The shield is ensigned with external elements that identify the bearer as a bishop. A gold processional cross, known as the Jerusalem cross, appears behind and above the shield. The galero, or "pilgrim's hat," is used heraldically in various colors and with specific numbers of tassels to indicate the rank of a bearer of a coat of arms. A bishop uses a green galero with three rows of green tassels on each side totaling 12.

Bishop Daniel E. Garcia delivers the homily at St. Mary Cathedral.

On behalf of the several million people, including 700,000 Catholics, who live in the 25 counties of the Diocese of Austin, welcome home, Bishop Daniel Garcia!

Bishop Daniel E. Garcia delivers the homily on the occasion of his installation as the sixth bishop of Austin, which took place at St. William Parish in Round Rock.

Our new shepherd has long lived by the words of his episcopal motto “Walk humbly with God,” a guiding principle he embraced even before his priestly ordination in 1988.

With great joy and gratitude for God’s good providence, tomorrow we begin two days of liturgies and celebrations marking the arrival of Bishop Daniel E. Garcia as the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Austin.

Once again, our nation has experienced the tragic loss of life in a most dramatic way. As we continue to mourn the death of innocent children at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, we now see the evil of violence taking the life of a participant in the public square and the chaos of violence inflicted on school children in Colorado.

“Daniel called me on a Tuesday and said, ‘I have to fly into Austin tomorrow. Can I stay at your house?’” Lydia Garcia, sister of Bishop Daniel Garcia, lives in North Austin. She thought it was weird that her brother who lived in Monterey, California, suddenly needed to come to Texas.

With deep sadness and fraternal concern for the families and staff of Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis at the news of today’s shooting, I ask that each of us across the Diocese of Austin meet our brothers and sisters of Annunciation School in our thoughts and prayers today, and in the coming weeks.

Pope Leo appoints Thibault Verny, Archbishop of Chambéry and Bishop of Maurienne and Tarentaise to succeed Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley as the president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. In France, Archbishop Verny was responsible for the fight against child abuse within the Episcopal Conference.

Al celebrar el Día de la Independencia, alabamos a Dios por la libertad que disfrutamos en esta nación. Que siempre rindamos el debido homenaje a las libertades aseguradas por innumerables personas que nos han precedido, y a la verdadera libertad que nos ganó Cristo en la cruz. También tenemos presentes en nuestros pensamientos y oraciones a aquellos en nuestro mundo para quienes la libertad sigue siendo una aspiración incumplida y especialmente para aquellos para quienes la libertad religiosa no es posible donde viven.

As we celebrate Independence Day, we praise God for the freedom we enjoy in this nation. May we always give due honor for the liberties secured by countless others who have come before—and for the true freedom won for us by Christ on the cross. We also hold in our thoughts and prayers those in our world for whom freedom remains an unfulfilled aspiration and especially for those for whom the freedom of religion is not possible where they live.