MARCH 24, 2026 • ARCHGH.ORG/TCH
ONE YEAR ON
Archbishop Vásquez reflects on the first year of his episcopate ▪ SEE PAGE 2
MARCH 24, 2026
texas catholic herald 1
LIFE IS WORTH LIVING Vatican approves Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s beatification ▪ SEE PAGE 15
Proclaiming the Good News to the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston since 1964
A SIGN OF FAITH
VOL. 62, NO. 19
SPIRITUALITY
What Palm Sunday means BY D.D. EMMONS Special to the Herald GALVESTON (OSV News) — It is a time of despair, perplexity and contradiction. The very people who applaud Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem that morning, shouting out “Hosanna” and words of adoration, will, within a week, be crying, “Crucify Him.” They will go from acclaiming Him as the new King of Israel to urging His life be traded in favor of a convicted criminal; they will first praise Him and then mock Him. Even friends entering Jerusalem at His side will desert Jesus. All this discord will take place during one week beginning on what we call Palm Sunday, which falls on March 29 this year. As we read in the Gospels, Jesus went to
HOLY WEEK PREVIEW
PAUL HARING/CNS PHOTO
See PALM SUNDAY, page 5
Pope Francis touches the case holding the Shroud of Turin after praying before the cloth in 2015 at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy.
MINISTRY
WHO IS THIS MAN OF THE SHROUD? Justice and faith
Upcoming Shroud of Turin talk, exhibit spotlights major artifact of faith
New SVdP conference forms to fight local issues
Texas Catholic Herald HOUSTON — A mysterious linen cloth believed by many Christians to be the burial shroud of Jesus Christ will be the focus of a public lecture and temporary exhibit at the University of St. Thomas later this month, offering Catholics a chance to explore one of Christianity’s most studied and debated relics as Holy Week begins. Father Andrew Dalton, LC, an international speaker and scholar on the Shroud of Turin, will present “Who is the Man of the Shroud?” at 7 p.m. March 30 in Jones Hall on the university’s campus, located at 3800 Montrose Blvd. in Houston. The lecture coincides with Holy Week and will be paired with a traveling exhibit organized by Othonia, a global nonprofit dedicated to education and research related to the shroud. The event is free and open to the public. The exhibit will be open throughout the day on March 30 in Doherty Library
EMBRACING LENT
See SHROUD, page 4
A SHEPHERD’S MESSAGE † 2
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in Sunnyside
HERALD FILE PHOTO
At center, Father Andrew Dalton, LC, discusses the Shroud of Turin with (left) Amy Auzenne, Archdiocesan director of the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis, and (right) Jim Barrette, Archdiocesan secretariat director of Pastoral and Educational Ministries, at a 2022 preview exhibit of the Shroud of Turin at the National Museum of Funeral History. Father Dalton will present on the Shroud of Turin at the University of St. Thomas on March 30.
COLUMNISTS † 12 - 13
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ESPAÑOL † 17
SUNNYSIDE — On Feb. 28, Catholics from across the Archdiocese met in Sunnyside at St. Francis Xavier Parish to commission its newly reestablished St. Vincent de Paul Society (SVdP) conference. The commissioning marked the launch of a new parish initiative to provide emergency housing and utility assistance to neighbors in this rapidly gentrifying community, located in south Houston. The commissioning service took place during the parish’s 5 p.m. Mass, representing a significant step in St. Francis Xavier’s expanding commitment to the surrounding historically Black, under-resourced neighborhood. As See FRANCIS XAVIER, page 6
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