Addressing Issues in a New Era

Having weathered a time of great changes and development, Bishop Thomas Drury was ready at the time of his retirement to hand over responsibilities to a younger man who had brought many experiences with him to the role of chief shepherd for the Diocese of Corpus Christi.

Bishop Rene H. Gracida received his early education in New Orleans, Houston and Texas City. He had interrupted his architectural studies at Rice University to serve in World War II and returned a decorated war veteran. However, after the war and the completion of his college studies, he worked only a brief time with an architectural firm in Houston before he felt called to priesthood.

His subsequent studies and formation culminated in his ordination for the Diocese (later Archdiocese) of Miami in 1959. He worked in multiple capacities on the parish and diocesan levels prior to serving as Auxiliary Bishop of Miami and then in numerous offices for the National Council of Catholic Bishops. Pope Paul VI appointed Bishop Gracida the first bishop of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee in 1975, and it was there that he received the call to be the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Corpus Christi.

His many experiences prior to that call, however, also underscored much of his work in south Texas.

The installation Mass of Bishop Gracida was the first in the diocese to be transmitted over a local television station, and during his administration Bishop Gracida promoted evangelization and service to shut-ins by supporting the televising of weekly Sunday Masses and other ceremonies from the Cathedral.

An effort that began under Bishop Drury–to establish radio stations in the eastern and western halves of the diocese–culminated in the dedication of such stations by Bishop Gracida. Serving the eastern half, which remained as the Diocese of Corpus Christi after the western half was ceded to the new Diocese of Laredo in 2000, is KLUX, which signed on the air March 13, 1985.The station sought to achieve its mission of evangelization and education by weaving its musical offerings of easy listening with brief non-commercial messages that encouraged the way of life that is rooted in the Gospel of Christ.

Another priority of Bishop Gracida was the needs of migrant workers to which he responded by soliciting the ministry of members of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, founded in 1958 by Fr. James Flanagan. Bishop Gracida initially invited these men to serve the workers both in their home parishes in the Diocese of Corpus Christi as well as in camps where they resided while doing migrant farm work.

His concern for other social issues also led Bishop Gracida to support programs like the Pax Christi peace movement and Operation Rescue, which drew hundreds to peaceful protests for life in front of local abortion clinics. Bishop’s Gracida’s Pro-Life stance was manifested also in his strong statements of opposition to capital punishment.

Thanks to the Kenedy Memorial Foundation–whose legal battles had been settled at the end of the administration of Bishop Drury, Bishop Gracida was able to fund many projects during his administration. The foundation funded a Chemical Dependence Unit in counties of the diocese and contributed to building projects in numerous parishes. The Villa Maria apartment complex begun under Bishop Drury was also completed at this time and was dedicated in 1984 as a home to area senior citizens capable of independent living in a residential environment providing a sense of Christian community.

Bishop Gracida’s architectural past also led him to promote the renovation of the Emmanuel crypt chapel of the Cathedral so that it might serve for smaller events that did not necessitate the use of the full Cathedral sanctuary. The chapel was renovated and enlarged under the direction of local architect James Rome assisted by the talented and internationally known artist Michael Tracy. Bishop Gracida dedicated the newly renovated chapel on Nov. 21, 1985.

It was also during this period that the remains of the first bishop of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, Bishop Paul Nussbaum, were returned to Corpus Christi and placed in the western wall of the crypt chapel where today the remains of Bishops Emmanuel Ledvina, Mariano S. Garriga and Drury also rest.

Subsequent to this work, in April 1988, Bishop Gracida began major changes on the main sanctuary and nave of the Cathedral transforming the apse into the space for the episcopal chair and a presbytery for the local clergy gathered for diocesan worship. A Blessed Sacrament Chapel was added to the south side of the Cathedral for the reservation of the Sacrament. The chapel was dedicated in 1989 with a special Mass celebrated by Timothy Cardinal Manning of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, along with archbishops and bishops from Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

To promote the liturgical life of the Cathedral, Bishop Gracida also hired full time music ministers Greg Labus and Lee Gwozdz. Under their leadership, multiple choirs were formed and a program of community concerts was developed for the promotion of both Sacred Music and the musical arts of the area.

Another ministry to which Bishop Gracida had been dedicated even prior to his arrival in Corpus Christi was the Apostleship of the Sea. Since his installation as first bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee, he had become national episcopal promoter of the Apostleship, an international Catholic organization serving the needs of seafarers. With a major port in the Diocese of Corpus Christi, the bishop was blessed with the presence of the national chaplain, Father Ray Rau, as well as the dedicated service of local priest, Father Vincent Patrizi, who spent hours in service to the moral, social and spiritual needs of seamen as he visited the ships in port and worked at the local Seamen’s Center in Corpus Christi while serving the parish of Our Lady, Star of the Sea on North Beach near the port.

Since the time of Bishop Drury the altar servers of the diocese had enjoyed a week long holiday each summer in the hill country, usually near Garner Park. Seeking to extend a similar program to all the youth of the diocese, Bishop Gracida built a youth camp in the hill country—Camp Corpus Christi. Over the following years it hosted thousands of youth of the diocese for a week of recreation and exercise in a Catholic atmosphere of prayer and Eucharist.

In continuing the emphasis on development of lay ministry in the Post Vatican II Church, Bishop Gracida also founded the Pastoral Institute in 1984 to support the diocesan departments in their efforts to prepare individuals for specific church ministries and to offer continuing faith formation opportunities to all interested adults. This was an expansion of a program begun by Bishop Drury, and has developed into the program known today as the St. Paul School of Catechesis.

In 1987, as the diocese celebrated its 75th anniversary, the bishop called for a diocesan synod, which culminated after months of parish and deanery meetings in the Second Synod of the Diocese of Corpus Christi. The general assembly of clergy and laity gathered April 13-15, 1988. The convocation resulted in the promulgation of 17 documents related to the challenges of “Becoming One Body” in the modern age.

Topics covered many pertinent areas for study and decision. It was also a time of addressing some particular groups that also had resulted from the challenges of Vatican II. For those interested in the continued celebration of the Tridentine Mass with approbation, Bishop Gracida echoed the permission given by Pope John Paul II in October 1984 by establishing the St. Michael the Archangel Latin Mass Community, which today meets at St. Theresa Church on Lantana. Also with a growing number of Anglicans seeking full communion with the Catholic Church, Bishop Gracida established the St. Anselm of Canterbury Anglican Use Community, which today worships at 1200 Lantana Rd. in Corpus Christi.

Bishop Gracida realized that the growth of the diocese would eventually lead to the establishment of a new diocese centered most likely in Laredo. With that in mind one of his last major acts was to establish the Western Vicariate in an effort to further develop programs in catechesis, communications and social services with centers in Laredo. These efforts laid the groundwork for the eventual erection of the Diocese of Laredo in the Great Jubilee Year of 2000.