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Today we honor the brave men and women who have served our nation with faithful courage. May we hold their pain and wounds in sacred trust knowing they are living witnesses of their commitment and sacrifice to defend our country.

It has been a blessed month since my installation, and I write with a heart full of gratitude and joy as I begin my ministry as Bishop of Austin. From the moment of my appointment, I have felt your prayers, support, and warm welcome and am deeply moved by the faith and generosity of the people of this diocese.

As I begin my service as the Bishop of Austin, I am humbled by the faith and generosity I have witnessed in our diocese. In that spirit, I invite you to participate in the upcoming Catholic Services Appeal (CSA), which begins the weekend of October 25-26. Your prayers and financial support are vital for providing programs and services to thousands of people across Central Texas.

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!

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.

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.

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.

With profound thanksgiving and gratitude, the Diocese of Austin announces that on Wednesday July 2, 2025, our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, named the Most Reverend Daniel E. Garcia the 6th Bishop of the Diocese of Austin.

Today, we celebrate Juneteenth, also known as “Freedom Day,” — marking a pivotal moment in our nation’s history 160 years ago, when enslaved people in Texas learned they had been freed, two years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. While the news was painfully delayed, the impact was monumental.

This Sunday, we celebrate Father’s Day—a special time to give thanks for all fathers, those still with us and those who have gone to the Lord.

June brings us to a beautiful place on our faith journey, with three liturgical celebrations that offer rich theological insights into the presence of God in our lives... the Ascension of the Lord, Pentecost and the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.

Tomorrow, we celebrate Mother’s Day; a day to give thanks to God for all mothers, those who continue to care for us and mothers who have passed from this life into God. We also give thanks to God for mothers of adopted children and those who stand-in for mothers when we need to know the kindness and presence of a mother.

Our hearts are filled with joy and gratitude for our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV. In God’s good providence and with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Cardinals have provided the Church with a new shepherd. We ask God to fill him with grace and wisdom to sanctify the Church in unity, teach with truth and mercy, and lead us to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ by our lives.