“A Way of Life in the Light of Faith” was the theme of the 13th annual Faithful Citizenship Dinner hosted on Oct. 12 at the River Oaks Country Club by the University of St. Thomas-Houston Donald S. Nesti, CSSp, Center for Faith & Culture.

The Faithful Citizenship Award is conferred each year on an individual who manifests the incarnate love of God for the world in their daily life and actions.

Catholic Mary Frances Fabrizio received this year’s Faithful Citizenship Award for a lifetime of exceptional volunteer work with many organizations and loving service to the poor. Her service includes the Catholic Chaplains Corps, Catholic Charity Guild as archivist and historian for its 2022 centennial celebration, and serving as Dame Commander in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

“We gather to honor Mary Frances Fabrizio, a pillar of the Catholic Church of Houston and of UST, “ Dr. Kevin Stuart, director of the Nesti Center, said. “She is an exemplar of faithful service…It is so fitting that we celebrate and honor the virtues and character that mark a flourishing, faithful life.”

Fr. Nesti, founding director of the Nesti Center said, “Mary Frances is an example of how to live out faith in our culture.  She not only lives out goodness in her own life, but brings out the goodness in others.”

Mills and Steve Toomey ’71 served as honorary co-chairs. Event Chairs were Wendy and Deacon Joseph Millhouse. Cardinal DiNardo gave the innovaction and Bishop Italo Dell’Oro delivered the closing prayer. Music was provided by the Houston Boy Choir and a Virtuosi of Houston Quartet played during the reception.

Seen  in the crowd were Daniel Cardinal Dinardo, Bishop Italo Dell’Oro, Dr. Patrick Leung and Monit Cheung, Dr. Richard and Melynda Ludwick, Fr. Donald S. Nesti, CSSp, The Honorable Sherry Raddack, The Honorable Steve Radack, Beth Wolff, Bishop Italo Dell’Oro, Mills and Steve Toomey ’71, Lois Davis, Dr. Kevin Stuart, Ginger Blanton, John and Ginger Niemann, Regina Rogers, Raye White, Roz Hill, Michele Malloy, Rebecca LaBlanc, Chris and Quita Camouche, Dr. Joseph and Cathy Garcia-Pratts, Connie Little, David Harvey and Deacon Joseph and Wendy Millhouse.

The event benefits scholarships and programming for the Nesti Center for Faith & Culture. For nearly 30 years, the Nesti Center for Faith & Culture has brought the Catholic voice to the ongoing conversation about the meaning of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness held in common as Americans. The Center's mission is to provide education and formation to help people examine, discern, and live out the relationship between the Gospel’s universal call to love and the worldview and values of the dominant American culture. To learn more about the Center, go to www.stthom.edu/cfc.