Bishop René Henry Gracida, a Century of Combat for the Faith (1923-2026)
Bishop Gracida, Bishop Emeritus of Corpus Christi (Texas), passed away on the eve of St. Athanasius, May 1, 2026, at the age of 102. A veteran of World War II, a pastor appointed bishop by Pope John Paul II, and one of the rarest bishops to have publicly questioned the pontifical legitimacy of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, he traversed an entire century without ever laying down his arms. His life is a rectilinear trajectory: from B-17 machine gunner to solitary defender of the Faith, he merely changed uniforms.