Immaculate Conception

Welcome to Immaculate Conception Parish

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church serves the small city of Taft, Texas, in San Patricio County, in the Diocese of Corpus Christi. The parish shares its priest with neighboring Holy Family Parish (702 McIntyre Ave., Taft), the other Catholic parish in town, and offers Mass in both English and Spanish. The parish community describes itself as a family-centered, bilingual Catholic community rooted in the traditional devotions of the Latin Rite.

Faith Formation & Religious Education

The parish runs CCD-style religious education preparing children and teens for the sacraments of initiation. The annual Confirmation cycle includes a Confirmation Retreat (held in early April) followed by the Confirmation Mass with the bishop, and First Holy Communion is celebrated each spring at the 10 AM Sunday Mass. Senior Graduation Mass for high-school graduates is held each year in early June, with graduates gathering in cap and gown in the Don Bosco Room before Mass.

• Confirmation Retreat and Confirmation Mass each spring
• First Holy Communion at the 10 AM Sunday Mass
• Senior Graduation Mass (early June)
• CCD / religious education updates shared via the parish Facebook page

Relic of St. José Sánchez Del Río

Immaculate Conception is the home parish of a first-class relic (bone fragment) of St. José Sánchez Del Río, the 14-year-old Mexican Cristero martyr canonized by Pope Francis on October 16, 2016. The relic was obtained in 2013 by parishioner Mary Ann González, who had prayed to Blessed José for courage before cancer surgery and promised to spread his story if she survived. With the support of then-pastor Father Jesús Francisco López and her husband Victor, González arranged for the relic to be brought from the parish of Santiago Apóstol in Sahuayo, Michoacán, México.

• Relic installed February 10, 2014, on the 86th anniversary of Blessed José's martyrdom
• Procession around the neighborhood with the Blessed Sacrament led by the parish Knights of Columbus Council
• Two-day canonization celebration Oct. 15–16, 2016, organized by Father Peter Stanley, joined by Resurrection Catholic Church (Alamo, TX) — 40 altar servers, parents and Father René Ángel bearing gifts of a chalice and paten
• Relic available for public veneration at the parish (parishioners and visiting pilgrims come to pray before it)

Parish Ministries & Organizations

Parish life centers on the sacraments, family catechesis and a small number of active lay organizations. The Knights of Columbus Council is closely tied to the parish's devotion to the Cristero martyr St. José, having led the 2014 relic installation because of the Order's historic link to the Cristero War (during which many Knights aided persecuted Catholics fleeing México for the United States). The Blessed Pierre Giorgio Youth Group ministers to parish teens and was active in the 2016 canonization celebration, hosting a dinner and an outdoor screening of "For Greater Glory."

• Knights of Columbus Council
• Blessed Pierre Giorgio Youth Group
• CCD / Catechism program
• Parish Altar Servers

Parish Staff & Clergy

Immaculate Conception and Holy Family in Taft are served by a single pastoral team. The Diocese of Corpus Christi clergy directory lists Rev. Peter (Pete) Stanley as Parochial Administrator and Rev. Peter Thenan as Parochial Vicar for both Taft parishes. Father Jesús Francisco López is named in diocesan coverage as the pastor who oversaw the arrival and installation of the relic of St. José Sánchez Del Río. Day-to-day contact is through the parish office (361-528-2626).

• Rev. Peter (Pete) Stanley — Parochial Administrator
• Rev. Peter Thenan — Parochial Vicar (also assigned to Holy Family, Taft)
• Parish office: (361) 528-2626 — 120 E. Escobedo St., Taft, TX 78390

Diocese of Corpus Christi

Immaculate Conception is a parish in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi, which covers the Coastal Bend of South Texas including the cities of Corpus Christi, Kingsville, Alice, Beeville, Rockport, Portland, Sinton, Taft and surrounding communities. The diocese is served by its own cathedral — Corpus Christi Cathedral — and is listed in the diocesan parish finder along with Immaculate Conception's sister parish in Taft, Holy Family.

• Jurisdiction: Diocese of Corpus Christi (Roman-Latin Rite)
• Listed in the Diocese of Corpus Christi Parish Finder
• Sister parish in Taft: Holy Family Parish (702 McIntyre Ave., Taft)