In Corpus, Mulvey's "Fiat"

In the last such rite these shores'll see before Holy Week -- but, indeed, the first Lone Star Country's booming province has witnessed in almost a decade -- Annunciation Day brings the ordination and installation of the final nominee of the "Texas Triangle": Bishop-elect Michael Mulvey of Corpus Christi.

From the celebrated cathedral on the bayside bluff which shares its name with the lone city anywhere named for the Body of Christ, the 2pm Central (1900GMT) rites will be livestreamed via the Corpus diocese's site.

A priest of Austin -- and until the recent installation of Bishop Joe Vasquez, the capital see's administrator -- the 60 year-old nominee becomes the ninth member of his seminary class to receive the high-hat... but even more notably, the first American of the Focolare movement made a bishop on these shores. Along these lines, several other sons and daughters of Chiara Lubich have converged on Corpus, including members of the community's general council from Rome.

While the customary Solemn Vespers was held tonight in Corpus Christi Cathedral to welcome the 400,000-member diocese's tenth ordinary, Mulvey inherits both great goodwill and a tall order given the legacy of his predecessor, Bishop Edmond Carmody, whose retirement has sparked an unusual degree of affectionate expression in the hometown press.

A native of Ireland who's headed the South Texas church since 2000 (and memorably been made a bobblehead along the way), Carmody's taking up residence in a "garage apartment" adjacent to the ordinary's digs, and -- his certifications in social studies, Spanish, theology and history still intact -- plans to substitute teach and aid in campus ministry at a local diocesan high school.

PHOTO: Michael Zamora/Corpus Christi Caller-Times

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