Bishop of Laredo
Bishop James Anthony Tamayo, Bishop of Laredo, was born on October 23, 1949, in Brownsville, Texas, in the Diocese of Corpus Christi. He studied at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi from 1968 to 1970 and completed his studies in Houston, at St. Mary's Seminary and at the University of St. Thomas, where he took a bachelor of arts in theology and a master of arts in theology, from 1970 to 1975. He was ordained a deacon on April 2, 1975, and he was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Corpus Christi on June 11, 1976, in the cathedral of Corpus Christi. He served as parochial vicar of St. Patrick Parish from 1976 to 1981, of the cathedral parish from 1981 to 1982, and of St. Pius X Parish from 1982 to 1985, all in Corpus Christi; as parish priest of St. Andrew by the Sea Parish in Corpus Christi from 1986 to 1990; and as parish priest of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Laredo from 1990 to 1993. In the Diocese of Corpus Christi he was also episcopal vicar for the clergy and for Hispanic affairs, chairman of the priest personnel board, a member of the college of consultors and of the presbyteral council, defender of the bond in the diocesan tribunal, and episcopal vicar for the western vicariate. On January 26, 1993, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Galveston-Houston and Titular Bishop of Ita. He received episcopal ordination on March 10, 1993, at Houston, with Joseph Anthony Fiorenza as principal consecrator and René Henry Gracida and Enrique San Pedro as co-consecrators. In those years he was particularly engaged in the pastoral care of the Spanish-speaking community, and within the bishops' conference he served on the board of administration and on several committees. On July 3, 2000, he was appointed the first Bishop of Laredo, a diocese erected in the south-west of Texas, and he was installed on August 9, 2000.