Social Justice and Life
Answering the call to serve those in need, our ministries dedicated to Social Justice and Life bring aid to the disadvantaged and to all those who seek God's healing grace.
Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world is a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel. These ministries take this essential Christian doctrine into all dimensions of Archdiocesan life.
Please click on the links below for more details on these ministries of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
Aging Ministry
The Office of Aging Ministry recognizes the gifts and needs of senior adults and responds with resources and programs to enhance these years of their lives. Through ongoing activities, we serve as a resource to parishes in the area of senior adult ministry.
Angela House
The mission of Angela House is to provide, with sensitivity to the unique needs of women after incarceration, a safe place where they can live, grow and become the kind of person they want to be. Founded in 2001, this transitional, residential facility serves women upon their immediate release from prison.
Catholic Charities
Catholic Charities is the primary social service agency of the Archdiocese. Catholic Charities operates 15 social service programs in the areas of Community Services; Specialized Children's Services; Housing Programs; Refugee Resettlement; and Parish Relations and Advocacy.
Catholic Chaplain Corps
The Catholic Chaplain Corps provides Roman Catholic sacramental and pastoral care to patients, families, and staff of the hospitals and institutions within the Texas Medical Center, Houston, and other select hospitals in Houston.
Correctional Ministries
The Correctional Ministries Department coordinates pastoral care to the nearly 60,000 men and women who are incarcerated in the federal facility, 26 state prison units, and 10 county jails within the boundaries of the Archdiocese. Priests, deacons, and laypersons also minister to those victimized by crime and violence.
Secretariat for Social Concerns
The Office of Justice and Peace promotes the social mission of the Church and facilitates opportunities for the Catholics to act on the social teachings of the Church by organizing social action networks in parishes throughout the Archdiocese. The Office also implements the mission of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the U.S. Bishops' domestic anti-poverty campaign.
Mission Office
The Mission Office promotes mission awareness among the people of the Archdiocese and collects funds for the support of the missions. The Office represents the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Holy Childhood Association, and Catholic Relief Services, which is the international arm of the Catholic Church in the U.S.
CHRISTUS Our Daily Bread
CHRISTUS Our Daily Bread, centered in Galveston, provides guidance and structure to clients who are homeless, assisting them as they develop a plan of action to break the cycles of addiction and despair, provides services to women, men, and children who are homeless.
Port Chaplaincy
The Apostleship of the Sea, or Port Chaplaincy, is responsible for the sacramental and pastoral care of the Catholic seafarers from around the world who enter the ports in our Archdiocese. There are port chaplaincy centers in Galveston, Barbour's Cut, and the Port of Houston.
Office of Pro-Life Activities
The Office of Pro-Life Activities sponsors programs in pastoral care, education, and public policy, and legislative change to bring about a conversion of heart and mind for a true appreciation for God's gift of life from conception to natural death.
San José Clinic
Founded in 1922, San José Clinic is one of the oldest charity clinics still in operation in the United States, providing quality health care and health education to low-income, uninsured individuals, and families. Supported by volunteer health care providers, the Clinic offers medical, dental, and optometry services, as well as lab work and prescription medications at no additional cost to patients.
Special Youth Services
Special Youth Services promotes and coordinates pastoral outreach to at-risk youth and their families. It also provides pastoral care to youth remanded to juvenile detention centers and placement facilities within the Archdiocese.
Society of St. Vincent de Paul
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a Catholic lay organization, leads women and men to join together to grow spiritually by offering person-to-person service to the needy and suffering in the tradition of its founder, Blessed Frederic Ozanam, and patron, St. Vincent de Paul.