Texas Catholics Encouraged To Post ‘Howdy’ Messages For Pope Francis

In honor of the Holy Father’s first Apostolic Visit to the United States on September 22-29, the Texas Catholic Conference has setup a new Facebook page“Texas Catholics Welcome Pope Francis”.  People are invited to give the Pontiff a big Texas “Howdy” by posting welcoming messages, prayers, pictures, and videos on the group page atwww.Facebook.com/HowdyPopeFrancis.

Individuals, families, clergy, parish ministries, Catholic schools, and lay organizations are all encouraged to submit their online salutes for Pope Francis.  In addition, those Texans attending any of the Holy Father’s upcoming events in the United States are asked to post their materials on the Facebook page, too.

The Texas Catholic Conference will award prizes for exceptional posts to the“Texas Catholics Welcome Pope Francis”Facebook page.  These greetings, photos, and video presentations will be judged by their innovation, inspiration, number of “Likes” and “Shares”, and capturing a true sense of Texas friendliness. Winners will earn unique rewards like Pope Francis bobbleheads, books about the Holy Father, Our Lady Undoer of Knots prayer cards, commemorative t-shirts, and many other items.

“Texans are some of the friendliest and most welcoming people in the world,” said Patrick Ryan, communications director of the Texas Catholic Conference. “We thought it would be a lot of fun to share our legendary Lone Star hospitality with Pope Francis via social media and maybe he will consider visiting Texas during his next trip to the United States.”

Thousands of Texas Catholics are expected to travel to see Pope Francis during his upcoming appearances in New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.  The Texas Bishops will join him for Midday Prayer on September 23rd at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, D.C.  Several of the bishops will also convene with the pontiff during the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia on September 26th and 27th.