The Hermanamiento between two dioceses in Honduras and two dioceses in Texas is celebrating its 25^th anniversary! The word “hermanamiento” means “sisterhood.” Think of “sister cities” for example, which develop a partnership and have reciprocal visits that support and encourage one another.

Shortly after Hurricane Mitch (1998) devastated much of Honduras, the fourteen bishops of Texas dioceses engaged in this partnership with the seven bishops of dioceses in Honduras. Two Texas dioceses were paired with one Honduran diocese. A team from Catholic Relief Services held workshops and facilitated a process that led to signing covenants with one another.

At a meeting held in San Angelo, the covenant was signed by Bishop Michael Pfeifer and Bishop Angel Garachana (San Pedro Sula, Honduras) on Sept. 11, 2001. It would also be signed a couple of days later by Bishop Alvaro Corrado del Rio, SJ, of Tyler. The Hermanamiento was a moment of hope and love in international relations, on a day that was otherwise filled with horror and grief in the USA.

The territory of the Diocese of San Pedro Sula was divided recently. It has now become the Archdiocese of San Pedro Sula and the Diocese of La Ceiba. So, there are now four dioceses in our group.

At the diocesan level, assemblies of the diocesan teams have met annually to keep the partnership going and to establish partnerships between parishes and university students. The Diocese of San Angelo also takes up an annual collection in all its parishes on the third Sunday of July each year to send to Honduran dioceses and parishes.

At the parish level, parishes are partnered with one another. Small parish groups begin to visit one another and then find ways of mutual support in evangelization and other parish ministries. The parishes of St. Ann in Midland, St. Joseph/St. Anthony in Odessa, St. Mary in Odessa, and Sacred Heart Cathedral in San Angelo currently have partnerships.

Some priests have spent time in Honduras: Father David Herrera to work in Cofradia for almost a year; Father Francis Njoku to study Spanish there; and others on personal visits. Father Carlos Felipe Rodriguez, a priest of the Diocese of La Ceiba, is currently on assignment in the Diocese of San Angelo, serving in Ozona and Sheffield.

Another fruit of this relationship has been the development of the San Rafael Medical Missions for the past two summers, which have worked in the Diocese of La Ceiba.

During the Assembly of the Hermanamiento in the Diocese of Tyler at the end of July, the four bishops in the partnership signed a covenant agreeing to continue in the relationship. They are Bishop Gregory Kelly (Tyler), Archbishop Michael Lenihan, OFM (San Pedro Sula), Bishop Jenrry Johel Velásquez Hernández (La Ceiba), and Bishop Michael Sis (San Angelo).

Any parish which might want to learn more and perhaps develop a mission relationship with a Honduran parish may contact Leonor Spencer, chair of the Diocesan Mission Council, at St. Ann in Midland, or contact Msgr. Larry Droll, pastor at Sacred Heart Cathedral in San Angelo.
 
The 25^th anniversary will be celebrated by Holy Mass, offered by Bishop Michael Sis at Sacred Heart Cathedral in San Angelo at 12:10 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. All are welcome to attend. We will also recall, of course, the tragedy of 9/11 and pray for peace!