The Texas Catholic Voice

If you are an experienced educator who has qualities to be a Superintendent – or who is one now – the Diocese of El Paso offers an exceptional opportunity and challenge. The Diocese is located in the far west city of El Paso, Texas, which has been named the Safest City in the US. The Superintendent…

Bishop Joe S. Vásquez, Bishop of Austin and Chair of the USCCB Committee on Migration, says that President Trump’s latest Executive Order still puts vulnerable populations around the world at risk. In a statement issued after today’s announcement of travel suspension, Bishop Vásquez says that while we seek to maintain our values and safety, we must also exercise…

Current law requires judges to lie to juries; causes unnecessary death penalty decisions AUSTIN — The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops (TCCB) commends Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr., for filing Senate Bill 1065, which will improve the rights of jurors serving in death penalty sentencing trials. Texas law is intentionally misleading as it requires judges and…

WASHINGTON (CNS) — In a joint statement, Catholic bishops whose dioceses are along the U.S.-Mexico border spoke of the “pain, the fear, and the anguish” they’re seeing in immigrants and vowed to follow the example of the pope in building “bridges, rather than the walls of exclusion and exploitation.” MORE

Bishop Joe Vásquez, as chair of the USCCB Committee on Migration, issued a statement welcoming the decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a lower court’s order blocking several key provisions of President Trump’s executive order regarding refugees. The bishop also said the Church remains in solidarity with those fleeing persecution. MORE

Last week Catholic schools in Texas and across the nation celebrated Catholic Schools Week (CSW) 2017. Representative Drew Springer offered a Texas House Resolution honoring all Catholic Schools in Texas. Cardinal DiNardo was recognized on the Texas House floor and presented with the resolution. All members of the Texas House of Representatives requested that their names…

AUSTIN — A coalition of faith-based organizations, including the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, Austin Interfaith and the Texas Industrial Areas Foundation, are stepping up the pressure for the Texas Legislature to reject so-called “anti-sanctuary city” bills. In testimony today against Senate Bill 4, which Governor Greg Abbott has…

AUSTIN, Texas – Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of the Diocese of Austin issued the following statement on Jan. 30, 2017, regarding President Trump’s Executive Order “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States”: I strongly disagree with the executive order on refugee resettlement. Today, with more than 65 million people forcibly displaced from…

WASHINGTON— Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, vice president of the USCCB, have called on Catholics to join the bishops in defense of human dignity. MORE