throughout the diocese. In December 1976 there was a reintroduction of the youth weekend retreats called SEARCH for Christian Maturity, in which young adults from the age of 16-21 were invited to live their faith with greater dedication and a sense of evangelization to their peers. That program continued steadily for more than 25 years in the diocese and impacted thousands of young people in their formative years. For the young adults in college, the bishop broke ground on a Newman Center at Texas A&I University in Kingsville in September 1971. The bishop also worked to promote healthy marriages through forms of retreat, counseling through Catholic Charities and initiation of a special Mass to award medals on the Feast of the Holy Family to those celebrating their 25th or 50th wedding anniversaries. The bishop also worked to fulfill a dream of Bishop Mariano S. Garriga when he broke ground on Sept. 22, 1972 for the construction of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and Convent to promote Eucharistic devotion in the diocese. One of the last things that Bishop Drury did was begin construction on Villa Maria, a residential home for Catholic senior citizens on Saratoga Boulevard. The years of Bishop Drury’s service also witnessed some special celebrations, including the centennial of the Incarnate Word Sisters in Corpus Christi in 1971, the 125th anniversary of the Corpus Christi Cathedral parish in 1978 and the 200th anniversary of the United States of America in 1976. These historical moments were celebrated with special Masses that invited the people of the diocese to reflect upon its rich heritage and growth. Bishop Drury also experienced his share of the cross of Christ in some of the trials of those years. There were the struggles to adjust to the changes in parish life after Vatican
II. There were the divisions precipitated by the war in Vietnam and the cultural revolution of the 1960s. South Texas was not immune to the problems that beset the rest of the United States. Moreover, there was the ongoing issue of the estate of Sarita Kenedy East. Beginning with Mifflin and Petra Kenedy during the time of Bishop Dominic Manucy, this family was one of the major benefactors of the Church in south Texas through their support of hospitals, schools, parish churches and the programs that served the needy. When Sarita Kenedy East, granddaughter of Mifflin and Petra, died after a prolonged hospitalization in New York questions about her will arose. She had written it in 1948 and modified it in 1960 with the establishment of the John G. and Marie Stella Kenedy Memorial Foundation, named for her deceased parents. However, just before her death while in the hospital in New York, she named a Trappist priest friend, Brother Leo, as sole member of the foundation. After her death in 1961, the Diocese of Corpus Christi and a number of other parties claiming an interest in her estate filed a lawsuit disputing Brother Leo’s control of the foundation. A settlement was eventually reached with the bulk of the funds placed with a foundation controlled by south Texans. The estate remained in litigation until 1981 when the United States Supreme Court refused to hear further appeals. Bishop Drury had endured many fiscal limitations over the years of this legal contest for the sake of the future of the Diocese of Corpus Christi and the larger community of south Texas. Bishop Drury had done yeoman’s service in pursuing the rights of the people of south Texas, but it would be those who followed him who enjoyed the greatest fruits of those labors.
First women’s Cursillo retreat participants in 1964. Diocese of Corpus Christi Archives www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
DECEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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