James Anthony Tamayo (born October 23, 1949) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as bishop of the

Diocese of Laredo The Roman Catholic Diocese of Laredo ( la, Dioecesis Laredanus, es, Diócesis de Laredo) is a Roman Catholic diocese located in Laredo, Texas. It was founded on July 3, 2000. The San Agustin Cathedral is the Mother Church of the Diocese of La ...

in Texas since 2000. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the

Diocese of Galveston-Houston In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

in Texas from 1993 to 2000.

Biography

Early life and priesthood

Bishop Tamayo is the son of Antonio P. Tamayo and Guadalupe B. Tamayo. He has a sister, Mrs. Mercy Barrera of Corpus Christi. He holds a Master of Theology degree from the

University of St. Thomas St. Thomas University or University of St. Thomas may refer to: *Saint Thomas Aquinas University, Colombia *Saint Thomas Aquinas University of the North, Tucumán province, Argentina *St. Thomas University (Canada), Fredericton, New Brunswick *St. ...

and attended

St. Mary's Seminary St. Mary's Seminary and University is a Catholic seminary located within the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland; it was the first seminary founded in the United States after the Revolution and has been run since its founding by the ...

in Houston. Tamayo was ordained a priest on July 11, 1976.

Auxiliary Bishop of Galveston-Houston

Pope John Paul II appointed Tamayo as an auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Galveston-Houston on January 26, 1993. He was consecrated as bishop on March 10, 1993. He also became the titular bishop of

Ita Ita or ITA may refer to : Places and jurisdictions * ITA, ISO 3166-1 country code for Italy * Ita (Africa), an ancient city and former bishopric in Roman Mauretania, presently a Latin Catholic titular see * Itá, Paraguay People * Ita (prin ...

Bishop of Laredo

On July 3, 2000, Pope Paul II appointed Tamayo as bishop of the newly founded Diocese of Laredo. On August 9, 2000, he was installed as its first bishop. On September 10, 2008, Tamayo called upon the administration of U.S. President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

to halt work-place raids in search of

illegal immigrant Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

"We have respect for our enforcement personnel, but these worksite raids are only pitting human beings against each other. We must abandon the raids."

In March 2015, Tamayo was among eighty religious figures who signed a letter to President

Barack H. Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

asking that the government halt the practice of detaining families who have come into the United States illegally. He visited a detention center in Dilley,Texas and expressed concern for the women being held there, some for a long time.

Controversies

In March 2016, Tamayo halted the construction of a Catholic student center at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) in Laredo. The Brothers of St. John, key sponsors of the $4 million-plus project, held a groundbreaking ceremony in November 2013. Tamayo did not attend the groundbreaking; nor did he offer an explanation for his opposition to the project, even to TAMIU President Ray Keck. Hundreds of thousands of preliminary funds have already been spent on the project, which has been on the drawing board for a decade. Glen S. Jackson of Alexandria questioned Tamayo's opposition to the student center, which he said has caused a "hostile atmosphere" in the Laredo diocese. No other college or university has faced such a denial. Jackson claims that 99 percent of the clergy in the Laredo diocese favors the project. Meanwhile, Father Robert L. Kincl, a former

judicial vicar In the Roman Catholic Church, a judicial vicar or episcopal official ( la, links=no, officialis) is an officer of the diocese who has ordinary power to judge cases in the diocesan ecclesiastical court. Although the diocesan bishop can reserv ...

for the diocese, announced that he would mail thirty letters opposing Tamayo's position to The Vatican. In 2002, a priest from New York City was arrested in Laredo on rape charges out of New York. The district attorney of

Kings County Kings County or King's County may refer to: Places Canada *Kings County, New Brunswick *Kings County, Nova Scotia *Kings County, Prince Edward Island ** King's County (electoral district), abolished in 1892 Ireland * County Offaly, formerly call ...

in New York said that the Diocese of Laredo was "less than satisfactory" in cooperating with law enforcement. Tamayo did not explain the circumstances under which the priest had left the Diocese of Laredo.

References

External links

The Diocese of Laredo website

Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamayo, James Anthony 1949 births Living people Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of San Antonio People from Laredo, Texas People from Houston Religious leaders from Texas People from Brownsville, Texas Catholics from Texas 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States