Resignation of Cardinal Daniel DiNardo

WASHINGTON – Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, 75, from the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, and has appointed Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin, as his successor.

The resignation and appointment were publicized in Washington, D.C. on January 20, 2025, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston is comprised of 8,880 square miles in the State of Texas and has a total population of 7,562,448 of which 1,700,000, are Catholic.

In an early-morning announcement, the Vatican on Monday said Pope Francis had accepted the resignation of Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, the metropolitan archbishop of Galveston-Houston for more than 19 years and pastor to more than two million Catholics in the region. 

DiNardo, now 75, is the standard retirement age of Catholic bishops. The Vatican did not explain the reason for the cardinal's resignation but canon law—the governing law of the Roman Catholic Church—requires all bishops to submit their resignations to the Pope at age 75. DiNardo will have the right to vote for the next pope until he turns 80 and he maintains his lifetime appointment as a Catholic cardinal.

The statement also noted that the Pope appointed 67-year-old Austin Bishop Joe Vásquez to become the next archbishop of Galveston-Houston. Vásquez, who served as an auxiliary bishop for the Houston area from 2002 to 2010, is returning to the region that includes about 435 priests in 146 parishes and 54 private schools. Mass is celebrated in 14 different languages across southeast Texas.

Roughly 8.5 million Catholics live in Texas, about 30 percent of the state's population, according to the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops. There exist 13 dioceses and two archdioceses in Galveston-Houston and San Antonio.  

DiNardo became a bishop in the Galveston-Houston archdiocese in 2004, and succeeded the late Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza in 2006. DiNardo was named a cardinal in 2007 under Pope Benedict XVI. In 2013, Dinardo was elected Vice President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for a three-year term and then served as president from 2016 to 2019. He's on the board of trustees at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

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