Diocese of Laredo


The Diocese of Laredo is a diocese of the Catholic Church in South Texas in the United States. Founded in 2000, it is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of San Antonio. The San Agustin Cathedral in Laredo is the mother church of the diocese. James Tamayo is the first and current bishop.
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Statistics

The Diocese of Laredo covers an area of 10,905 sq. mi with 32 parishes and 17 missions. It includes Dimmit, Jim Hogg, La Salle, Maverick, Webb, Zapata, and Zavala Counties.
As of 2018, the diocese had over 344,000 members with 48 diocesan priests, 14 religious priests and 33 permanent deacons.

History

Name Changes

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.

1700 to 1900

During the 18th century, the Laredo area was part of a province of New Spain, a colony 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.
In 1759, Bishop Francisco de San Buena Ventura of Guadalajara visited the town. The next year, he sent a resident priest 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.
Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish was erected in 1898 in Encinal. The first English-speaking parish in Laredo, St. Peter, was established in 1897.

1900 to present

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. Franciscan priests from Mexico established Scotus College in Hebbronville in 1926. The Laredo Pastoral Center was established in 1984 and the Western Vicariate in 1990.
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.
In March 2016, Tamayo halted the construction of a Catholic student center at Texas A&M International University 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.
As of 2023, Tamayo is the current bishop of the diocese.

Sex abuse

Cyriacus Udegbulem, a priest in bad standing, had worked in Laredo Diocese as a hospital chaplain. On being informed of his background, the Diocese of Laredo dismissed Udegbulem as chaplain in 2001. 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.
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.

Bishops

James Anthony Tamayo

Parishes

Parishes of the Diocese of Laredo that came from the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

Schools

High school

As of 2025, there is one high school in the diocese.
Saint Augustine High School – Laredo, diocesan

Elementary and middle schools

As of 2025, there are four elementary and middle schools in the diocese:

Media

  • La Fe magazine
  • KHOY radio