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NEWSLETTER
March, 2002

Texas Mission Council Holds Successful Conference
at the Oblate Renewal Center
San Antonio, Texas, February 11-13, 2002

When Mission Works
(excerpts from Rev. Ron Young’s talk)

From its very beginnings and the efforts of its earliest missionaries, the Church in Texas has been a missionary Church. As we look toward the future, it is very clear that this essential characteristic of the universal Church will remain a primary value of the local communities in Texas. 

The declaration of the Second Vatican Council that the universal Church is “missionary by its very nature” (Ad Gentes 2) implies that in every instance where the Church may be said to be present, it is present as a missionary church. Mission is always an identifying mark of that presence. 

A good modern example of when Mission works may be drawn from the rejuvenated missionary movement in nineteenth century France.

By gathering humble workers into small groups for catechetical education and collecting their pennies for the work of the missions, Pauline Jaricot was renewing the grass root Church in France and paying for the work of French missionary expansion, which took missionaries to the farthest ends of the earth. 

The encyclical of Pope Pius XII, On the Promotion of Catholic Mission, Evangelii Praecones of 1951 invites the various members of the Church to cooperate with one another in missionary activity. 

The benefits of missionary cooperation are many fold. First, a shared vision leads to coherence. This allows other participants to join in the missionary activity and clarifies the scope of that activity in such a way that its effectiveness may be measured. Second, cooperation builds the very trust that underlies a sincere communion of love in service. In itself, it becomes a sign of the Kingdom of God that is present in seed form in the life of the Church. Third, it provides a Christian witness, which always proclaims the gospel more effectively than words in any form can express. 

Over the space of the next few days we will have the opportunity to gaze upon the face of Jesus Christ expressed in the missionary out reach of the Church in Texas. We will witness a tremendous diversity of culture and concerns regarding the missionary enterprise.

What is consistent among all these committed groups and individuals is that they have, each one, accepted responsibility and taken action in the Lord’s name.

Most Rev. Raul Vera, D.D.,
Bishop of Saltillo

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Bishop Raul Vera told over one hundred delegates to the Texas Mission Conference in San Antonio that he wanted to be a witness of hope, instilling a spirit to his missionary and evangelizing task in the area south of the border of the United States. 

Using as a basis of his reflections Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter “Novo Millennio Ineunte”, Bishop Vera, ordinary of the Diocese of Saltillo pointed out that the Church of the third Millennium will need to encourage all the baptized and confirmed to be aware of their active responsibility in the Church’s life. We must revive in ourselves the burning conviction of Paul, who cried out: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel”.

This passion, Bishop Vera said, will not fail to stir in the Church a new sense of mission, which cannot be left to a group of specialists but must involve the responsibility of all the members of the People of God. Those who have come into genuine contact with Christ cannot keep him for themselves, they must proclaim him. A new apostolic outreach is needed, which will be lived as the everyday commitment of Christian communities and groups. This should be done however with the respect due to the different paths of different people and with the sensitivity to the diversity of cultures in which the Christian message must be planted, in such a way that the particular values of each people will not be rejected but purified and brought to their fullness. 

In the face of many negative factors that could sometimes lead to pessimism and discouragement, the Bishop said, the church continues forcefully proclaiming her hope for a better world, because Jesus has conquered evil and sin. The church cannot allow any ideology or political current to wrest from her the banner of justice, one of the first demands of the Gospel and the sign of the coming of God’s kingdom.


Bishop Raul Vera Lopez, O.P., Bishop of the Diocese of Satillo in northeastern Mexico, addressed the Texas Mission Council at its annual conference held in San Antonio from February 11 to 13, 2002 at the Oblate Conference Center.

Bishop Vera, 55, was previously coadjutor bishop in San Cristobal and had been expected to succeed Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia, who had been bishop there for 40 years. Ruiz submitted his letter of resignation to Pope John Paul II on his 75th birthday in November of 1999.

Rumors of diplomatic pressure by the Mexican government to have Bishop Vera removed from San Cristobal circulated throughout the country. However, Bishop Ruiz, in an open letter, said that forces outside the church were trying to influence the succession process to prevent Bishop Vera from becoming head of the Diocese of San Cristobal.

The Vatican said the Pope had considered the spiritual well-being of the people, and after prayer and consultation had decided that Bishop Vera’s sincere love for the church, his apostolic zeal and the willingness that Bishop Vera has always demonstrated made him the particularly ideal prelate for the important Diocese of Saltillo which borders on the United States. 

Bishop Vera served as bishop of Ciudad Altamirano, Guerrero, from 1988 to 1995. During this time an uprising by the indigenous-led Zapatista National Liberation Army began. When Vera was appointed to San Cristobal he became a popular figure in the indigenous communities that make up the great part of the diocese. While Ruiz worked to revive peace talks, Vera assumed many pastoral responsibilities and became a defender of the diocese’s pastoral work as well as the peace process.

Sister Cecilia Nguyen
addressing mission on Asia.

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