Texas Gulf Coast Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 14, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, October 27, 1978 Page: 1 of 6
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P
Bishop’s letter to pope*
iis Holiness Pope John Paul II
Vatican City, Europe
Beloved Holy Father:
The religious, clergy and faithful of this beautifully named Diocese join
with me in extending to your Holiness a sincere pledge of support and a
solid promise of loyalty. Ad multos annos.
Bishop Thomas Joseph Drury
Diocese of Corpus Christi
.
From the
Bishop’s
desk.
by Most Rev. Thomas J. Drury
The announcement at the
Vatican this past week that His
Eminence, Karol Cardinal
Wojtyla, Archbishop of Cracow in
Poland had been elected to the
papacy, brought mixed reactions
to several people. Some had been
misled by the guesses of the
media — others had been
convinced that an Italian was a
“must” because of the unrest in
Italy, particularly, on account of
the activities of the communists.
Many had considered the possi-
bility of a man from another
country but since four centuries
had passed without a non-italian
as head of the church, any change
now appeared remote.
When the announcement was
made, those in St. Peter’s Square
did not appear to understand but
as soon as the new pontiff, with
the name of John Paul II,
appeared on the balcony and
began lo address the vast throng
in Italian he was greeted with
great enthusiasm. The world is
delighted with this choice and, as
he himself has stated, his
selection only confirms the
universality of the church.
Pope John Paul II is a unique
person. He appears to have all
qualifications needed for the
papacy. He is well educated. But
above all, he has had an
abundance of pastoral
experience. Having lived all of
his life in Poland, he knows the
trails and the difficulties of his
countrymen who have withstood
every attempt to destroy their
Catholic faith. When he himself
found it necessary to defend his
flock against the onslaughts of
communism, he was always the
stalward leader and the good
shepherd. When he was denied
the right to construct a house of
worship for his people, he
gathered them in the open fields
where they raised their voices
and hearts in praise of God and in
honor of Mary for whom they
have a very special devotion.
Pope John Paul II believes and
understands the value of indivi-
dual freedom. I sat close to him,
the Tuesday evening of August
3rd in 1976, when he delivered a
powerful homily in English at an
open-air altar and in the presence
of thousands of worshippers who
were taking part in the 41st
International Eucharistic
Congress in Philadelphia.
The following are excerpts
from that homily: “Gathered
here as we are from all parts of
the world, it is only right that we
return to the Words with which
Jesus proclaims liberation for all
who are deprived of freedom.”
‘The spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
because He has anointed Me. He
has sent Me to announce the good
news to the poor, to proclaim
liberty for prisoners and
recovery of sight for the blind, to
let the broken victims go free to
proclaim the year of the Lord's
poor.’ The Holy Father conti-
nued: “We have a true vision of
the man of our times and we
speak truthfully of him, when,
while remembering the physical
hunger of millions of our brothers,
men of all continents, we speak
today of the hunger of the human
soul which is no less the hunger
for real freedom. This freedom is
the principal trait of humanity
and the source of human dignity.
“Freedom is offered to man
and imposed upon him as a task.
In the first place, it is an attitude
of the human person and, in this
sense, it is a gift of the Creator
and an endowment of human
nature. For this' reason, it is also
the lawful right of man; man has
a right to freedom; to self-
determination; to the choice of a
career; to acting according to his
own convictions. Freedom has
been given to man by his Creator
in order to be used, and to be used
well. But man may not abuse this
freedom, for as we know
perfectly well from sad experi-
ence, he can abuse his liberty. He
can do wrong because he is free.”
With such a clear understand-
ing of the true meaning and value
of human freedom, we can look to
this wonderful man, this leader of
seven million Catholics, as one
who will insist on extending to
every human being their God-
given human right which indeed
is the handmaid of human
freedom.
Our profound thanks to the
Holy Spirit for having guided the
Cardinals in their choice. Let us
support our new chief shepherd
with our love and our prayers!
Cathedral carnival
Pope John Paul II
inaugurated
mmm
by JEF.RY FILTEAIJ
VATICAN CITY (NC) — Pope John
Paul II officially opened his ministry
as pontiff Oct. 22 with a plea to
Christians: “Do not be afraid . . . Let
Christ speak to man ... He alone has
words of life, yes, of eternal life.”
A son of Poland and the first
non-Italian pope? ice 1523, Pope John
Paul compared himself to Peter,
called to Rome in obedience to Christ.
During the homily of his inaugural
Mass, he pledged to make his
pontificate one of service.
“Make me be a servant,” he prayed
to Christ. “Indeed, the servant of your
servants.”
The more than three-hour service in
St. Peter’s Square inaugurating the
ministry of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla as
Pope John Paul II, started inside the
basilica — out of the view of the
hundreds of dignitaries and the more
than 250,000 other people packed into
the square and overflowing into
nearby streets.
At 10 a.m. Rome time (4a.m. CDT),
the Sistine Choir began to sing “Veni
Creator Spiritus” (“Come Holy
Spirit”) as the new pope, elected six
days earlier, prayed at the tomb of
Peter beneath the basilica’s Altar of
the Confession.
Then 112 cardinals, preceded by
about two dozen ceremonial assis-
tants and deacons, filed out of St.
Peter’s, down the upper steps, and
across the large, ornate red and gold
carpet stretching from the upper
steps to the a!tar platform 50 feet
away.
Finally came Pope John Paul,
flanked by his two papal masters of
ceremonies and Cardinals Pericle
Felici and Silvio Oddi. The crowd
applauded vigorously as he walked
toward the altar. More than 300
bishops were seated on his right and
some 800 dignitaries representing
foreign nations were in the seats to his
left.
As he circled the altar before
kissing it, Pope John Paul waved to
the hundreds of thousands in the
square. The crowd included a large
delegation of Poles located near the
front to the left.
The pope returned from the large
altar to a chair atop the upper steps,
directly in front of the basilica’s
central door, which was draped in
crimson and featured a painting of
Christ cai '’g Peter to follow him.
As his predecessor John Paul I,
Pope John Paul II did not follow the
centuries-old tradition of being
crowned with the papal .iara.
After the last blessing, the new pope
went up and kissed the altar, then
circled it and moved down the steps
toward the barriers separating him
from the huge crowds in the square.
He went to his left where a dozen
handicapped people, including two
children, were seated in wheelchairs
during the Mass. He gave them a
special blessing.
Someone from a group dressed in
Polish costumes sitting just behind
the barriers, threw a bouquet of
flowers over the barricade. A young
I
Pope John Paul II
boy slipped through the barricade and
brought it to the pope. He took it and
gave the boy a hug and a pat on the
head.
“Viva el Papa!” (‘ ^ong live the
Pope”), changed the crowd as he
trailed the last of the cardinals into St.
Peter’s Basilica. The ceremony
inaugurating his ministry lasted three
hours and 12 minutes.
About 20 minutes later he re-
appeared at his window overlooking
the square and led those remaining in
reciting the Sunday Angelas.
And then he urged them to return
home, saying it was there lunchtime
“and the pope’s too.”
Pwice - lOc
texas gulf coast
CATHOLIC
Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Corpus Christi
Vol. XIV, No. 23
Friday, October 27,1978
Cathedral
celebra tes
125 years
The Corpus Christi Cathedral
parish, which is celebrating its 125th
anniversary, will hold a spaghetti
supper, auction and carnival from
12:30 to 5 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 29.
Serving time for the spaghei
dinner will be from 12:30 to 3 p.m.
Tickets, which cost $2.50 for adults
and $1.25 for children, may be
purchased from the Cathedral rectory
office at 620 Lipan or by calling
Margaret Gregory at 852-1966.
An auction will be held in the
Cathedral auditorium. A carnival will
be held for children of all ages on he
Ca thedral grounds.
Visiting archbishops, bishops and
priests from the Diocese of Corpus
Christi joined the Most Rev. Thomas
J. Drury Oct. 20 in celebrating a Mass
marking the 125th anniversary of the
Corpus Christi Cathedral parish.
Bishop Drury was the principal
celebrant. The bishops and arch-
bishops from various parts of the
Southwest were main concelebrants
along with the Rev. Msgr. William T.
Thompson, vicar general of the
diocese; the Rev. Richard Shirley,
pastor of the cathedral and chancellor
of the diocese; the Rev. Msgr. A.H.
Schmitt, former pastor of the parish;
the Very Rev. Thomas Meany,
Officialis; Rev. Leonard Pivonka,
assistant pastor; and former assistant
pastors at the parish.
Visiting clergy were concelebrants
and Rev. Thomas Feeney was deacon
of the Mass.
Rev. Richard Shirley delivered the
homily and spoke about ’he history of
the parish.
The Cathedral parish had its
beginnings as early as 1845 when
priests from Victoria visited the area,
caring for the needs of the early Irish
settlers and the Mexican-Americans
of the area. Mass was celebrated in
the homes of some of these families,
and the present Cathedral is built over
the land where some of those early
Masses were celebrated.
The parish of Corpus Christi
Cathedral had its first structured
beginnings in 1853 when it received its
first pastor, the Rev. Bernard
O’Reilly. The first baptismal records
go back to that year.
The first church was named for St.
Patrick because of the numerous Irish
settlers who formed the community.
It was a rough shell and mortar
structure and seated about 50 to 60
people. The history of the parish is
filled with stories of priests and
sisters who served the people,
teaching, visiting the sick and caring
for their spiritual needs.
In one instance during a fever
epidemic, both the pastor and
assistant died within two days of each
other after having spent weeks caring
for the sick.
In 1882 a new church was built to
serve the needs of the parish, and it
too was called St. Patrick’s, and in
1912, when the Diocese of Corpus
Christi was established, this new
church became the Cathedral.
But the growing needs of the parish
finally outgrew even this church, and
in 1940, a new Cathedral was
dedicated to the name of the Diocese.
The music for the Mass marking the
125 years of the parish was
coordinated by the Rev. Roger Smith,
assistant pastor of the Cathedral. The
Mariachi Choir from Ss. Cyril and
Methodius Church and the Cathedral
Choir provided music.
A banquet was held at La Quinta
Royde after the Mass.
The Most Rev. Thomas J. Drury was joined by visiting bishops, archbishops
and clergy ip eoncelebrating Mass for the 125th anniversary of the Cathedral
parish.
Bishops and archbishops from throughout the Southwest concelebrated
Mass with Bishop Drury. Pictured (left to right) are the Most Revs.
Fitzpatrick, Harris, Hastrich, Salatbu, Metzger, Beltran, L'e Falco and
Pena.
Diocesan dinner
Tremolada appointed diocesan
director of financial development
Sergio Tremolada recently was
appointed director of financial
development for the Diocese of
Corpus Christi.
His volunteer staffing respon-
sibility will be essentially the
direction of the existing steward-
ship program, GROW. He also
will be developing goals and
objectives for implementation of
living wills and bequests, in
addition to establishing a
“special gifts” division.
Prior to accepting the current
assignment in the diocese,
Tremolada has served in many
fund raising activity with the
American Red Cross and United
Way in the Los Angeles metro-
politan area. His most recent
activity in September was to
provide fund raising plans,
techniques and direction to a Red
Cross Chapter in the Southwest.
He also has been active in blood
donor recruitment for the
Sergio Tremolada
community.
Tremolada joined the Red
Cross in 1963 after retirement
from active service in the United
States Army. His career
embraced many overseas assign-
ments during which time as
commanding officer of petroleum
installations, he observed first
hand the dedicated and in-depth
service provided by both Red
Cross and the command
Chaplain.
The second annual diocesan
dinner, hosted by the Most Rev.
Thomas J. Drury, bishop of.
Corpus Christi Diocese, is
scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 9,
at La Quinta Royale in Corpus
Christi.
Cocktails will be served at 6:30
p.m. and dinner will begin at 7:30
p.m. The well-known Corpus
Christi Commodores will
perform.
Anyone who wishes to attend
the dinner may secure a
reservation by sending a check
for $50 (per person), payable to
Most Rev. Thomas J. Drury;
P.O. Box 6888; Corpus Christi,
Tex. 78411, before Nov. 3.
The dinner is given for the
benefit of the Diocese of Corpus
Christi and proceeds will be used
for the operating budgets of the
diocesan departments.
The first diocesan dinner was
arranged last year under the
sponsorship of the diocesan
development commission.
Dinners were given in Corpus
Christi and in Laredo.
Clergy appointments
His Excellency, the Most Rev. Thomas J. Drury, D.D., has made the
following appointment.
Effective Oct. 18, Rev. Ronald Livojevich, assistant pastor at St. Paul
the Apostle Church in Corpus Christi. Rev. Livojevich is also chaplain at the
Naval Air Station.
Rev. Rich rd Shirley, Chancellor.
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Freeman, Robert E. Texas Gulf Coast Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 14, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, October 27, 1978, newspaper, October 27, 1978; Corpus Christi, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth840480/m1/1/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .