DALLAS - The Catholic community is growing in the Dallas area by leaps and bounds.
It hasn't escaped the notice of the Vatican.
So today, for the first time in four decades, Dallas has official help to meet the needs of the faithful, in the form of two assistant bishops.
They are familiar faces, as long-serving heads, of their local parishes.
For Catholics, this is big news and a point of pride. For the rest of North Texas, it is yet another reminder, that the rest of the world is viewing Dallas as a major metropolitan area.
These two newly-appointed assistant bishops have been longtime priests in the Dallas area.
Bishop-elect, Mark Seitz, is currently the pastor of St. Rita Catholic Community in Dallas.
Rev. J. Douglas Deshotel served most recently as pastor of St. Monica Catholic Church, also in Dallas.
They are a measure of how much the Catholic community has grown in North Texas, from 212,000 in 1990, to 1,200,000 in 2010.
That growth has been attributed to more Hispanics moving to the area and a large number of Catholics from the northeast moving into Collin County.
Both bishops-elect said they are humbled and honored by their new appointments.
"It's a great blessing that the Holy Father recognizes how important the area of the State of Texas is here in the Dallas diocese," said Deshotel.
"Just as I pleaded for the Holy Father's prayers in my acceptance letter, pray that God has begun this good work in me, will bring it to fulfillment," said Seitz.
Seitz recently donated a kidney to a parishioner in need.
In their new positions as bishops, both men will be sharing their duties, which include overseeing social services, Catholic education, and the parish operations as a whole for the Catholic diocese of Dallas.
They are expected to be ordained next month in downtown Dallas.
E-mail: cvega@wfaa.com
