Pope Leo XIV has appointed multiple new bishops to lead several dioceses around the United States, the Vatican announced on May 1.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a press release that Father John Gomez was appointed bishop-designate of the Diocese of Laredo, Texas, upon the retirement of Bishop James Tamayo from the position.
Tamayo has served in that role for more than a quarter-century, having been appointed to the post in 2000 by Pope John Paul II. At 76, he has reached the customary age of retirement for bishops.
Gomez was born in Colombia on Dec. 15, 1975. He received a master of divinity degree from the University of St. Thomas in Houston and was ordained in the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, on May 23, 2009.
He has served at multiple parishes in Tyler and in multiple roles for the diocese itself, including as judicial vicar and on the diocesan review board. He also served as vicar general and moderator of the curia for the Tyler Diocese from 2015 to 2023 and again from 2025.
West Virginia diocese gets new bishop; 2 new auxiliary bishops for Washington
In West Virginia, Wheeling-Charleston Bishop Mark Brennan will retire to be replaced by Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, who currently serves as an auxiliary bishop of Washington. Brennan, 79, is four years past the customary retirement age; he was installed at his present post in 2019.
Menjivar-Ayala, born Aug. 14, 1970, is a native of El Salvador; he is the first Salvadoran bishop in the history of the United States.
A graduate of St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami, he attended the Pontifical North American College in Rome before receiving a masterʼs degree in theology from the Angelicum. Ordained in the Archdiocese of Washington on May 29, 2004, he has served as parochial vicar and pastor at several parishes.
He was named vicar general of the archdiocese in 2023 and has served on the priest personnel board and the priest council. He was ordained as an auxiliary bishop there on Feb. 21, 2023.
With Menjivar-Ayalaʼs departure from Washington, meanwhile — and as archdiocesan Auxiliary Bishop Roy Campbell Jr. retires — the archdiocese will receive two new auxiliary bishops: Father Gary Studniewski and Father Robert Boxie III.
Bishop-designate Studniewski is presently a priest of the archdiocese, where he serves as pastor at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in the District of Columbia. He was ordained on June 24, 1995, in the archdiocese and served as a military chaplain for nearly a decade.
Bishop-designate Boxie is also a priest in the diocese, currently serving as a chaplain at Howard University. He received engineering and law degrees from Vanderbilt University and Harvard, respectively, before studying at the pontifical universities in Rome. He was ordained on June 25, 2016.
He served at several Maryland parishes before his appointment at Howard and has also taught at the archdiocesan permanent diaconate program.
At a press conference in Washington on May 1, Studniewski said he “fell in love with” the local Church in D.C. when he was first stationed there in the U.S. Army prior to his ordination.
“I was blessed to encounter the diversity of the Church in Washington,” he said, describing the community as “tremendous” and “exciting.”
Also at the press conference, Boxie — who was at times visibly emotional — described himself as “both overwhelmed and deeply humbled” to be appointed to the post.
“Godʼs plans are not always our plans,” he said, describing the popeʼs decision as “unexpected.” He praised the archdiocese for its “vibrancy,” “diversity” and “vitality.”
Speaking directly to the students he has served at Howard, meanwhile, he told them: “You made your chaplain a bishop, and Holy Mother Church thanks you.”
