Parish Life

The heart of a parish is the Eucharist, but the parish family is the body that makes it a unique and vibrant community with an exciting parish life. Our parish offers a variety of ways to be part of that communal family in addition to the celebration of the sacraments.

Faith formation is a vital element of the Catholic life as we grow in knowledge and understanding of our faith in Jesus Christ and the Church he gave us. A deeper understanding can lead to a more intimate relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and through the Trinity to the Church and our family, friends, neighbors, parish, and community. Such faith formation is not just for children, but for all of us as we grow as Catholics. Our parish has many opportunities for faith formation that we encourage you to explore.
Another way to participate in our parish life are the various parish ministries, including liturgical ministries, such as choir member, lector, altar server, and Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist; social justice ministries, such as visiting the homebound, serving the poor, volunteering at food pantries and the St. Vincent de Paul Society; and others, such as youth ministry, men's and women's groups, and the annual parish bazaar, to name just a few. God calls us to use our gifts and talents to glorify Him and make life better for other people. Please prayerfully consider these opportunities for getting involved in ministry. And if you have an idea for a new parish ministry, please contact us.

With so many ways to be part of parish life, you'll want to stay informed by regularly reading the weekly bulletin, just in case you've misplaced the one you received at Mass. You’ll also want to check the parish calendar for a list of events and mass schedules.

Our parish has a rich history in our town, being founded by people who trusted in the Lord and gathered together under the leadership of our bishop. Who we are today is based on who we were yesterday. Find out more about our spiritual forefathers as you read the history of our parish.

We hope you'll also enjoy viewing photos of our parish, including some of the many enjoyable events and programs we've had over the years.

About Our Parish

Since the earliest settlers in the territory now known as Bee County were Irish Catholics, the first clergymen to administer spiritual guidance to the people were Catholic priests. The earliest records of Saint Joseph's Catholic Church in Beeville are dated 1876 but the actual parish history, however, goes back a number of years beyond that date. As early as 1848, various priest were administering the sacraments in local ranches. The Rev. Charles Doherty started a project in 1882 that culminated in the building of a church in 1891 at the present location of Saint Joseph's Church. Father Raymond Monclus was appointed Pastor at St. Joseph's on April 17, 1893 and he arrived he took on the task of building the priest's residence in 1904.


In 1894, the Sisters of Divine Providence arrived and assisted the administration of the church's needs. A one room school was established in 1896 and it eventually became the two story building known as St. Mary's Academy. The academy survived the storm of 1916 and also a minor fire in 1918 but a fire in 1930 proved to be disastrous. The school faced a major crisis. The Congregation collected $4,900.00 in fire insurance and offered it to the parish to build a new school and a Sister's home. A contract was drawn up between the parish and the Sisters of Divine Providence dated March 1931 that sealed the fate of St. Mary's Academy and brought into being St. Joseph's Parochial School. The sisters served Beeville for eighty years , but on April 26, 1976, it was learned that the Sisters of Divine Providence were leaving St. Joseph's School.


In 1916 the church was severely damaged by a hurricane that blew the church over to one side that left it unsafe to hold mass. The church was torn down and rebuilt as a temporary arrangement which lasted ten years. The replacement church was built in 1927 and dedicated on November 27, 1927.


Father Raymond Stocker who served pastor (1936-1950) had a beautiful Wick's organ was installed in the church. It was also during Father Stocker's tenure that St. Joseph's Parochial School was built. In 1956, Mr. and Mrs. James R. Dougherty, Sr. built the cafeteria cum auditorium in memory of their son James who was killed in action in world War II. In 1972, at the direction of Msgr. Harold Palmer (1950-71) the exterior stucco of the church was refinished and a new roof put on. The interior was decorated and the beautiful stained glass windows, donated by various families, were installed.


St. Joseph Church Golden Jubilee was celebrated in 1977 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the new church built in 1927. At that time, Father McNaboe noted in his letter to commemorate the occasion that the parish community had grown from sixteen families in 1896 to eighty in the 1930's to six hundred families at the time of the jubilee.


On September 21, 1977 a formal request was made to the newly elected Mother General Catalina Civit, O.P. of the Missionary Sisters of St. Dominic headquartered in Rome to send Sisters to our parish. The Domican Sisters served St. Joseph for twenty five years from 1978 to 2004 in various capacities including teaching at the parochial school. The Parochial School was closed due to financial constraints.


Father John Killeen arrived as pastor of St. Joseph's Church in 1983. In 1989, the new church built in 1927 was deemed unusable for parish use and Bishop Gracida authorized demolition of the building on January 23, 1989. Construction began August, 1991 and formal dedication of the new church building was October 3, 1992. Bishop Rene H. Gracida celebrated the dedication service to the seven hundred and sixty nine registered parish families.


At the direction of Father Patrick Donohoe a new parking lot was constructed and in 2010 the Church was renovated the church to its present day look. Fr. Patrick helped the parish to acquire additional properties for future parish expansions.


Fr. Richard Gonzales was named pastor in July 2011. Through his leadership and assistance, a Newman Center was developed at the Coastal Bend College-Beeville. In the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic the parish saw steady growth. In this time additional buildings were purchased for parish Religious Education programs.


In July 2023 Fr. Pete Elizardo was named Pastor with Fr. R.J. Regalado as Parochial Vicar.




Clergy Assigned to St. Joseph

Rev. Charles Doherty, OMI          1882-1890         Frist Residential Pastor
Rev. A. E. Antoine, OMI         1892
Rev. Raymond Monclus, OMI    1893           Pastor
Rev. E Ylla
Rev. J. Oliva
Rev. A.P. Flecher, OMI         1904-1906
Rev. H.M. Janvier, OMI                 1904-1906
Rev. Isidore Tresch, OMI              1904-1906
Rev. J. Magnam, OMI          1904-1906
Rev. Juan Coma                              1907-1916          Pastor
Rev. F. Monill
Rev. R. Serrano, OMI
Rev. Joseph Rovre
Rev. Isidore Cavazos
Rev. Thomas de Leon
Rev. Michael Menes
Rev. Benito Gonzales, C.P.
Rev. John Richard Putrill               1916-1918          Pastor
Rev. Timothy Fitzpatrick, C.P.    1917
Bishop Paul J. Nussbaum        1917
Rev. Peter Hanley, C.P         1918-1923
Rev. Felix Marsinko, O.F.M.         
Rev. Dominic Fournier, C.P.
Rev. Edward Kramer           1923-1924          Pastor
Rev. John Walsh              1924-1925          Pastor
Rev. Msgr. John J. Mannon     1925-1928          Pastor
Rev. Daniel A. Laning          1929-1936          Pastor
Rev. Raymond Stocker         1936-1950          Pastor
Rev. Msgr. Harold Palmer      1950-1971          Pastor
Rev. Charles McNaboe         1971-1979     Pastor
Rev. Msgr. Robert Clark        1979-1980     Pastor
Rev. William Gough                       1980           Pastor
Rev. William Kelly             1982-1983      Pastor
Rev. Sean Noone             1983                    
Rev. Msgr. John Killeen         1983-1994      Pastor
Rev. Krzysztof Baunta         1989-1990      Parochial Vicar
Rev. Virginio C. Vazquez              1993         Parochial Vicar
Rev. John Wojtascyk          1994           Administrator
Rev. Michael De Leon, O.S.B.     1996         Priest in Charge
Rev. Timothy Kinast           1997-1998      Administrator
Rev. Patrick Donohoe          1998-2011      Pastor
Rev. Joseph Varghese         2001-2003     Parochial Vicar
Rev. Lowery Ross            2003         Parochial Vicar
Rev. Richard Gonzales         2011-2023    Pastor

Rev. Paul Kottackal            2016-2017         Parochial Vicar

Rev. Pete Elizardo       2023-Present    Pastor

Rev. R.J. Regalado          2023-Present         Parochial Vicar


Parish Deacons


Deacon Rolando Salazar                1982-2016
Deacon Luis Trevino                        1990-2021
Deacon Russell Duggins                2008-2015
Deacon Paul Matula                        2008-2017
Deacon Santos Jones                    2018-Present


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