George Arthur Sheltz (April 20, 1946 – December 21, 2021) was an American prelate of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Sheltz served as an

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of the

Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

in Texas from 2012 to 2021.

Biography

Early life

Sheltz was born April 20, 1946, in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

to George and Margaret Sheltz. He attended Annunciation Catholic School and St. Thomas High School, both in Houston. His father,

Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

George Sheltz Sr., was in the first class of permanent deacons ordained for the diocese in 1972. His late brother, Anton Sheltz, was ordained a priest for the then-Diocese of Galveston-Houston in 1976. His uncle, Monsignor Anton Frank, was the first native Houstonian ordained for the diocese in 1933. While in high school, Sheltz decided to enter the priesthood. After graduation, he entered St. Mary's Seminary and the University of St. Thomas, graduating in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and a Master's in Theology.

Priesthood

On May 15, 1971, Sheltz was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Houston-Galveston by Bishop John Louis Morkovsky. After his ordination, Sheltz performed pastoral duties in five Houston parishes: Assumption, Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral; St. Vincent de Paul, Christ the Redeemer, and Prince of Peace. He also served at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Woodlands, Texas. While working in the parish, Sheltz also served as Dean of the San Jacinto Deanery and Episcopal Vicar of the Northern Vicariate. In 2000,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

named Sheltz a

prelate of honor A Prelate of Honour of His Holiness is a Catholic prelate to whom the Pope has granted this title of honour. They are addressed as Monsignor (typically abbreviated 'Mgr') and have certain privileges as regards clerical clothing.

, with the title of Monsignor. In 2007, Sheltz was named Secretariat Director for Clergy Formation and Chaplaincy Services. In 2010, he was named

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

, chancellor and

moderator of the curia Moderator of the curia is a top administrative position held by a Catholic priest in a diocese under the supervision of the bishop. The moderator coordinates the exercise of the administrative duties and oversees the office holders, or curia, in ...

for the Archdiocese.

Auxiliary Bishop of Galveston-Houston

On February 21, 2012,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

appointed Sheltz as Titular Bishop of

Hirina Hirina (Hirena) was a city and bishopric in southern Tunisia known only through ecclesiastical records. Nothing is known of the city, the name of which may have been Hirina, Hiren or Iren, except that it was in the Roman province of Byzacena. ...

and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. He was installed and consecrated at the

Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or ''cathedra'', with another cathedral, often in another city (usually a former see, anchor city of the metropolitan area or the civil capital). Instances o ...

in Houston by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo on May 2, 2012. He served as Auxiliary Bishop until his retirement on June 22, 2021. In June 2019, an anonymous woman alleged in a letter to the Archdiocese that Sheltz had sexually abused her in 1971. The author threatened to make the charge public unless the transfer of her parish priest, Hai Dang, was reversed. The allegation was investigated by the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is a department of the Roman Curia in charge of the religious discipline of the Catholic Church. The Dicastery is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of t ...

in Rome, which determined that they were totally baseless.

Personal life and death

Sheltz died on December 21, 2021, at the age of 75.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston–Houston Official Site

Episcopal succession

1946 births 2021 deaths

Bishops A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Clergy from Houston Bishops appointed by Pope Benedict XVI Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre {{US-RC-bishop-stub