News - April 2015

Being Christian is humbly serving others, not applying "makeup" to your soul to make it prettier, Pope Francis said.

A Special Collection for those affected by the April 25 Earthquake in Nepal will be taken up in the Diocese of Amarillo the weekend of Saturday, May 9 and Sunday, May 10. Please be generous.

Two millennia after the "Gospel of the family" defeated an abusive social practice that humiliated women, the "radical equality" of spouses in Christian marriage must now bear "new fruit" in society, including "the right to equal pay for equal work," said Pope Francis.

Pope Francis has accepted the retirement of Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan of Santa Fe and named Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, to succeed him.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop David E. Fellhauer of Victoria and named Father Brendan Cahill, a priest of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, to succeed him.

God’s plan for fruitful, everlasting unions between a man and woman has been lost in a world filled with skepticism, distrust and hostility, Pope Francis said.

The Texas Catholic Conference is celebrating the April 21 passage of the Tax Credit Scholarship Bill by a vote of 18-12 in the Texas Senate.

The deadline to make reservations for the fourth annual Bishop's Gala has been extended. The new deadline is Tuesday, April 28.

Cardinal Francis E. George, the retired archbishop of Chicago who was the first native Chicagoan to head the archdiocese, died April 17 at his residence after nearly 10 years battling cancer. He was 78.

Eradicating male and female identities does nothing to solve the problem of unfair or disrespectful treatment based on people's gender, Pope Francis said.

Even after becoming the toast of the sports world, golfer Jordan Spieth, a 21-year-old Dallas Jesuit graduate, remained humble and down-to-earth as he worked the crowds at Augusta, handled the media, and bantered with morning and late night talk show hosts after his historic win.

Tickets are available for the second Big Mamma’s Steak and Dance Night, which will take place Saturday, May 9 from 6:45pm to midnight in the St. Anthony’s School Gym at 120 West Park Ave.

Mercy is what makes God perfect and all-powerful, Pope Francis said in his document officially proclaiming the 2015-2016 extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy.

To enter Christ's empty tomb like the disciples and see that he has risen, Christians today also must "bend down," Pope Francis said in his Easter message.

The Diaconate Office of the Diocese of Amarillo is pleased to announce that Bishop Patrick J. Zurek and the Presbyteral Council have authorized the initiation of the Deacon Class of 2020. The first class will begin in January 2016.

Here is the homily presented by Bishop Patrick J. Zurek at the annual Chrism Mass, which took place this year on March 31 at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Amarillo:

Priestly ministry is hard, sometimes lonely or dangerous work serving the neediest with an open, vulnerable heart, Pope Francis told the world's priests.

For a "good Easter," Christians must do more than simply recall the passion of Jesus during Holy Week; they must "enter into the mystery" of the Easter Triduum and make Jesus' feelings and attitudes their own, Pope Francis said.

Celebrating the first vespers for Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope Francis formally will deliver the "bull of indiction" or proclamation of the extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy.

The example St. John Paul II gave the world is still alive and many people continue to be inspired by his faith, passion and joy, Pope Francis said.