Bishop Rene Gracida Passes Into Eternity

By Charlie Johnston

In the early morning hours of Friday, May 1, 2026, Bishop Rene Henry Gracida entered eternity a little more than a month before what would have been his 103^rd birthday.

Bishop Gracida was the author of the Blog, Abyssus Abyssum Invocat (Deep Calls to Deep) – which was also his episcopal motto. He was an early fan of The Next Right Step, the Blog of mine that preceded this one. He became a great friend and counselor of mine – and a great friend of CORAC.

Bishop Gracida introduced me to a man who became one of my dearest friends in the world, Jim Graham. At the time, Graham was president of Texas Right to Life (TRTL), the biggest, most effective right-to-life organization in the world…and a good friend of Gracida. The Bishop urged Graham to read my little website. Graham did. Being a very shrewd man, he picked up that I was close, personally, to David Daleiden of the Planned Parenthood videos fame. Graham got my phone number from Bishop Gracida, called, and asked if I could secure Daleiden as the keynote speaker for TRTL’s major gala in 2016 in Houston. I did. Graham insisted that I come as his guest to the event, as well. I was absolutely dazzled. There were nearly a thousand people there, including many of the state’s most influential political and governmental figures. It absolutely thrummed with life. Daleiden and I had a grand, old time together – and he gave a great talk. In the process, Graham and I became the best of friends and have collaborated on many things together ever since.

Though I had spoken by phone and email with Bishop Gracida many times, Graham returned the favor Gracida did us both – and arranged my first in-person visit to the good Bishop. Gracida lived in the small town of Sinton, Texas on the southeastern coast of the state. When I arrived at Gracida’s doorstep, I was delighted to find that the knocker on his front door was in the form of a little squirrel. This was in the fall of 2016. We spent all afternoon discussing the faith, the Church, politics, and the life of a cleric. Gracida often wrote in near-thunderous tones on his Abyssum site. In person he had a delightfully wry sense of humor.

At one point he spoke at length about an article he had written that he had agonized over. He wanted to give people the most right take he possibly could and worried that the subject he covered on this one was a very tough one. I was startled to see his eyes misting up as he asked if I thought he had done the right thing with it. I was grateful to tell him that not only did I think he had done the right thing, but that it had played a vital role in helping me form my final take on the matter. For all his thundering prose, this was a Bishop who prayed and fretted over guiding people who followed him well and with prudence.

In the ‘70s, Gracida had served as the American representative on the Catholic Migration Committee with then Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope St. John Paul the Great. Gracida said Wojtyla delighted in what he called his “Cowboy Bishop” on the committee – and sometimes introduced him as “Bishop John Wayne.” Gracida would sometimes show up with his cowboy hat as part of that running joke between the two.

Bishop Gracida was furious when a normally sound, major Catholic publication ran a hit piece on me – and attributed a seemingly disparaging quote to him. He explained the context of what he had said and the complete point he had been trying to make, saying they had twisted what he said beyond recognition. I told him not to worry, that I had already had three people who had been quoted criticizing me call to say that the way it was framed was not what they had meant – and some said there seemed a vague threat that if they did not say something negative about me, they could become subject of a negative article, themselves. I had many friends at the publication, but the then editor had a weird, obsessive animus against me. I wrote a blunt, but measured, response – measured because I respected the publication as one of the best orthodox Catholic advocates in the world.  I did not want to return tit for tat and end up just smearing them over the transient animus of their editor. But I made it pointed and clear. Bishop Gracida reposted my article in its entirety on his Abyssum site, while adding an introduction of his own that took savage glee in my takedown of the article, making clear where he stood on the matter and that the twisted quote from him in it was a misrepresentation of his position.

Bishop Gracida was a leader in the “Benedict is Pope” movement, which maintained that Pope Benedict’s resignation was invalid and that, thus, Francis was an illegitimate Pope. It was one of the rare occasions when we publicly disagreed on a substantive issue. I maintained that Pope Francis was a legitimate Pope – just a bad one. We discussed it several times. Of course, we were both old school – and, so, capable of having a serious disagreement without it affecting our friendship a whit. I was down for his 95^th birthday in 2018. They had a lunch planned for him at a local restaurant. Before we left the house, Gracida asked me to sit next to him at lunch so we could talk more about this and other things. Toward the end of lunch (for which there was a great turnout and which he loved) Gracida leaned into me and, with a wry smile, said facetiously, “Well, you may be right, Charlie. But I’m 95 years old. I’m in a hurry.” I nearly spit out my tea laughing and told him his point was well taken.

Bishop Gracida had a formal chapel in his home at which he said Mass daily. It could comfortably seat 20-30 people. Even in his late 90’s he took pride in walking without assistance. Still, he always used a walker getting up to the altar. “At my age, the last thing you want to take a chance on is breaking a hip,” he told me.

Shortly after we formed CORAC, Bishop Gracida held an event at his chapel with me there. He said an exorcism sequence of prayer that only Bishops are allowed to say, in protection of CORAC. It took almost an hour. I was deeply grateful.

During one visit, Gracida revealed one of his pet peeves to me. He hated when people at Mass used the orans posture, which is reserved to the Priest. (The orans posture during the Our Father Prayer is when people extend their hands out and up). It just irritated him that people understand so little about proper rubrics and think they are being more pious when, actually, they reveal they do not really understand the fundamental point of some things. He asked me to promise I would never do that. I told him that was an easy promise to make because I never do it, anyway. Then he added that there should be no holding of hands during the Our Father either, because that is just a variation of the orans posture. I told him I was fine with that with two provisos – that if a child or a very old person reached for my hand, I was going to take it. He conceded that that was reasonable…and then, with a twinkle in his eye, asked what I would do if a pretty girl reached for my hand. “That, Your Excellency,” I solemnly opined, “I will decide on a case-by-case basis.” We chortled in mutual, comfortable amusement.

We lost a good friend, noble Bishop, and tender shepherd when Bishop Rene Gracida passed from this life. But we have gained a powerful advocate and friend in eternity. And he never has to use a walker when approaching the altar anymore. How lovely that our friend, Bishop Gracida, entered eternity in the first hours of May, the month of Our Lady.

Ave Maria, Stella Maris!

If communication goes out for any length of time, meet outside your local Church at 9 a.m. on Saturday mornings. Tell friends at Church now in case you can’t then. CORAC teams will be out looking for people to gather in and work with.

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