Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the first Texas resident elevated to the College of Cardinals, said today he would dutifully work to give Catholics in the southwest a strong voice in the Vatican."Pope Benedict XVI has recognized that the state of Texas is something crucial in understanding the dimensions of the Catholic dynamic presence in the world," he said during a luncheon hosted by Gov. Rick Perry.
DiNardo was bishop of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston and was elevated to the college Nov. 24. El Pasoans said he would bring to the Vatican much needed representation of the growing Hispanic Catholic population.
"It's long overdue," said Teresa Craig, a member of the Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church.
DiNardo is one of 201 cardinals in the Catholic Church.
Cardinals under age 80 elect the pope.
Cardinals also advise the pope and help govern the church.
In Texas, DiNardo said, there are about 7 million Catholics, and the church is growing quickly as more immigrants settle in the state and more Americans from other states move south.
That "rich mix" of cultures, he said, makes the southwest a dynamic region.
Rev. John Stowe, moderator of the curia at the Diocese of El Paso, said DiNardo's election reflects the shifting of the Catholic population from North to South, and the church's growing multicultural makeup.
"The American experience will be enhanced by his work in Rome," Stowe said.
Catholics in the southwest are different from other regions in that they focus more on putting family first, said Carlos Rubio, a deacon candidate at Our Lady of the Valley.
DiNardo, he said, can represent those values in his role at the Vatican.
"It does foster the church's idea of community because, as a whole, the church itself will become a more fuller community," Rubio said.
DiNardo said he has not yet received his assignments from the Vatican but he said moral issues that are important to him include abortion, education and immigration.
Upon returning recently from ceremonies in Rome, DiNardo said, he had received many letters, including one from a young student, who wrote, "Congratulations Cardinal. Now, get to work."
"That's what I'm going to have to do," he said.
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