diana Pizarro (Rockville Centre); and
• 12 de octubre, 7 p.m., “Introducir a la vida comunitaria” por Adrian Herrera (Houston).
Si usted desea participar, inscríbase gratuitamente en este sitio avivamientoeucaristico.org, o puede llamar para más información al 214-3792851 o al 713-741-8799.
Otra manera de como usted puede crecer en la formación de su fe y comprensión del Misterio Eucarístico es tomando cursos de Formación para el Ministerio Cristiano que están disponibles de forma virtual tanto en español como en ingles durante este verano.
Para más información sobre el costo, las fechas y los horarios, visite los siguientes sitios www.archgh.org/OEC/ FPMC o www.archgh.org/OEC/FTCM. †
Adrian Alberto Herrera es el director asociado para la Oficina de Evangelización y Catequesis en la Arquidiócesis.
HOUSTON (OSV News) — El dulce aroma de rosas, orquídeas y otras flores recién cortadas parecía ser tan perceptible como ramos de flores y pétalos que se elevaban sobre cientos de católicos vietnamitas en la Iglesia Our Lady of Lavang en el noroeste de Houston.
Reunidos para un gran festival mariano de tres días que contó con oraciones especiales, eventos juveniles y oradores a principios de mayo, cientos asistieron a Misas al aire libre y rezaron el rosario mientras se unían a una larga procesión mariana en honor a María, Reina de la Paz.
Una luminosa estatua de la Santísima Virgen rodeada de flores siguió la procesión, con otras carrozas cubiertas de flores en honor a la Sagrada Familia, el Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, la imagen de la Divina Misericordia, así como un relicario móvil con reliquias de mártires vietnamitas.
A pesar de las lluvias, cientos de personas asistieron a la Misa concelebrada el 6 de mayo con la visita del obispo Joseph Ðang Ðuc Ngân de Da Nang, Vietnam.
Antes de la Misa, jóvenes y mujeres vietnamitas realizaron elaborados bailes con flores, ramos de flores e incienso en honor a María. También hubo una larga procesión mariana, a la que se unieron los sacerdotes dominicos vietnamitas y
las hermanas dominicas de la Provincia de María Inmaculada.
El obispo auxiliar Italo Dell’Oro de Galveston-Houston, miembro del Subcomité de los obispos de EE.UU. sobre Asuntos de Asia y las Islas del Pacífico, presidió una Misa bilingüe celebrada el 7 de mayo.
En su homilía, el obispo Dell’Oro alentó a los asistentes a “cerrar todas las brechas” para que “ninguna viuda, ningún huérfano y ningún forastero” queden desatendidos o sin atención en la Arquidiócesis de Galveston-Houston. Instó a los asistentes a Misa a cruzar las barreras del idioma y la cultura y traer el don de la caridad y la misericordia.
También pidió a todos que se volvieran a María, quien moldeó el corazón humano de Jesús para que se volviera compasivo, misericordioso y gentil, para que la Santísima Madre pudiera moldear nuestros corazones como el suyo.
Dijo un mensaje similar a la reunión del Senatus de la Legión de María el 7 de mayo en la Co-Catedral del Sagrado Corazón para la coronación anual del grupo en mayo.
Allí, incensó una estatua de Nuestra Señora de Fátima que también coronó. Animó a los cientos de mujeres y sus familias, que asistían de parroquias de toda la arquidiócesis, a acudir a María en la fe y en la oración.
En la parroquia de St. John of the Cross en New Caney, Texas, a unas 30 millas al noreste de Houston en el borde de Piney Woods en el Este de Texas, un
festival de coronación de mayo rodeó el nuevo jardín de meditación mariana de la parroquia que se encuentra debajo de un árbol imponente.
Coloridas pancartas estilo papel picado revoloteaban mientras se alineaban en carpas que vendían docenas y docenas de ramos de flores, macetas con flores e incluso más variedades de comida. Los feligreses sirvieron platos de tacos, taquitos, flautas, jugos frescos e incluso pasteles de pizza hechos en horno de ladrillo hechos preparados en la parroquia.
Los bailarines de Baile folklórico realizaron, con varios participantes del grupo de la Asociación Mexicana para la Superación Integral de la Familia de la parroquia, un programa de formación educativa que integra principalmente a mujeres hispanas inmigrantes en sus
comunidades parroquiales.
La iglesia de New Caney se unió a otras parroquias y escuelas católicas alrededor de la Arquidiócesis de GalvestonHouston, pequeñas comunidades celebraron devociones especiales de coronación de mayo, llevando adelante una tradición de larga data donde una estatua de la Santísima Madre es coronada con flores. Desde New Caney, hasta Galveston y hasta el corazón de Houston, miles se dirigieron a Nuestra Señora ya su Hijo en oración y fe.
Aunque las estatuas variaban en su devoción a Nuestra Señora, con algunas coronando estatuas de Lourdes, Fátima, Guadalupe o la Medalla Milagrosa, la elección de los fieles para pedir la intercesión de María seguía siendo la misma. †
En un continuo esfuerzo por facilitar atención pastoral a las victimas de abuso sexual del clero o del personal de la Iglesia, el Cardenal DiNardo gustaría recordar a los fieles de la Arquidiócesis la disponibilidad del Coordinador de Ayuda a Víctimas. Si alguien ha sido victim de abuso sexual del clero o del personal de la Iglesia, se les anima llamar a la Diane Vines al 713-654-5799. Por favor rece por la sanación de las víctimas del abuso y por todos los que sufren de alguna manera.
Fuka Adachi*
Alessandra Giselle Adrogue*
Emma Elizabeth Alexander*
Phoebe Nhi An*
Holden Aramburu*
Lillian Leslie Ashby*
Emily Ann Atkins*
Abigail Giselle Barton*
Urvi Basu*
Blythe Lauren Bath*
Beau Landry Beaudette*
Isabella Riley Been*
Mary Katherine Bena
Callie René Benedict
Anna Katherine Bergman*
Rebecca Grace Bi*
Alessandra Lee Blatner*
Nicole Monica Bouchez*
Hadley Grace Boudreaux*
Stella Rose Boyaki*
Gabriela Beatriz Breuer*
Bailey Lynn Brzezinski*
Madeleine Hughes Burch-Eapen*
Kaitlyn Burns*
Kaitlyn Ann Burt*
Brenna Nicole Butler*
Alexandra Michelle Buttram
Bridget Amelia Caine*
Margaret Mae Cannon*
Vivian Maria Capasso*
Naomi Leslie-Carol Capdeville
Arielle Malimban Caranto*
Analiese Frances Carlile*
Kylie Madison Carter*
Ellie Sofia Cassalia*
Angela Ina Casuga*
Elyssa Tara Chaouch*
Kira Elizabeth Cheal*
Catherine Tsai Chen*
Ava Claire Coady
Evelyn Cameron Cooper
Melissa Grace Coppedge*
Rachel Elisabeth Coronado*
Caroline Olivia Craig
Lillian Jean Cromwell*
Rachel Catherine Cunningham*
Karina Davis*
Mary Kathleen Davis
Niela Therese Dawlett*
Madeleine Elizabeth Day
Emma Beatrice De Los Santos*
Emeline Depiesse
Chantel Chizaram Dike*
Isabella Louise Drone*
Helenah Isabelle Ducay*
Caroline Kielly Dunn*
Kristen Cecile Dupre’*
Hannah Grace Dvorachek*
Dawn Eileece Earles
Chelsea Ogechukwu Egbuchunam*
Leah Elizabeth Elackatt*
Victoria Marie Elwood*
Chiderah Monica Emeakoroha*
Danielle Ryan Equale*
Madelyn Ann Farmer*
Maya Cheryl Fernandez*
Maria Josefina Ferrante*
Francesca Pallais Finger*
Emma Kathryn Folse*
Clara Joan Forbes*
Ariel Felicia Francis*
Anna Collier Frederickson
Gabriella Grace Frugoni*
Ana Cecilia Garcia
Audrey Marie Garner*
Catharine Maria Garofolo-Ro*
Olivia Isabel Gerling-Perez*
Lefkie Sophia Germanides*
Avery Frances Goss*
Arizan Bailey Guevara
Isabelle Bowes Haas*
Nour Hage*
Isabella Han*
Isabella Guadalupe Harper
Katherine Anne Hayes*
Charlotte Elizabeth Herndon*
Emma Alejandra Hinojosa*
Emma Jo Holden*
Finley Nicole Hoover*
Presley Nycole Houck*
Caroline Kendall Jackson*
Catherine Elaine Jackson
Caroline Ruth Jakubik*
Elise Michele Johnson*
Jordan Reese Johnson*
Sophie Elizabeth Johnston*
Lauren Marie Jonas*
Hannah Hope Jones*
Sarah Leda Jones*
Ella Grace Joseph*
Avery Kathryn Jung*
Allison Clare Keimig*
Taylor Nicole Kinahan*
Mia Carmen King*
Zoe Ann Kroencke*
Campbell Ann Kurka*
Catherine Margaret Kuryla*
Thu-Thuy Tegan Le*
Morgan Marie Leaman
Alexandria Reece LeVert*
Olivia Hannah Little*
Vivian Amelia Lorch*
Samantha April Maakaroun*
Grace Anne Magee*
Lorena Botero Maher*
Catalina Martinez*
Marissa Marie Martinez*
NiMya Jaye Maruska*
Amelia Nezi Marvin
Isabella Maria Marx*
Isabella Marie Matthews Herrera*
Ana Sofia Maya Muniz*
Sarah Marie McCarty*
Megan Elizabeth McNally*
Lilly Bella Meiss
Sydney Shaye Messersmith
Hayden Isabelle Mintzer
Arden Hall Narvacan*
Zayne Rafat Nemry*
Chloé Alexis Newport*
Emily Tue Khanh Nguyen*
Noelle Diem-Tuyet Nguyen*
Theresa Tuyet Trinh Nguyen*
Estela Ysabel Nino*
Sabrina Ysabel Nino*
Daniella Christina Nolla*
Isabella Christina Nolla*
Monica Ines Orozco*
Doreen Otietie Otaru
Sofia Eugenia PanDavila Capriles*
Emily Rose Parmenter*
Christine Killion Parrish*
Jenna Kaylin Pedley*
Evan Michelle Pedraza*
Geneva Marie Perry*
Elaine Nguyen Phan*
Milan Vanlam Phung-Hoang*
Paige Allison Pierce
Maya Elizabeth Pinglay*
Madison Michelle Porth*
Ada Anne Powitzky*
Jaide-Simone Olivia Prejean
Alexandra Leigh Probst*
Ariana McKenzie Ragas*
Abigail Ann Rasch
Angelina Hanan Rassi*
Elizabeth Isis Ratterree*
Mary Rose Rawson*
Bailey Marie Raymond*
Elise Maria Reinoso*
Amanda Marie Rephlo*
Charlotte Olivia Rice
Elizabeth Grace Rodriguez*
Shelby Marie Romere*
Taylor Rose Romere*
Marianna Beatriz Romero*
Sofia Maria Rowsey*
Mary Elizabeth Rutherford*
Cynthia Ivonne Sanchez Alatriste*
Miranda Mary Santoveña*
Abigail Kennedy Sapp*
Emma Grace Schneidau*
Camille Schneider*
Kinsey Scout Schwartje*
Franchesca Caridad Sentmanat*
Sofia Alexandra Shafii*
Evelyn Chunting Shatto*
Sophie Valentine Sheara*
Sophia Elizabeth Shebay*
Anika Shethia*
Catherine Grace Shoemaker*
Natalia Anh Siboldi
Brooke Leanne Silva*
Adison Helen Smith*
Audrey Rachel Smith*
Camille Ivette Smith*
Emily Helen Soroos*
Charlotte Anne Sousa*
Caroline Josephine Stefan*
Joy Rebecca Stephan*
Christina Stephens*
Maya Sarah Sternthal*
Emilia Swartz Stonaker*
Madeline Hoang Su*
Dana Isabella Suheil
Lillian Campbell Swarts*
Ava Grace Sweitzer*
Emilie Tang*
Sealy Katherine Teheng*
Lucy Renee Terrell
Isabel June Thurlow*
Katherine Ann Tidwell*
Elani Theresa Turner
Chinonye Brieanna Umeh
Eliza Vale*
Presley Rose Vann*
Sofia Vera*
Brynleigh Ann Veselka
Anne Louise Webster*
Catherine Elliot Webster*
Jillian Kate Whittaker*
Anna Gabrielle Williams*
Kaille Elizabeth Lemon Williamson*
Elana Marie Wittry*
Erin Josephine York
Zarina Lily Yusuf*
Mia Isabella Zatarain*
Gabriella Ruth Zezatti*
*National Honor Society
HOUSTON — Actor Shia LaBeouf, known for starring in movies like Transformers and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, plays a new role of revered Catholic saint Padre Pio released in theaters and streaming June 2.
As per his usual deep dive into a role, the 37-year-old LaBeouf spent four months living with Franciscan Capuchin friars at a friary in Solvang, California, while preparing for the film. During this time, he began converting to Catholicism, which he first discussed publicly in an interview with Bishop Robert Barron last year.
“I still go to Mass every week, and I’m taking RCIA classes,” LaBeouf said in a Zoom interview on May 23 with the Texas Catholic Herald. “I don’t shy away from my problems, but I’m not going to keep myself or anyone in the ‘shame cave.’ I involve God and making conscious contact.”
LaBeouf, who made his bar mitzvah at 13 and was also baptized by an uncle who was a Christian pastor, credits the Catholic faith for “saving my life.”
“I was living a life of disorder and anarchy. I was completely lost,” he said.
“But Catholicism never made me feel
guilty — that’s a myth. They welcomed me as a flawed individual.” That started him on the road of setting aside his ego to personally deal with alcoholism and assault charges.
Also on the Zoom interview were Padre Pio movie director Abel Ferrara in Rome and Brother Alexander Rodriguez, OFM, Capuchin Franciscan living in California, who appears as Padre Pio’s spiritual companion in the movie, serving Mass with LaBeouf.
Filmed on location in Puglia, Italy, the visuals range from crisp cinematography of rocky exterior shots to close-ups of craggy characters. Many stark scenes look like portraits. But then darkness covers most of the screen when showing Padre Pio praying in his cell or in the chapel, wrestling with a naked body representing the devil.
There seems to be two separate plots in the movie, distributed by Gravitas Ventures. The opening scene starts with a young Padre Pio arriving on a donkey at the small town of San Giovanni Rotondo in southern Italy, reminiscent of Jesus riding into Jerusalem. Instead of a cheering crowd, a sole monk welcomes him to the friary.
But the film quickly refocuses on the class struggles of poor peasants returning to the village after soldiering in the nightmarishly destructive World War I. Socialist activists attempt to rally
MOVIE RATINGS By OSV News
A-I – SUITABLE FOR ALL
• The Little Mermaid (PG)
A-II – SUITABLE FOR OLDER CHILDREN
• Big George Foreman (PG-13)
• A-III – ADULTS AND ADOLESCENTS
• Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (PG-13)
• Fast X (PG-13)
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (PG-13)
the working class to revolt against the wealthy landowners who also own the police and political forces.
The socialists are bloodily beaten and shot, even when they win a local election, and are not allowed to enter the city hall carrying the red socialist flag. Police kill 14 in the little-known October 1920 protest and injured more than 60 in the village of San Giovanni Rotondo near the monastery where Padre Pio lived.
Fascism had started rising in Italy in 1919 with Benito Mussolini, who later aligned with Hitler to sow the seeds of World War II. The movie is dedicated to those victims “massacred” in the village and to those currently suffering in embattled Ukraine.
Director Abel Ferrara, who also directed the violent “Bad Lieutenant,” defended the Padre Pio film. “It’s not two separate movies. They happen at the same time in history. But he’s in the monastery and not in the center of town, so he’s not out and about like the town’s priest. He celebrates Masses that some of the townspeople go to, and he does confessions, but he’s connected to them in a different way. He’s feeling them — the soldiers — he had been in the military — he knew the suffering…”
Ferrara, an Italian American born in the Bronx, a lapsed Catholic now living in Italy, made a documentary in Italian about Padre Pio before working on this current English-language movie. He argued the intersection between the saint’s spiritual battles and the political bloodshed made sense as a scope for the film.
Brother Alex agreed, “Back then, they were more monastic and not as much contact with people. This movie takes place before Padre Pio became so wellknown.”
This is a striking arthouse film if the audience realizes it’s not a biography of the saint’s life but more of a snapshot of
See PADRE PIO, next page
• Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant (R)
• Padre Pio (R)
• Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse (PG)
• The Boogeyman (PG-13)
• L – LIMITED MATURE AUDIENCE
• Beau Is Afraid (R)
• The Pope’s Exorcist (R)
O – MORALLY OFFENSIVE
• Book Club: The Next Chapter (PG-13)
For more reviews, visit osvnews.com/category/reviews
For ATA submission details and additional listings, visit WWW.ARCHGH.ORG/ATA.
JUNE 16-18
YOUNG ADULT RETREAT, Friday 5 p.m. to Sunday 12:30 p.m., Holy Name Passionist Retreat Center (430 Bunker Hill Rd., Houston). Three-day “A Father’s Heart: Abide in Me” retreat for young adults ages 18 to 30. Cost: $265. Scholarship available. 713-464-0211 ext. 10; www. holynameretreatcenter.com.
JUNE 17
CHOIR FESTIVAL, 7 p.m., Houston Christian University, Dunham Theater (7502 Fondren Rd., Houston). Summer Sacred Music Choral Festival Requiem for the Living by American features choirs of all denominations in an ecumenical concert. Orchestra Seating: $25; Parterre Seating: $20; Balcony Seating: $15. Tickets: www. archgh.org/choralfestival.
JUNE 18
JUBILEE MASS, 11 a.m., St. Leo the Great (2131 Lauder Rd., Houston). Father Bruce Nieli of Austin will celebrate a bilingual Mass to mark the 50th jubilee of his priesthood. 346-812-3467.
JUNE 20
WORKSHOP, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., Emmaus Spirituality Center (12211 Memorial Dr., Houston). “Choices” features Joan McGovern on recognizing the triggers that prevent people from turning to God and living in greater freedom. www.emmausspiritualitycenter.com.
JUNE 21
LUNCHEON, 12 p.m., St. Patrick Cafetorium at Holy Family Parish (1010 35th St., Galveston). Ursuline Academy alumnae, friends and family are invited to renew old friendships and student memories. 409-762-0834; martorellces@yahoo.com.
JUNE 28
BUS TRIP, 9:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., St. Bernadette (15500 El Camino Real, Houston). Bay Area Deanery Council of Catholic Women host a bus trip to the Menil Collection, Mass and Rothko Chapel. Adults 50 years or older are welcome. Cost: $15 per person. Food not included. 832605-8360; gretchenmitchell@gmail.com.
a tattered society after World War I and the desperate need for everyone to heal.
Yet a couple of controversies may keep people from watching this film — first, LaBeouf, in his role, does not use an Italian accent, but his regular English, which can be disconcerting in contrast with the other actors who are mostly Italian and using English with an accent.
But even more disturbing is why the creators allowed the use of profanity.
Padre Pio specifically spits out the “F” word during the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the movie, which is both offensive and shocking, despite it being so overused in modern films. The priest was known to be brusque, to read hearts, and get angry with those who were not contrite or sincere during confession, but he was not known for being vulgar. Thus, the R rating for profanity, violence and brief nudity.
Brother Alex refers to Padre Pio’s letters in which he wrote of his personal struggles. “He had difficulty with his passions. There was fear, anger, lust, and moments of suffering. We wanted to show him not only as a saint but a sinner as we
AROUND THE ARCHDIOCESE: "Concert of Firsts" at St. Justin Martyr Church (May 18)
JUNE 23
CONCERT, 7 p.m., Sts. Simon and Jude (26777 Glen Loch Dr., The Woodlands). Freedom Festival honors Religious Freedom Week with Catholic worship leader and songwriter Sarah Kroger. Cost: $10. www.ssjwoodlands.com.
JUNE 23-25
RETREAT, Friday at 6 p.m. to Sunday at 12:30 p.m., Holy Name Passionist Retreat Center (430 Bunker Hill Rd., Houston). Three-day “Rise Up in Christ’s Love: Generations in Action” retreat includes Mass, Reconciliation, conferences and prayer. Cost: $265. 713-464-0211 ext. 10; www. holynameretreatcenter.com.
JUNE 25
LUNCHEON, 1 p.m. DoubleTree Hotel at Hobby Airport (8181 Airport Blvd., Houston). The Knights of Peter Claver Council & Court #72 host the 23rd annual scholarship luncheon and fashion extravaganza themed “Stepping Out on Faith.” Cost: $60 donation.
JULY 14-16
RETREAT, Friday at 6 p.m. to Sunday at 12:30
all are,” he said.
But the ending of the movie can grip the viewer with reverence. In the darkness, Padre Pio is praying alone. A light focuses on a hand that comes around to hug the priest’s shoulder, shining with a stigmata on the back of the hand, part of the bloody wounds of Christ. LeBeouf starts quietly crying.
The actor in the interview explains with a Southern phrase, “The ending is the big shindig. There is purpose in suffering. Christ suffered for us.”
So the end of the movie is actually the beginning of Padre Pio’s more public life when the marks of the stigmata appear on his own hands, feet and side for the next 50 years whenever he celebrated Mass.
Pope John Paul II, as a young priest, Father Karol Wojtyla, met Padre Pio in 1947. The future pontiff was in doctoral studies in Rome when he made the pilgrimage to the small town of San Giovanni Rotondo to have his confession heard by Padre Pio. He stayed for a week, and they became friends.
Born Francesco Forgione, Padre Pio died in 1968 at the age of 81; he was later beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1999 and canonized on June 16, 2002. †
p.m., Holy Name Passionist Retreat Center (430 Bunker Hill Rd., Houston). Three-day silent retreat with Father Sebastine Okoye. includes Mass, Reconciliation, conferences and prayer. $265. 713-464-0211 ext. 10; www. holynameretreatcenter.com.
RETROUVAILLE WEEKEND, Retrouvaille is for marriages in crisis or couples struggling to rebuild relationships. The weekend is not a spiritual retreat, a marriage encounter or a marriage seminar. Confidential registration is required. Register: HelpOurMarriage.com; houstonretrouvaille@gmail.com; 713-529-6242.
JULY 20-22
SPIRITUAL SPA WEEKEND, Emmaus Spirituality Center (12211 Memorial Dr., Houston). Renew body and spirit with a three-day retreat of relaxation, fun and rejuvenation. Cost: $75 to $280, includes snacks and lunch. www. emmausspiritualitycenter.com.
Experience the sights and sounds of our Catholic communities through the Around the Archdiocese video series. Click the QR code above to see the video.
JULY 27-29
GARAGE SALE, July 27: Early Bird 4 to 7 p.m.; July 28: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.; July 29: 7:30 to 10:30 a.m., Sacred Heart of Jesus (6502 County Rd. 48, Manvel). CDA Court #2073 hosts a garage sale. Donations will be accepted at the Parish Hall only on July 25 from 9 to 11 a.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. idascsr@gmail.com.
JULY 28-30
RETREAT, Friday at 6 p.m. to Sunday at 12:30 p.m., Holy Name Passionist Retreat Center (430 Bunker Hill Rd., Houston). Retreat for married couples with Father Kingsley Nwoko. Cost: $430 per couple, includes lodging, meals and materials. 713-464-0211 ext. 10; Register: www. holynameretreatcenter.com/married-couplesretreat.
Sacrament under the tutelage of Sister Annunciata (Grogan),” Cardinal DiNardo told the crowd of downtown Chancery employees, clergy and project supporters.
“How awesome it is to see the Church being a part of bringing art to the streets of Houston that people may see and give them hope,” said GONZO247.
As part of commemorating the end of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston’s 175th anniversary, the students were asked to create a design of “What does being Catholic mean to you?”
A mural committee reviewed the submissions and decided which components to include in the final painting. Three panels, reminiscent of stained glass, highlight three scenes. The first panel shows Jesus being crucified as a Roman soldier plunges a spear into his side, releasing swirling ribbons of blood and water that flow into a chalice.
The middle panel highlights the consecration of the Eucharist with a priest raising the bread up to the heavens as beams of light stream from it. The third panel completes the communion with five men and women in biblical robes giving reverence. They are all faceless, so “everyone can see themselves,” the artists explained. Underneath the three panels, “I am the Bread of Life” is written, a line
from the Gospel of St. John 6:35.
One of the eight student artists, Elizabeth Abib of Frassati Catholic High School, said, “I was inspired by the Eucharistic Revival,” a call led by Pope Francis to increase Catholics’
$13.2 MILLION given in direct aid in 2022
95% of every dollar raised goes to direct programs and aid
awareness of the true meaning of the “real presence” of Christ consumed in Communion. She also helps as an altar server at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in The Woodlands. †
— Jo Ann ZuñigaDo you have a photo you’d like to share? To submit a photo of a place, group or event that you would like to see in the Herald, email it to tch@archgh.org SAVE THE DATE JULY 8-9, 2023
ANNUAL BLACK BAG COLLECTION www.svdphouston.org/blackbag
49,200 individuals served $5.6 million rent & utility assistance provided