Who Are We?

To read press articles about Regina Caeli Parish, please scroll to bottom of page.

Regina Caeli Parish was formally erected in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston on August 15, 2013. It is the only Archdiocesan parish in over 40 years to offer the sacred liturgy and sacraments exclusively according to the Traditional Latin rites. Located in Northwest Houston on a 40 acre tract, Regina Caeli is entrusted as a personal parish to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), an apostolic society instituted by Pope St. John Paul II in 1988 to offer the sacred liturgy in all of its solemnity according to the Latin liturgical books of 1962. Since it is a personal parish, any person who wishes to join may become a member or supporter.  Fr. Van Vliet, FSSP is the founding pastor.

Regina Caeli moved from its temporary quarters to its property on October 29, 2016, when St. Athanasius Chapel Hall was blessed by Cardinal DiNardo. The chapel hall is the first building in a multi-year, master-planned parish complex that will be developed as the parish grows and capital funds are raised. Much of the 40 acres will remain rural for meditative purposes, with outdoor shrines and Stations of the Cross. There will be a chapel dedicated to St. Joseph, to whom we have entrusted the property and building campaign.

Please consider supporting our mission to build a parish for the greater glory of God and salvation of souls. You can contribute in many ways, but financial donations will allow us to meet operating expenses, build up cash reserves and begin construction sooner.

For information about how you can help Regina Caeli Parish, please click here.

For parish registration, please click here.

To donate, please click here.
 

Fr. Charles Van Vliet, FSSP, is the founding pastor of Regina Caeli Parish.  He is of Dutch-Canadian ancestry and worked on helicopters for 11 years as aircraft maintenance engineer in Canada before studying philosophy at Thomas Aquinas College in California. He began his priestly studies at the International St. Peter Seminary in Wigratzbad, Germany, in 1992 and was ordained to the priesthood in Ottawa, Canada, in 1996.  He served in various FSSP apostolates in Canada and the United States. In 1998, he was assigned to oversee the construction of Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, Nebraska, from the ground up.  Construction of Sts. Peter and Paul Chapel was the final phase; it was completed in early 2010 and dedicated on March 3, 2010.

In 2006, Father Van Vliet attended the General Chapter of the Fraternity of St. Peter in Wigratzbad, Germany and was elected to a six year term on the General Council as Third Assistant to the Superior General and General Bursar.

Pastor Contact Information


Fr. Joshua Houck, FSSP, born and raised in Central Michigan, is the eldest of four children. After graduating high school, he entered Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in 2009 and was ordained at St. Cecilia’s Cathedral in Omaha, Nebraska on Saturday, May 28, 2016 by the Most Reverend Fabian Bruskewitz, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Lincoln.  He is the first parochial vicar of Regina Caeli Parish.
 
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Photo to lower right: Fr. Van Vliet celebrating Mass at the side altar, Sts. Peter and Paul Chapel, Denton, Nebraska