St. Maria Goretti Parish

WASHINGTON – Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Bishop James A. Tamayo, 76, from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Laredo, and has appointed Reverend John Jairo Gomez, as Bishop-elect of Laredo. Father Gomez is a priest of the Diocese of Tyler and currently serves as the vicar general of the diocese. The resignation and appointment were publicized in Washington, D.C., on May 1, 2026, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The following biographical information for Bishop-elect Gomez was drawn from preliminary materials provided to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Father Gomez was born on December 15, 1975, in Colombia. He received his master of divinity from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas (2009), and a licentiate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome (2012). He was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Tyler on May 23, 2009.

His parish assignments after ordination include: pastor at Holy Cross parish in Pittsburgh, Texas (2012-2017); pastor at Christ the King parish in Kilgore (2017-2018); and pastor at St. Charles in Frankston (2018-2020). His assignments for the Diocese of Tyler include: judicial vicar (2014-2015); member of the diocesan presbyteral council (2014 to present);; member of the diocesan college of consultors (2015 to present); member of the board of directors for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Tyler (2015 to present); member of the diocesan review board (2017 to present); member of the East Texas Catholic Foundation Board of Directors (2017 to present); member of the board of directors for the diocesan priest retirement plan (2017-2022); diocesan director of the Pontifical Mission Societies (2017 to present); member if the Catholic Association of Diocesan Directors of Hispanic Ministry (2022 to present); delegate of the apostolic administrator (2023-2025). He served as vicar general and moderator of the curia for the Diocese of Tyler from 2015 to 2023 and has also been serving in the role again from 2025 to present. 

Bishop-elect Gomez is a native speaker of Spanish.

The Diocese of Laredo is comprised of 10,905 square miles in the State of Texas.

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