CNA Staff, May 18, 2021 / 05:10 am
Pope Francis on Tuesday named an Italian-born Somascan priest as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
The pope appointed Fr. Italo Dell’Oro, C.R.S., on May 18 to the post in the archdiocese that serves more than 1.7 million Catholics in 146 parishes across 10 counties in southeastern Texas.
The 67-year-old bishop-elect was born in 1953 in Malgrate, northern Italy. Growing up in the town of Valmadrera, situated on Lake Como, he was a keen rock climber and mountaineer.
When he arrived in Texas in 1992 to serve as pastor of Assumption Church in Houston, he hoped to continue his high-altitude adventures, unaware of the local geography.