Most of the 29 diocesan Indian priests recently gathered at Our Lady of Guadulape Parish in Sinton Feb. 18 to celebrate Mass, enjoy lunch and a program in honor of Bishop Carmody and his long-time secretary Mary Sedberry.

Shortly after Bishop Carmody was installed as bishop of the Tyler Diocese, he began making pastoral visits to the small communities scattered throughout east Texas, where four percent of the population is Catholic.

He remembered the words of a woman he met at a parish luncheon: "No matter what you do or accomplish here in your diocese of Tyler, one thing we ask of you, never leave us without priests.

"It kind of haunted me," said Bishop Carmody, who took the words to heart.

Another visit to a town where there was a church, but no resident priest, left him with a similar request.

He was meeting with a group of lay representatives to discern the needs of their parish. The need was obvious to one of the women.

"As I talked about what we would do to administer to the parish there was this marvelous woman sitting at the table, and she said, "Bishop, we are a eucharistic people, bishop we want the Mass. We want a priest. We don't care whether the priest you send us speaks good English, bad English, or no English, we want the Mass."

"This was a marvelous cry and a marvelous expression of faith. So, with those two requests, I set out to recruit priests from all over this world," said the bishop, and he did from 15 different nations.

This tradition of recruiting international priests and women in consecrated life continued when Bishop Carmody came to the Diocese of Corpus Christi.

Most of the 29 diocesan priests from India recently gathered on Feb. 19 at Our Lady of Guadulape Parish in Sinton to celebrate Mass, enjoy lunch and a program in honor of Bishop Carmody and his long-time secretary Mary Sedberry. who worked on the official immigration paperwork for international priests here and in Tyler, where she also served as Bishop Carmody's secretary.

Our Lady of Guadalupe pastor, Father Shaji Varghesee, had requested the party be held there as he wished to thank each and everyone of his friends who had visited and prayed for him after he was brutally attacked by a parishioner at the church door last year.

Happily, he has fully recovered from the stabbing and slashed throat he suffered and is back at work as pastor. He had even cooked much of the delicious, spicy Indian food which was served. The program featured songs and skits, remembrances, and a special tribute to Mary Sedberry, whom the priests proclaimed "Mother of the Diocese" and "my best friend."

She was graciously thanked for all her work with them and the other international priests, especially with immigration regulations and required documents. As a token of their appreciation she was presented with an elegant golden shawl. In accepting the gift she thanked and assured them that each one was also her "best friend".

Father Victor Ponnuswamy, pastor at Mary, Mother of the Church Mission in Corpus Christi, spoke for all the Indian priests thanking the bishop for inviting them into the diocese.

"We are grateful for the welcome and support we have received," he said. He further detailed what he termed the "three C's" of Bishop Carmody's administration: Conviction, Courage and Concern.

"Not only did bringing in the international priests mark a change in direction for the diocese, it had literally touched every life in the diocese," he said.

In his response, Bishop Carmody thanked the Indian priests for their work, "Many of our small rural parishes would not be open today were it not for the work of these men: Ben Bolt, San Patricio, Sandia, and Vattman to name a few," he said.

"I visited most of those churches when I first came here and found them cold and lonely places, some were not well cared for without a resident priest. What you have done in those places is almost miraculous," Bishop Carmody said.

The Indian priests serve not only as pastors but also teach in schools and serve in pastoral care at hospitals. Some belong to orders such as the Missionaries of St. Thomas or are Jesuits. They bring a wide variety of skills and expertise to the diocese and in many places literally keep the church open and active for the Catholic community.

There are 45 international priests currently serving the Diocese, of that number 29 are from India, most of them are from Kerala, a state in southwest India.

Kerala is an ancient center for Christianity tracing its roots to the apostle Thomas who according to tradition arrived by boat in AD 52, made disciples and founded seven churches.

According to Father Philip Panackal. pastor of Our Lady of Refuge Parish in Refugio, there are three prominent Catholic rites in India: Syro-malankara (eastern), Syro-malabar (eastern) and the Latin rite church. The two eastern churches are in full accord with the Roman Catholic church, said the priest.

The New York Times recently did an article on Indian priests serving in the US. In it author Laurie Goodstein refers to "International Priests in America" a large study published in 2006 which estimates that one in six diocesan priests now serving in the U.S. came from abroad. About 300 international priests arrive to work in the U.S. each year.

Bishop Carmody has aslo welcomed many priests from other countries during his 10 years in the diocese. Many of them are natives of Colombia and Poland.

The cost of their immigration paperwork and the subsequent inculturation they have needed was greatly helped through funds brought in by the Bishop's Guild.

The Guild also made it possible to subsidize the cost of their living expenses at rural missions that would not commonly be able to afford a resident priest.