e-newsletter companion of Eastern Oklahoma Catholic magazine
Most Reverend
Eusebius J. Beltran
August 31, 1934 - September 12, 2025
OKLAHOMA CITY — Eusebius Joseph Beltran, Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, died Sept. 12, 2025, at age 91.
“Archbishop Beltran was indeed a good shepherd,” Archbishop Paul S. Coakley said. “He served as a bishop in Oklahoma for many years, both as bishop in the Diocese of Tulsa and here in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. His accomplishments are numerous to be sure.”
Eusebius Joseph Beltran was born in Ashley, Penn., on Aug. 31, 1934, the son of Joseph C. Beltran and Helen Rita Kozlowski. Joseph was born in Spain and migrated to Pennsylvania where he worked in the coal mines. Helen was second generation Polish and a homemaker.
Many of his family moved to Georgia in the 1950s. Of the eight siblings, four chose the religious life, two became priests and two religious women.
His college and theological schooling were received at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Overbrook, Penn. He was ordained a priest in The Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta, Ga., on May 14, 1960, by Most Rev. Francis E. Hyland. In addition to serving in many parish assignments, he was appointed presiding judge of the Metropolitan Tribunal and later as vicar general. He accompanied Archbishop Paul Hallinan to the sessions of Vatican Council II.
He was appointed bishop on Feb. 28, 1978, by Saint Paul VI and was ordained and installed the second Bishop of Tulsa on April 20, 1978, at Holy Family Cathedral, Tulsa. The principal consecrator was Most Rev. Charles A. Salatka of Oklahoma City. Co-consecrators were Most Rev. Thomas A. Donnellan of Atlanta, Ga., and Most Rev. Andrew J. McDonald, Little Rock, Ark. During his 15 years in Tulsa, he was known for his concern for Catholic Charities, for Catholic school education and for vocations to the priesthood. He developed innovative programs and extended the Church’s reach throughout eastern Oklahoma.
On Nov. 24, 1992, Archbishop Beltran was appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Oklahoma City. He was installed on Jan. 22, 1993, in the Oklahoma City Civic Center, in the presence of Most Rev. Agostino Cacciavillan, the Papal Pro-Nuncio, and Most Rev. Charles A. Salatka, Archbishop Emeritus of Oklahoma City. He received his pallium on June 29, 1993, from Saint John Paul II.
During his 18 years as Archbishop of Oklahoma City, he developed many programs for the archdiocese. He was responsible for building Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Camp, which opened in 2000 and thrives to this day.
“Here in the archdiocese, one of the things I think Archbishop Beltran would have been most proud of and most dearly remembered for was the development of our beautiful camp – Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Camp – to serve young people from around the archdiocese,” Archbishop Coakley said. “Young people were always a very important part of his ministry as bishop and as a priest. That’s part of his lasting legacy in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and beyond.”
Perhaps one of his greatest achievements began in 2007 when he was granted permission to begin the Cause for Canonization of Father Stanley Rother. After three years of research and interviews, more than 7,000 documents were sent to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome. Ten years later, his vision came to fruition as Father Stanley Rother was declared the first U.S. martyr by Pope Francis, which led to his beatification in Oklahoma City on Sept. 23, 2017, at which Archbishop Beltran was a principal concelebrant. Blessed Stanley Rother is the first U.S.-born priest to be beatified.
Archbishop Beltran was a long-time member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, receiving the distinguished Silver Palm. He also was a fourth-degree member of the Knights of Columbus. He had served as a member of the Board of Directors of Saint Gregory’s University, Shawnee. He also served on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on the Liturgy; the Committee for the North American College, Louvain (as chairman); the USCCB Committee for the American College, Rome; the USCCB Latin America Committee and the Board of Regents for Conception Seminary as well as the National Conference of Christians and Jews, and various local boards, organizations and committees.
As required by Church law, Archbishop Beltran submitted his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI, on Aug. 31, 2009, upon reaching the age of 75. His retirement became effective on Dec. 16, 2010, at which time he assumed the title of apostolic administrator until Feb. 11, 2011. He then enjoyed the title of Archbishop Emeritus of Oklahoma City.
Archbishop Beltran is remembered for his tireless dedication to the Church he loved, his kindness and compassion, his great sense of humor and his devotion to the youth. He remained busy in his retirement years assisting with Confirmations, Masses and his many visits to the aging and ill.
“We thank God for Archbishop Beltran and the many ways in which he served faithfully and tirelessly,” Archbishop Coakley said. “A commitment to Catholic schools. A commitment to Catholic Charities and working with the poor. He was a great friend to all, and I know he will be sorely missed. He affected many lives and many hearts.”
Vigil Service will be held at 6:30 p.m., Sept. 23 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 3214 N. Lake Avenue, Oklahoma City. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m., Sept. 24, at the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine, 700 SE 89th Street, Oklahoma City.
Funeral arrangements for Archbishop Emeritus
Eusebius J. Beltran:
• Vigil Service
Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025
Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
3214 N. Lake Ave., Oklahoma City
Body will lie in repose from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Vigil Service: 6:30 p.m.
Reception in Msgr. Connor Center immediately following Vigil Service.
• Mass of Christian Burial
Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025
The Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine
700 S.E. 89 St., Oklahoma City
Body will lie in repose from 7 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.
Mass of Christian Burial: 10 a.m.
Interment at Resurrection Cemetery
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to: Missionary Sisters of the Eucharist, Guatemala (send checks to Archdiocese of Oklahoma City; not tax deductible) the Archbishop Eusebius J. Beltran Endowment supporting Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Camp: cfook.org/beltranendowment.
Statement from
Most Rev. David Konderla, Bishop of Tulsa & Eastern Oklahoma
"Archbishop Emeritus Eusebius J. Beltran faithfully served the Church in Oklahoma for many years, first as Bishop of the Diocese of Tulsa, beginning in 1978, then as Archbishop of Oklahoma City. We join with the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City in mourning his passing but also give thanks for his life of dedication and service. Our prayers and condolences go out to his family, friends, and all those within the clergy, religious, and laity who have known and served alongside him."
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen.
Dewey Parish Celebrates 100 Years of Fellowship
DEWEY — A century of Catholic presence in this Washington County town, just north of Bartlesville, was celebrated Sunday morning as parishioners and well-wishers packed Our Lady of Guadalupe Church for Mass and a Mexican feast afterward.
It had been the intention of Bishop David Konderla to be the primary celebrant, but he was unable to attend due to an illness. Nevertheless, in excess of 150 people packed the little church to be part of the occasion. A typical Mass draws between 60-80 parishioners.
During his homily, Pastor Fr. Leonard Higgins recounted the history of the parish beginning with the mission begun in 1925 for Mexican immigrants. The very first Mass was held in one of the concrete homes built for its workers by the local cement plant.
"In 1925, Bishop Kelley, newly arrived in Oklahoma and aware of the Mexican immigrants' plight, arranged for a priest from St. John's (Before the Latin Gate in Bartlesville) to conduct Mass specifically for these settlers," said Fr. Higgins. "The Masses were held in a cement house provided by the company, serving as a Mass site for the workers and their families who lacked transportation. The first recorded Mass took place on September 12, 1925."
Many of those early worshippers were employed by the cement plant and when it came time to construct a permenent parish home, these same parishioners provided the skilled labor needed to construct what would become Our Lady of Guadalupe.
"There is about a two-page single space list of parishioners who offered to be carpenters, masons, electricians, plumbers, to be able to build the parish," said Fr. Higgins. "And so, with very limited resources, they were able to build this parish ... with the parishioners themselves doing the work, to build this church that we now have."
Concelebrating the Mass with Fr. Higgins were Fr. James Caldwell and Fr. Christopher Daigle. Also in attendance was Fr. Archie Fernandez.
EOC Photos by Daniel McCay
Thomistic Institute at TU to Host Talk by Dr. Jennifer Frey
TULSA — The Thomistic Institute at the University of Tulsa will host a free talk by Dr. Jennifer Frey at 6 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 18, at the Chapman Lecture Hall on the TU campus.
Dr. Frey will present "Aquinas and Newman on the Pursuit of Wisdom and Happiness." In this talk, she will address the perennial question: What is wisdom and why should university students pursue it? Is the University an institution dedicated to the pursuit of wisdom? And what does any of this have to do with human flourishing?
The Thomistic Institute exists to promote Catholic truth in the contemporary world by strengthening the intellectual formation of Christians at universities, in the Church, and in the wider public square. The thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Universal Doctor of the Church, is its touchstone.
The TI is an academic institute of the Pontifical Faculty of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C.
Thomistic Institute chapters are on-campus academic clubs formed and run by students to bring top-notch Christian intellectuals to their university campuses. Chapters organize lectures, seminars, and reading groups to explore the riches of the Christian intellectual tradition.
All Thomistic Institute lectures on campus are free and open to the public. For more information, click here.
Dr. Jennifer Frey is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tulsa. She previously served as the inaugural Dean of the Honors College. Before coming to Oklahoma, she was an Associate Professor of philosophy at the University of South Carolina. She, her husband, and six children live in Tulsa. They are parishioners of Holy Family Cathedral.
Annual Enlighten Gala for TU's Saint Philip Neri University Parish Set for November 8
TULSA — The Most Reverend David Konderla, Bishop of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma; and Father James Porter, pastor of St. Philip Neri University Parish (TU Catholic Newman Center) will host the 2025 Enlighten Gala to celebrate "the great things God is doing" at the University of Tulsa campus.
The event is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, at Southern Hills Country Club. To register for the gala, click here.
Enlighten, the annual fundraising gala for Saint Philip Neri University Parish, will include food, drinks, student testimonies and will be followed up with fellowship with other faithful supporters. Attendees help support the mission and work that St. Neri Parish does to impact the faith life of college students.
Saint Philip Neri University Parish was established in 1946 as a Newman Center to serve Roman Catholic students at the University of Tulsa. In 1991 it moved to its present location at 440 South Florence Avenue. On May 1, 2022, it became a Personal Parish to serve the college community at TU and in the Diocese of Tulsa. The parish provides weekly liturgies, as well as educational, social, and service opportunities for students of all faiths. Students enrolled at other colleges and universities in the Tulsa area are also encouraged to participate.
Three Tulsans Receive Investiture at Recent EOHSJ Annual Meeting in San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — The Parish of Christ the King Parochial Vicar, Rev. Steven J. Ditzel, KHS, and St. John Before the Latin Gate (Bartlesville) parishioners John Barbour, KHS and Kim Barbour, DHS, recently received Investiture as Knights and Dame into the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (EOHSJ) at the annual meeting.
The Grand Prior of the Order, His Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, was the Principal Celebrant at the Investiture Mass, joined by Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, and more than 20 archbishops, bishops, approximately 65 priests, and nearly 900 members of the Southwestern Lieutenancy of the United Stated EOHSJ.
Joining Rev. Ditzel, Sir John and Dame Kim in attendance was Rev. John M. O'Neill, KHS, Pastor of St. Joseph in Muskogee and a member of the EOHSJ.
The origins of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem date back to the First Crusade, when its leader, Godfrey de Bouillon, liberated Jerusalem. As part of his operations to organize the religious, military and public bodies of the territories newly freed from Muslim control, he founded the Order of Canons of the Holy Sepulchre. Knights and Dames are called to live the vocation of membership daily. Along with the commitment to support Christians in the Holy Land, members are called to increased personal sanctification.
The Diocese of Tulsa & Eastern Oklahoma will host the 2026 EOHSJ Annual Meeting scheduled for Oct. 16-19, 2026. Tulsans Charles and Sheila Michie are leading the planning.
Celebrating 150 Years of the Church in Oklahoma, Part 2: A History of God’s Providential Love
BY SEAN COLLINS
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is Part 2 of a series of stories leading up to the 18-month celebration, kicking off this October, of the sesquicentennial – 150 years – of the Catholic Church's permanent presence in Oklahoma.
OKLAHOMA CITY — A particular set of historic, political and ecclesial circumstances came together in the establishment of the Catholic Church in what was at the time was Indian Territory.
The desire and request for the sacramental life of the Church came from Native American People who had been forcibly removed from their ancestral lands to land that the U.S. government had set aside as their new homeland. A good number of these Indian people were faithful Catholics, especially among the Potawatomi and Osage nations.
They desired the sacraments and hoped that their children might also have access to Catholic education and schools. Unfortunately, the missionary priests who had ministered to them were not able to accompany them to their new home, and there was no established jurisdiction of the Church to meet their needs.
Father Isidore Robot, O.S.B., and Brother Dominic Lambert, O.S.B. had come to the United States from France to establish a monastery with missionary vision. First arriving in New Orleans, Bishop Napoleon Perche did not have a role for them in his diocese. As they looked for another location they heard from Father Maurice Gailland, S.J., a Jesuit missionary serving among the Potawatomi in Kansas. In a letter he urged the Benedictines to consider ministering to the “abandoned Indians, especially the Potawatomi.”
While visiting Paris, Bishop Perche encountered the head of Catholic Foreign Missions, Father Bernard Moreau. Having first rejected the monks when he met them in New Orleans, he now recommended that Indian Territory be established as a prefecture and be entrusted to the care of the two Benedictines who were looking for a home. This is what happened.
No longer responsible for a vast territory that had been under his care, Bishop Edward Fitzgerald of Little Rock summoned Father Isidore and Brother Dominic to give them the news that they now were entrusted with the mission of “Western Arkansas,” more formally known as Indian Territory.
The desire and request for the sacramental life of the Church came from Native American People who had been forcibly removed from their ancestral lands to land that the U.S. government had set aside as their new homeland. A good number of these Indian people were faithful Catholics, especially among the Potawatomi and Osage nations.
They desired the sacraments and hoped that their children might also have access to Catholic education and schools. Unfortunately, the missionary priests who had ministered to them were not able to accompany them to their new home, and there was no established jurisdiction of the Church to meet their needs.
Father Isidore Robot, O.S.B., and Brother Dominic Lambert, O.S.B. had come to the United States from France to establish a monastery with missionary vision. First arriving in New Orleans, Bishop Napoleon Perche did not have a role for them in his diocese. As they looked for another location they heard from Father Maurice Gailland, S.J., a Jesuit missionary serving among the Potawatomi in Kansas. In a letter he urged the Benedictines to consider ministering to the “abandoned Indians, especially the Potawatomi.”
While visiting Paris, Bishop Perche encountered the head of Catholic Foreign Missions, Father Bernard Moreau. Having first rejected the monks when he met them in New Orleans, he now recommended that Indian Territory be established as a prefecture and be entrusted to the care of the two Benedictines who were looking for a home. This is what happened.
No longer responsible for a vast territory that had been under his care, Bishop Edward Fitzgerald of Little Rock summoned Father Isidore and Brother Dominic to give them the news that they now were entrusted with the mission of “Western Arkansas,” more formally known as Indian Territory.
The full story can be found at the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City website here.
Fr. Isidore Robot O.S.B. and the French monastery of Pierre-qui-Vire from which came the original Oklahoma Benedictine friars.
From the Editor...
Kicking off a busy weekend of activity around the diocese, Bishop David Konderla celebrated a Memorial Mass for Bishop Emeritus Edward Slattery, the third bishop of Tulsa, at Holy Family Cathedral on Friday evening. The Mass was held to mark the occasion of his passing one year ago on Sept. 13, 2024.
Of peculiar note, Archbishop Emeritus Eusebius J. Beltran, the second bishop of Tulsa, passed away within one year (364 days) of his successor on Friday, Sept. 12. His death earlier that morning added even more weight and meaning to Friday night's Mass as worshippers prayed for each of these departed faithful servants of the Church.
Just a reminder that today is the last day to register for the 2nd annual Tulsa Catholic Women's Conference set for Sept. 26-27 at Tulsa's Renaissance Hotel and Conference Center. More than 700 women have already registered for this year's conference! To register, go to: tulsacatholicwomen.com/registration.
There are also several events hosted by parishes coming up in October to be aware of. At least two of them involve a few of my favorite things: beer and brats. One of those is Vinita's 38th Annual Oktoberfest put on by Holy Ghost Catholic Church on Saturday, Oct. 11, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The second such event takes place the following weekend. MOCtoberfest, hosted by St. Ann Catholic Church in Broken Arrow, will take place from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18. Proceeds from the event go to support of the Ministry of Compassion.
To stay up-to-date on all the upcoming events around our diocese, check our our Events Calendar here. We are constantly updating it. If your parish is planning an event. drop us a note at communications@dioceseoftulsa.org
Until next week, thanks for reading!
Chris Rush
Editor
"Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" — Philippians 4:8
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