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. The complex will be in the Mission Style and once Regina Caeli Church is built, the chapel hall will be converted to a meeting hall. A fence will enclose the parish buildings. Included in the plans are a chapel dedicated to St. Joseph, to whom we have entrusted the property and building campaign, and a rectory for our priests. Much of the 40 acres, however, will remain rural for meditative purposes, with outdoor shrines and Stations of the Cross. The next building to be constructed is the Blessed Fr. Solanus Casey Gatehouse. This building will give us a temporary rectory, adminstrative offices and meeting rooms. Most importantly, it will free up space within St. Athanasius for more parish activities and functions.

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

Photo to lower right: Fr. Van Vliet celebrating Mass at the side altar, Sts. Peter and Paul Chapel, Denton, Nebraska 

Fr. John Kodet, FSSP is the fourth of nine children and comes from a homeschooling family that lived on a farm in southern Minnesota. After graduating from high school, he spent one year at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas before entering Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, Nebraska in the fall of 2008. He was ordained a priest on May 30, 2015. His first assignment was at St. John Vianney Church in Maple Hill, Kansas, where he served as one of the assistant priests and also as principal of the parish school. He was at the Maple Hill apostolate for three years before being assigned to Regina Caeli in mid-August 2018. He is our second parochial vicar.

 
Contact Information


Past Assistant Priests of Regina Caeli Parish
2016-2018 Rev. Joshua Houck, FSSP