By Violeta Rocha
Special to The Texas Catholic

After more than four decades of priesthood, 33 of the years serving in the Diocese of Dallas, Father Eduardo González is retiring from parish service, leaving behind strong bonds of fraternity and robust spiritual roots.

On Sept. 29, the community of his parish for the past 12 years, St. Philip the Apostle Church, bid him farewell with a gathering.

Although Father González acknowledged that “physical fatigue is present,” he is not retiring solely for rest but to return to the “original calling” of his priesthood: education, human development, and work with youth, complemented by media.

A providential journey

Originally from Puebla, Mexico, Father González was ordained in the Salesian Order on March 28, 1981, at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

He began visiting the Diocese of Dallas in the late 1980s, giving talks during the novena to the Virgin of Guadalupe, at what is now the National Shrine Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

“I am infinitely grateful because they opened the door to a diocese that was not mine and a country that was not mine,” Father González said.

In 1991, he settled in the diocese after an invitation from Bishop Charles Grahmann, who asked him to lead the radio project “Sintonía,” funded by the diocese.

That same year, Father González served as vicar at St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Oak Cliff, and four years later, he became the parish administrator at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Ferris.

In 1997, he was assigned as pastor of St. Edward Catholic Church, and in 2006, he became the rector of the cathedral. His retirement comes at St. Philip the Apostle Church, where he has been pastor for more than a decade.

José Leos, who worked with Father González on broadcasting virtual Masses during the COVID-19 pandemic, said the priest’s homilies reach the heart.

“Father Eduardo speaks the way the people speak,” Leos said. “His way of celebrating the Eucharist and the faith he conveys in his homilies is inspiring.”

One of his most memorable experiences was when, as pastor at St. Edward, he was part of the group of Guadalupan pilgrims who traveled to the Vatican, carrying a replica of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe to be blessed by then-Pope St. John Paul II. The image became the main piece of the Cathedral’s altar.

“He is a priest with a great human quality,” said Frank Hernández, a parishioner of the cathedral for five decades, who has traveled on several pilgrimages with Father González. “He knows how to be a priest, but he also knows how to be a good friend, and he treats us like brothers.”

Father González left a mark on the airwaves, dedicating 15 years as the host of the commercial program “El Arte de Vivir” (The Art of Living), from which he also derived three publications with reflections for Advent and Christmas, Lent, and Easter.

“Father Eduardo has helped reconcile families and motivated the community to grow,” said Rosa Hernández of the Legion of Mary Apostolate at St. Philip’s Church.

Migrant ministry

Father González is an icon when it comes to pastoral service to the Hispanic community, which he educated through the School of Pastoral Formation alongside the Missionary Catechists of the Poor.

“We have walked and evolved,” Father González said, referring to the progress of this Catholic community. However, he noted that “the strong and variable flow of migration dynamics has not facilitated consistent long-term processes.”

The congregation at St. Philip said the priest empowered them.

“Father Eduardo gave us strength as immigrants,” said Carolina Rodríguez, a parish eucharistic minister originally from Guanajuato, Mexico. “He gave us hope and taught us to fight. He always told us, ‘You can do it,’ no matter that we were immigrants. He taught us to have more faith.”

The Diocese of Dallas Synod, Father González said, is a wonderful sign of hope for the Hispanic community. He expressed the hope that this ambitious path of renewal, led by Bishop Edward J. Burns, will allow the Hispanic Catholic community to gain greater visibility in pastoral governance and capitalize on their talents for service to the entire Diocese of Dallas.

In the immediate future, Father González will continue supporting Retrouvaille, an international program for marriages in crisis, and will remain active on digital platforms with the program “El Pan de Cada Día” (Our Daily Bread).

The priest will continue serving in confessions and Sunday Masses and is open to the possibility of celebrating televised Masses through the Diocese of Dallas’ homebound ministry.

Editor’s note: A version of this story also appears in Revista Católica Dallas, the Spanish-language magazine of the Diocese of Dallas.