Free Republic

Houston, We Have A Problem: The Latin Mass The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in Texas is the fifth largest diocese in the U.S., a result of the explosive growth around the City of Houston -- the fourth largest city in the U.S. -- and its surrounding counties. It has a massive priest shortage, with just 150 active archdiocesan priests of the 435 priests serving, retired or residing in the 146-parish archdiocese. There are 411 "permanent deacons" in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.In recent years the archbishop, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, had been friendly toward those who worship at the traditional Latin Mass....

Implementation of Traditionis Custodes within the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston SEPTEMBER 1, 2021 Daniel Cardinal DiNardo To all Priests and Deacons, and to All the Lay Faithful of Galveston-Houston, The liturgy is not only the gathering point into unity of all that is scattered, but also the summons home to the Father through the action of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit in that gathering, thus creating harmony from among diverse and even occasionally discordant voices. There Grace is given to all the members of the liturgical assembly to go forth and to sanctify the world in which...

Has Persecution Started? Archdioceses Ends Roman (Traditional Latin) MassFather Philip Wilhite of Sacred Heart Church in Conroe, Galveston-Houston Archdiocese, Texas, announced that the Traditional Latin Mass in his church will be discontinued.“After due consideration, conversations with the Archdiocese, and to best serve the spiritual needs of those who prefer the Extraordinary Form, we will transition from offering this form here at Sacred Heart to encouraging all to be active parishioners of Regina Caeli Catholic Church,” he wrote on FaceBook.com (June 2). One wonders what "due consideration" means and whether this measure is meant to promote sanitary Covid distancing.The last Mass...

[Catholic Caucus] Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston to suspend Mass 'indefinitely' amid coronavirus pandemic The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston will suspend Mass indefinitely amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, following days of civic leaders urging people to stay home and away from each other. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo said the suspension would begin Wednesday, but churches would remain open for "individual and private prayer." He also recommended that priests offer confessions in more places other than small confessional booths, which could bring two people closer than what health officials recommend. Weddings can also go on, but only the rite and with only 10 people in...

[Catholic Caucus] Excusing Priestly Sexual Misconduct as ‘Consensual’ Houston's Cdl. Daniel DiNardo downplaying monsignor's abuse of trust and power The Catholic hierarchy's use of the "consensual sex" card to justify priestly misconduct has been thrown on the table once again, this time after a Texas woman was taken advantage of emotionally, spiritually and physically by a priest serving as her spiritual counselor.  Msgr. Frank Rossi Laura Pontikes, a 55-year-old construction executive in Texas, had been suffering from long-term depression and problems in her marriage when she sought help from Msgr. Frank Rossi, then-vicar general and deputy to Cdl. Daniel DiNardo in the Galveston-Houston Archdiocese....

Woman accuses Cardinal DiNardo of dismissing sex abuse case HOUSTON (AP) — The cardinal leading the U.S. Catholic Church's response to the sex abuse crisis has been accused of mishandling a case alleging that his then-deputy manipulated a woman into a sexual relationship, even as he counseled her husband on their marriage, heard her confessions and solicited their donations. The allegations against Cardinal Daniel DiNardo come just a week before he presides over a meeting of U.S. bishops to adopt new measures to hold church leaders accountable for sexual misconduct or for covering it up. Laura Pontikes, a 55-year-old...

US bishops oppose Trump immigration plan, say families are foundational Leaders of the U.S. bishops’ conference voiced concern over President Donald Trump’s new immigration plan, stressing that families should be strengthened and promoted in the immigration system.“We oppose proposals that seek to curtail family-based immigration and create a largely ‘merit-based’ immigration system,” said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin, who heads the conference’s migration committee.“Families are the foundation of our faith, our society, our history, and our immigration system,” they said. “As Pope Francis notes: ‘Family...

Daylong conference on church crisis looks at laity role, response Washington — Younger bishops are generally angrier about the sexual abuse crisis and want to act with more urgency to deal with it than older bishops, said the president of the United States Conference of Catholic bishops. "Some of the younger bishops are more angry than some of us who have been around a little longer," said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston, answering a question on assessing the general mood of the bishops. "They want to move with real force — thank you. They want to move with real...

Top US cardinal removed priest day before abuse list issued HOUSTON - The cardinal who leads the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops allowed a priest to celebrate Mass the same day his name was among those released on a list of clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse.Cardinal Daniel DiNardo told Father John T. Keller on Wednesday evening that he would be placed on administrative leave the next day, the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston said in a statement Friday.DiNardo allowed Keller to lead the 9 a.m. Thursday Mass at his parish, the statement said, because Keller “was already scheduled to celebrate” it.Hours...

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican blocked U.S. bishops from taking measures to address the clergy sex abuse scandal because U.S. church leaders didn’t discuss the legally problematic proposals with the Holy See enough beforehand, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press.The Nov. 11 letter from the Vatican’s Cardinal Marc Ouellet provides the primary reason that Rome balked at the measures that were to be voted on by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops at its Nov. 12-14 meeting. The blocked vote stunned abuse survivors and other Catholics who were demanding action from U.S. bishops to address clergy...

What Begins in Bad Theology Ends in Police Raids Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, whose Galveston-Houston chancery was raided this week by prosecutors in search of abuse-related files, always struck me as a pretty haunted and compromised figure. DiNardo came out of Pittsburgh and the corrupt milieu of Cardinal John Wright, who was an accused pederast and a mentor to such slimy prelates as Donald Wuerl. Google DiNardo and Cardinal Wright and a creepy picture comes up of a young DiNardo sitting next to Wright in a white tuxedo. Wright liked to dress his seminarians up in such attire, just as Wuerl...

A preliminary log of what was seized during the search at the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston included at least three of Cardinal Daniel DiNardo’s computers but was mistakenly made public Friday, according to Montgomery County officials. The document shows investigators on Wednesday took multiple files on accused priest Manuel La Rosa-Lopez and several other clergy members, including Alberto Maullon, who is a judge on the Diocese Tribunal, and who pleaded guilty to indecent exposure charges related to an adult bookstore sting in 2010. Documents on Terence Brinkman, who was sued in 2010 for allegedly molesting a boy in the 1970s and...

But the assistant district attorney in charge of the investigation said that a search of the church offices was necessary because the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston had turned over only a portion of the evidence. ........... Father LaRosa-Lopez worked for the archdiocese for decades. Cardinal DiNardo had assigned him to work in a parish and appointed him as the vicar for Hispanics for the archdiocese, despite knowing that Father LaRosa-Lopez had been accused in 2001 of molesting a teenage girl.

Kudos to Father Raymond de Souza, who noticed something that the rest of us had missed. In a Catholic Herald column, Father de Souza explains how the release of the Vigano testimony affects the US bishops’ plans: The American bishops have already asked Pope Francis to appoint an apostolic visitor to investigate the entire McCarrick matter. It is likely that the visitor, when appointed, would have interviewed Viganò in any case. His “testimony” will now be part of the material that the visitor must examine. Viganò has not provided documentation to support his charges, but has indicated where that documentation...

Bishop Edward Weisenburger (right) would like to canonically punish those who advocate the prosecution of illegal immigrants. On June 13, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston and Houston and head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, read aloud a statement at the USCCB spring meeting in which he denounced the immigration policies of United States President Donald Trump and Attorney General of the United States Jeff Sessions. Cardinal DiNardo was particularly exercised by Trump’s and Sessions’ policy of refusing asylum to those fleeing gang violence, and of prosecuting everyone who illegally enters the United States, a practice which...

For many years the Bishops of the United States have worked for comprehensive Immigration Reform. In recent times the issues surrounding immigrants have become more intense and complicated, more divisive, and more fraught with difficulties for our immigrant brothers and sisters.Last September the Administration in Washington announced it was phasing out a program called DACA — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — established in 2012 to grant at a two-year renewal interval amnesty against deportation. The program concerned those undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children or teenagers. In most cases these young people have...

In the wake of the latest instance of a faithful son of the Church pointing out that the papal emperor has no clothes, we have been treated to yet another flurry of loud and aggressive assertions that there is nothing to see here, no confusion really exists, and can everyone please stop acting childish and just move along? Meanwhile, that faithful son — Fr. Thomas Weinandy — has been forced out of his position as a doctrinal consultant to the USCCB, while their president, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, had the audacity to talk about his “departure” under the auspices of “an opportunity...

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops elected a new president who has a strong commitment to the sanctity of life on Tuesday. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, leader of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in Texas, was elected to a three-year term as president of the bishops’ organization, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The bishops also elected Cardinal Jose Gomez of Los Angeles as vice president, the report states. DiNardo previously served as the vice president and as the chair of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the USCCB. One of his duties as the new president will be to guide U.S. Catholic...

... In an April 13 letter to the U.S. House of Representatives, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston urged lawmakers to vote for a resolution to ban federal funding of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. In the midst of a budget debate involving shared sacrifice and hard choices, Cardinal DiNardo wrote, “Whether to fund the largest abortion network in the country is not one of those hard choices.”

Archbishop Donald Wuerl talks with Chief Justice John Roberts after the Red Mass Washington D.C., Oct 5, 2009 / 10:40 am (CNA).- One day before the opening of the Supreme Court's next term, Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, issued a plea for the rights of the unborn at the 56th Annual "Red Mass," celebrated yesterday at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington D.C. The Mass was attended by six Supreme Court justices.The Mass is an initiative of the John Carroll Society, a group of Catholic legal professionals, and has been held at the cathedral since...