Priests of the Archdiocese

Father Italo Dell’Oro, C.R.S., was ordained as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Friday, July 2 at 2 p.m. with Mass celebrated by Daniel Cardinal DiNardo and other invited bishops. Bishop Dell’Oro was appointed a bishop by Pope Francis on May 18.

Bishop Dell’Oro has served as a priest for almost 40 years, 30 of those in the local Archdiocese. Since 2015, he has served as Vicar for Clergy and the Secretariat Director for Clergy Formation and Chaplaincy Services. He was named Vicar General in 2021.

“In all of his years in Galveston-Houston, Bishop Dell'Oro has been a genuine, pastoral presence to the many people and cultures of our great region, along with being a mindful ambassador to the wonderful religious orders and communities in the area,” said Cardinal DiNardo, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston.

When Bishop Dell’Oro first arrived in Galveston-Houston in 1992, his initial assignment was as pastor of Assumption Church in Houston. Growing up in Valmadrera, Italy, the Somascan priest was an avid rock-climber and mountaineer during his teen years on the pristine countryside of Lake Como.

In 2001, he served as Director of Vocations for the Somascan Fathers in Houston before taking on the role of Formation Director in 2014. From 2005 to 2012, he also worked as Director of the Ministry to Priests for Galveston-Houston.

When reflecting on his call to the priesthood: “Although I always felt some sort of attraction to it, as I had for other career options, it was at 15 that the possibility of being ‘called’ dawned on me. A few young men in my home parish left home to enter the seminary, and that impacted me. However, I went on building my life until at 21 and 22 the ‘vocational restlessness’ grew to an unbearable level. I had to do something.”

Somasca, the place where St. Jerome Emiliani organized the first community of followers of the Somascan Order, is located approximately six miles from Bishop Dell’Oro’s hometown.

“Somasca is a place of pilgrimage, to which devotees to the saint come from the surrounding area — the most famous being the little boy Giuseppe Roncalli, now St. John XXIII,” he said. “I would bike with my cousins to Somasca … but I didn’t know about the Somascans as a boy. During my discernment, however, a very good friend of mine, one of those who had left home years earlier, became very persistent in telling me that I needed to make a decision about my vocation. He was with the Somascan Fathers. Well, in the end I knocked at that door and it opened.”

Bishop Dell’Oro is the eighth Auxiliary Bishop in the history of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.

Additional information and a link to view the livestream of the ordination is available on the Archdiocese’s website at www.archgh.org

Thriving in Rural Ministry is a retreat experience and follow-up for priests who serve in a rural setting. It is crafted to provide spiritual refreshment, rural ministry insights and support, individual leadership development, an expanded understanding of integral ecology, and fraternity with other priests serving rural communities.
The program is specifically designed to renew rural pastors and help revitalize their communities. It will create fraternal time and community space among Catholic priests, fostering a renewed vision of rural ministry vocation.
One of the trends we see in rural areas across the country is the increasing challenge for pastors covering multiple parishes over long distances. This trend has led to more pastors feeling more isolated and emotionally stretched. Pastors in rural communities, even those serving only one parish, have told us of their sense of isolation and their need for peer fellowship and fraternity to help them both overcome some of the unique challenges in pastoral ministry and to expand upon the many opportunities found in ministering in a rural setting.
CRL is creating a network of relationships with pastors serving rural communities who can encourage, sharpen and help one another.
Each retreat will include:
– Individual and communal prayer
– Best practices shared among other priests serving in rural ministry
– Presentations and workshops on known rural challenges and key priestly responsibilities
– Pre-retreat self-assessment tool
– Individual leadership development
– Fraternity with other priests serving rural communities
– Celebration of the sacraments
Retreats are four nights and five days and are hosted in a relaxing, retreat environment with 15-24 priests who either serve in a rural parish or anticipate doing so. Participants will be of various tenures and ages and will represent dioceses across the country.
After the retreat experience, each cohort will be invited to meet quarterly (via video conference) to discuss specific rural ministry issues. These virtual meetings will continue for one year following the retreat.
A generous grant from the Lilly has highly subsidized the cost of these first several retreats Endowment and other benefactors committed to rural Catholic culture. We ask for $280 to defray additional retreat expenses. Covered expenses include pre-retreat assessment tools, lodging, meals, materials, and participation in post-retreat virtual cohort meetings. Transportation to the retreat center is the responsibility of each priest (or his parish or diocese).

For a brochure containing more information, click HERE.

To download the Year of Grace 2019 document, click HERE.

To download the YEAR OF GRACE 2020 document, click HERE.

To download the REVISED YEAR OF GRACE 2021 document, click HERE.

The Office of Worship has published a Quick Guide to Wedding Masses on Fridays and Saturdays.  The hope is that whoever is responsible for helping the couples select the time and date for their wedding can be aware that the selection of an evening Mass time/ particular day is impacted by the rubrics.   Here is a quick reference guide as to whether the nuptial prayers and readings can be used.

Welcome to this website for the priests of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. The intent of this website is to become a place where our brother priests can find information to assist them in their priestly life and ministry. It can also be a place for the sharing of ideas and information to become more effective ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Please feel free to share your ideas and suggestions with the Ongoing Formation of Priests Committee. We can be reached by clicking HERE.

If you are looking for information on becoming a priest in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, please visit the Office of Vocations by clicking HERE.

To access the Archdiocesan Pastoral Manual, click here.

This document is the basic plan of ongoing formation for priests who count themselves among other believers but who also stand and serve in a unique way in the Church of Christ, conformed to Christ as his sacramental representatives in the presbyteral order. God invites them to transformation across their lifetime, and their formation is marked by constant elements at every stage of life. At the same time, there are specific formational challenges that emerge in particular seasons of their priestly ministry. Both the constant and the changing elements of formation are included in the basic plan.

For a complete copy of the Basic Plan for the Ongoing Formation of Priests, click HERE.