The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and the Redemptorist missionaries of the Denver Province today announced that the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston will assume leadership of Holy Ghost Parish in Houston in July of 2023. Allowing an entire year for the change in leadership is expected to ensure an orderly transition and minimal impact on the parish community and its thriving outreach programs.



Founded by the Redemptorists in 1946, Holy Ghost Parish has worked for many years to bring two cultural groups together: the historically Anglo community and a multicultural Hispanic community composed of people from Mexico and many Central and South American countries. In fact, Holy Ghost Parish has become a beacon in the Latino world for sacramental ministry.

Hundreds of children receive their First Communion at the parish every year, and approximately 150 people are confirmed in a typical year. Parish groups – Young Adult, Adolescent Youth and Family – animate the community and build solidarity. A dedicated group of parish volunteers is involved in several community outreach programs, such as a Food Bank that provides supplemental groceries to approximately 250 families every week.



“We are grateful for the Redemptorist vocations that were nurtured here, and for the tremendous love and support of this parish family for the past 76 years,” said Very Rev. Stephen Rehrauer, C.Ss.R., Provincial Superior of the Denver Province. “An aging membership and a shortage of new vocations require us to continually reassess how we can best respond to meet the needs of the poor and abandoned. As part of a major worldwide restructuring of the entire Congregation, the Denver Province is merging with other Redemptorist Provinces in North America and Mexico. Leadership has discerned a call to focus more specifically on evangelical outreach to young adults, immigrants, and those who do not participate in a church.

“We will work diligently with Cardinal DiNardo to assure a smooth transition, and are confident that the spirit of Holy Ghost Parish that we have nourished and sustained these many years will continue to flourish under new leadership. We are grateful to have served with a faith community so committed to loving and serving the People of God.”



The Redemptorists are a religious congregation of Catholic priests and Brothers founded in 1732 by St. Alphonsus Liguori in Naples, Italy. Approximately 4,200 Redemptorists are currently working for the poor and most abandoned in nearly every part of the world. More than 130 Redemptorist priests, Brothers and students represent the Denver Province in the United States.
 
On June 23, 1946, Father John Bauer became the superior of the newly established Holy Ghost Parish in Houston, Texas – a parish without land or church. Father Bauer initiated the planning for the new parish alone, boarding in a private home, and holding weekday Masses at St. Anne’s Parish and Sunday Masses at the Bellaire City Hall Council Chamber, while he searched for land to purchase. By the end of July, Father Bauer had located and purchased land in Houston adjacent to the suburb of Bellaire for both the church and the Redemptorist rectory.



By November of 1946, Father Bauer had been joined by Father Arthur Patton and Father John Zimmer. Weekday Masses moved temporarily to the house chapel and beginning on December 25, 1946, Sunday Masses were held in the chapel of the nearby Sisters of the Incarnate Word.

The Redemptorist community was officially erected on January 29, 1947. Only two months later, the first parish fair was held to begin raising funds to pay down debt and build a church. The Altar Society and the Holy Name Society were initiated early and took part in fundraising efforts. In April of 1948, Father Bauer purchased three old army barracks to be salvaged and reused for a church, school and parish hall on the parish grounds. Unfortunately, Father Bauer died on September 8, 1948 and Father Patton, who had recently transferred away, returned as local superior and pastor. He oversaw the opening of the new school less than a month later, on October 1, 1948. The Sisters of the Holy Ghost supervised the school as well as the catechism classes for public school children.

As Houston and Bellaire expanded, more affluent families moved into the area, bringing the financial support needed to hold a building program for the parish in the 1950s and early 1960s. The first permanent structure on the parish grounds was a wing of the school constructed in 1951. By 1956 the final wing of the school was completed, and construction began on the convent for the sisters and a rectory for the fathers. At the start of 1957, the parish began a fundraising campaign to build a permanent church. From the initial Mass in 1946 with 65 parishioners, the parish grew to include 1050 families in 1956.

By 1962, the parish had grown so large that the decision was made to split it in half and create a new parish. That same year the Redemptorists gave up ministering at St. Anne mission station in Tomball, Texas, which had been under their care since 1952. Despite the decrease in church and school attendance that resulted from the division of the parish, Holy Ghost Parish continued its plans to build a permanent church. Parishioner numbers began to increase again, and the new church was dedicated on June 19, 1963.



During the 1960s and 1970s, the Redemptorists initiated several new ministries, including ministry to the deaf, and incorporated more lay participation in liturgies. Despite increasing parish numbers, school enrollment declined. A new community center was constructed and opened in May of 1971, coinciding with the silver anniversary celebration of the founding of the parish.

Starting in the 1970s and into the 1980s, an apartment building program in the area shifted the demographics of the neighborhood. The parish welcomed new Black and Hispanic members, which led to the addition of Spanish language Masses and ministry focused on the Spanish-speaking community.