Roman Catholic Diocese of Laredo

The Laredo area has been divided under several different Catholic jurisdictions since 1777. The Diocese of Linares o Nueva León was under Spanish, then Mexican control. All of the succeeding vicariates and dioceses were American.

• Diocese of Linares o Nueva León (1777 to 1839[4]
• Prefecture Apostolic of Texas (1839 to 1841)
• Vicariate Apostolic of Texas (1841 to 1847)
• Diocese of Galveston (1847 to 1974)[5]
• Vicariate Apostolic of Brownsville (1874 to 1912)[6]
• Diocese of Corpus Christi (1912 to 2000)
• Diocese of San Antonio (1874 to 2000)
• Diocese of Laredo (2000 to present)

During the 18th century, the Laredo area was part of a province of the Spanish Empire. Five years after the founding of San Agustin de Laredo in 1755, its residents petitioned the Diocese of Guadalajara to provide them with a mission.[3]

In 1759, Bishop Francisco de San Buena Ventura of Guadalajara visited the town. The next year, he sent a resident pries to Laredo to construct a small mission chapel. In 1778, a stone church was erected to accommodate over two hundred families. In 1789, San Agustin parish was established in Laredo by the diocese.[3]

Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish was erected in 1898 in Encinal. The first English-speaking diocese in Laredo, St Peter, was established in 1897.[3]

During the Mexican Revolution between 1910 and 1920, many Mexican Catholics fled their country to avoid persecution. At one point, 14 Mexican archbishops and bishops were taking refuge in Laredo.[3] Franciscan priests from Mexico established Scotus College in Hebbronville in 1926.[7] The Laredo Laredo Pastoral Center was established in 1984 and the Western Vicariate in 1990.[8]

On July 3, 2000, the Diocese of Laredo was created by Pope John Paul II, with territory taken from the Diocese of Corpus Christi and the Archdiocese of San Antonio. The pope named Auxiliary Bishop James Tamayo of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston as the first bishop of Laredo. [2]

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, had 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.[9]

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.[10] Meanwhile, Father Robert L. Kincl, a former judicial vicar for the diocese, announced that he would mail thirty letters opposing Tamayo's position to the Vatican.[11]

As of 2023, Tamayo is the current bishop of the diocese.

In 2002, Reverend Cyriacus Udegbulem, a Nigerian priest serving in the Diocese of Brooklyn, was arrested in Laredo on a New York warrant for rape. A woman had accused Udegbulem of sodomizing her during a counseling session at a Brooklyn church. After the Diocese of Brooklyn dismissed Udegbulem in January 2000, he said he would return to Nigeria. At the time, the woman declined to press charges.

However, Udegbulem showed up in Laredo in March 2000, working as a hospital chaplain and occasionally celebrating mass. On being informed of his background, the Diocese of Laredo dismissed Udegbulem as chaplain in 2001.[12] The alleged victim in New York then decided to press charges against him. After being extradited to New York, Udegbulem went on trial in 2003. The trial ended in June 2003 with a hung jury.[13]

In February 2019, Bishop Tamayo announced that there had been no accusations from the Laredo area against diocesan priests since the founding of the diocese in 2000.[14]

Saint Augustine High School – Laredo, diocesan (1927)

• Blessed Sacrament School – Laredo, parochial (1960)
• Mary Help of Christians School – Laredo, private (1935) Salesian Sisters
• Our Lady of Guadalupe School – Laredo, diocesan (1904)
• Our Lady of Refuge School – Eagle Pass, diocesan (1883)
• St Augustine Elementary School – Laredo, diocesan (1928)[15]
• St. Peter Memorial School – Laredo, diocesan (1925)