The Diocese of Corpus Christi has appointed a new leader, as Pope Leo XIV has appointed a new head of the Corpus Christi Catholic Church.<\/p>\n
According to an announcement from the Diocese of Corpus Christi on Dec. 1,\u00a0 Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Mario A. Avil\u00e9s as the new Bishop of Corpus Christi.<\/p>\n
The diocese of Corpus Christi includes San Patricio, Aransas, Bee, Refugio, Nueces, Jim Wells, and Live Oak counties among others.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe invite everyone to join us in prayer as we welcome our new pastor and give thanks to God for this moment of grace in the life of our diocese,\u201d the Diocese of Corpus Christi said in a statement.<\/p>\n
According to the Diocese of Corpus Christi, Avil\u00e9s comes to Corpus Christi after having served as Auxiliary Bishop for the Diocese of Brownsville since being consecrated in February 2018, at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle \u2013 National Shrine in San Juan, Texas. He will be the ninth Bishop of Corpus Christi.<\/p>\n
The Diocese of Corpus Christi said Avil\u00e9s\u2019 studies for the priesthood began in Mexico City, and he would eventually earn a bachelor\u2019s degree in philosophy and sacred theology from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum.<\/p>\n
He was ordained to the priesthood in July 1998, according to the Diocese of Corpus Christi,\u00a0<\/p>\n
Avil\u00e9s was appointed pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Hidalgo in 2002, the Diocese said, and also served as a member of the Permanent Deputation of the Confederation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri from 2000-2012 before being elected Procurator General in 2012.<\/p>\n
A press release from the Diocese of Corpus Christi said Avil\u00e9s has no specific plan for the Diocese of Corpus Christi other than serving his congregants where they\u2019re at.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to get to know you and hear about your joys and sorrows,\u201d he said in a press release. \u201c\u2026. \u201cI have no grand program, but a heart full of love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Avil\u00e9s is replacing Bishop Michael Mulvey, who served as the Bishop of Corpus Christi for more than 10 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe offer our deep gratitude to the Most Reverend Michael Mulvey for more than a decade of faithful service,\u201d the Diocese said in a statement posted to social media. \u201cAs we prepare for Bishop Avil\u00e9s\u2019 installation, please keep him in your prayers as he begins this new ministry, and continue to pray for Bishop Mulvey as he enters retirement while remaining a valued part of our diocesan family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Avil\u00e9s will be officially installed on Jan. 28, 2026, according to the Diocese of Corpus Christi.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe invite everyone to join us in prayer as we welcome our new pastor and give thanks to God for this moment of grace in the life of our diocese,\u201d the Diocese said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Diocese of Corpus Christi has appointed a new leader, as Pope Leo XIV has appointed a new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[37566,155,157,156,223,37567,16197,37565,37568],"class_list":{"0":"post-76387","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-corpus-christi","8":"tag-beeville_bee_picayune","9":"tag-corpus-christi","10":"tag-corpus-christi-headlines","11":"tag-corpus-christi-news","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-refugio_county_press","14":"tag-rockport_pilot","15":"tag-san_patricio_county","16":"tag-the_progress"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}