SAN ANTONIO ARCHDIOCESE

San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller has granted Catholics a dispensation from abstaining of eating meat on Friday, March 18.

SAN ANTONIO – The distribution of ashes will be different this Ash Wednesday in San Antonio Archdiocese churches due to COVID-19. Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller is directing all parishes in the archdiocese to follow the new guidelines this year, as per Pope Francis. Sprinkling ashes on the top of people’s heads, rather than marking foreheads with ashes, is the customary practice at the Vatican and in Italy. Due to the pandemic, parishioners are asked to check with their churches for a schedule of services, as it may be different from previous years. Ash Wednesday will be marked on Feb. 17 and is the start of the Lenten season that leads to Easter Sunday.

SAN ANTONIO – A man armed with a baseball bat damaged five glass doors and an outdoor crucifix Thursday night at the San Antonio Archdiocese Assumption Seminary, officials said. A man armed with a baseball bat damaged five glass doors and an outdoor crucifix at the San Antonio Archdiocese Assumption Seminary. (KSAT)In addition to the shattered doors, a jersey was found around the head of the crucifix and one of the feet was broken. “First and foremost, all of our seminarians and all the people at the seminary are safe,” seminary rector Father Hy Nguyen said. “We ask for your prayers for this misguided person, and for the safety of the Assumption community.”Police are investigating.

SAN ANTONIO – After the COVID-19 pandemic forced all schools to close early in March, St. Jose del Rio Catholic School quickly realized it was time to try something new. The decision was made to turn the school into a microschool for the upcoming school year. This will be the first Catholic School in Central and South Texas to adopt this new model of learning. Superintendent of Catholic Schools addresses families on school reopening planThe new model has blended studios (classrooms) that follow a Socratic dialogue, E-Learning, and project-based learning. If proven to be successful it’s a model that may spread to more Catholic schools in the San Antonio Archdiocese system.

SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Archdiocese has removed the pastor of a Catholic church in Helotes after two people accused him of sexual misconduct. According to a letter dated April 30 from the archdiocese that was sent to parishioners, Monsignor Carlos Davalos sent two sexually inappropriate text messages to an adult parishioner earlier this year. Five days after the allegation, the archdiocese was informed that Davalos had addressed sexually inappropriate comments and questions to a minor. In addition to removing him as pastor, the archdiocese removed Davalos’ faculties to minister in the archdiocese. Archdiocese Letter by David Ibanez on ScribdThe San Antonio chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests credited the archdiocese for removing Davalos, but said it should not be involved in the investigation.

SAN ANTONIO - UPDATE: Archbishop Gustavo Garca-Siller released a statement Tuesday evening apologizing for singling out President Donald Trump, but remaining steadfast that racism and violence must be rooted out of society. "I regret that my recent Tweet remarks were not focused on the issues but on an individual," he wrote in a two-page statement sent to KSAT.com and posted on several of the San Antonio Archdioceses online platforms. Hours before the statement, the archbishop had deleted the tweets that directly referenced the president. President stop hate and racism, starting with yourself,a tweet sent from Archbishop Gustavo Garca-Siller's account at 8 p.m. Monday reads. Stop, stop, stop.

The leader of the San Antonio Archdiocese, one of the top two Catholic leaders in Texas, called out racism, violence and President Donald Trump in a rash of tweets sent from his account Monday night. Copyright 2019 by KSAT - All rights reserved.

Close to 1,000 school principals, pastors, teachers and administrators gather for a special Mass during the annual back-to-school convocation for the San Antonio Archdiocese.

SAN ANTONIO – A report on child sexual abuse in the San Antonio Archdiocese released Thursday named 55 clergy members who have been credibly accused of sexually assaulting a minor. According to the report, the most recent names appeared between 2000-2009 and as far back as 1940-1949. The bishops' decision to release the names is part of an ongoing effort by the church to protect children from sexual abuse. Patti Koo, San Antonio chapter leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said Wednesday that the release of the report is important to the victims. Garcia-Siller said that releasing the report "does not bring an end to this work; it will continue.