About Sacred Heart · Escobares, Texas
Sacred Heart Catholic Church (Sagrado Corazón de Jesús) is a Roman Catholic parish serving the small community of Escobares in Starr County, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley near the Mexican border. It is one of the parishes of the Diocese of Brownsville and has been listed by the diocese as having been established in 1967. The parish is administered by Rev. Miguel Angel Fernandez Ceja (Parish Administrator, effective June 1, 2021) and conducts its liturgical life primarily in Spanish, reflecting the bilingual and largely Hispanic character of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Its mailing address is in nearby Roma, and it is listed in the diocesan parish finder at 4987 Old Escobares Hwy. 83.
- Established
- 1967
- Patron
- Sacred Heart of Jesus (Sagrado Corazón de Jesús)
- Rector
- Rev. Miguel Angel Fernandez Ceja (Parish Administrator, effective 06/01/2021)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Brownsville
Why belong here
Sacred Heart in Escobares offers a tight-knit, Spanish-speaking Catholic community in the rural Rio Grande Valley, with multiple Masses every weekend (Saturday evening and two on Sunday) and weekday Masses on Wednesday and Friday. As part of the Diocese of Brownsville, it connects local families in Escobares and Roma to the wider sacramental and pastoral life of the Church along the Texas–Mexico border.
Mass times at Sacred Heart
Weekly Mass schedule
About Sacred Heart, Escobares
Sacred Heart Catholic Church (Sagrado Corazón de Jesús) is a small parish in the community of Escobares, Texas, in Starr County along the Rio Grande. It belongs to the Diocese of Brownsville, the Latin-rite diocese that covers the four-county Lower Rio Grande Valley and is one of the fastest-growing Catholic areas in the United States. The parish was established in 1967 and serves a predominantly Spanish-speaking community. Its current Parish Administrator is Rev. Miguel Angel Fernandez Ceja, assigned effective June 1, 2021.
History & Founding
According to the Diocese of Brownsville's official timeline, Sacred Heart Parish was established in Escobares in 1967, during a period of rapid institutional growth for the newly formed diocese. The diocese had only been erected in 1965, carved out of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, and under its second bishop, the Most Rev. Humbert Sousa Medeiros, the total number of parishes grew from 35 to 58. Sacred Heart was one of more than a dozen new parishes established in 1967 alone.
- Founded in 1967 — Diocese of Brownsville timeline.
- Part of a 1967 wave of new parishes across the Valley: Brownsville, Edinburg, La Grulla, Lyford, Harlingen, Hidalgo, Weslaco, El Ranchito, McAllen, Santa Rosa.
- Falls under the episcopate of the second bishop of Brownsville, Most Rev. Humbert Sousa Medeiros.
Parish Staff
The Diocese of Brownsville parish finder lists one priest assigned to Sacred Heart, Escobares, serving as Parish Administrator.
- Rev. Miguel Angel Fernandez Ceja — Parish Administrator (effective June 1, 2021)
- San Juanita Alanis — listed in parish administration records on joinmychurch.com
Location & Contact
Sacred Heart is located on Old Escobares Highway 83, a short distance east of Roma along U.S. Route 83 in the Rio Grande Valley. Although the church is physically in Escobares, the parish's mailing address uses Roma, the larger neighboring town.
- Address: 4987 Old Escobares Hwy. 83, Roma (Escobares), TX 78584
- Mailing: P.O. Box 1180, Roma, TX 78584
- Phone: (956) 849-1741
- Fax: (956) 847-1502
- Email: [email protected]
Diocese of Brownsville
Sacred Heart is one of 72 parishes in the Diocese of Brownsville, which was established in 1965 and today serves more than one million Catholics across a four-county area of the Lower Rio Grande Valley — about 85 percent of the region's total population. The diocese also counts 43 mission churches currently served by 109 priests. Sacred Heart is part of the cluster of parishes pastored by Rev. Miguel Angel Fernandez Ceja, which also includes Sacred Heart in Edinburg, St. Theresa Mission in Faysville, St. Anthony in Harlingen, Holy Family in La Grulla, St. Joseph the Worker in McAllen, Sacred Heart in McAllen, St. Joseph the Worker Mission in San Carlos, St. Anne Mission in San Manuel, Immaculate Conception in Rio Grande City, Our Lady Queen of the Universe in San Benito, St. Joan of Arc in Weslaco, San Martin de Porres in Weslaco, and St. Pius X in Weslaco.
- Diocese established 1965, carved from Diocese of Corpus Christi.
- Covers Hidalgo, Cameron, Willacy, and Starr counties.
- Sacred Heart Escobares listed in the Diocese's official parish finder.