Bishop Emeritus Raymundo J. Peña, 87, died peacefully at the San Juan Nursing Home near the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle on Sept. 24.
Born in 1934 in Robstown, Texas, he was ordained a priest in 1957 in Corpus Christi. He served 19 years as a priest in the Diocese of Corpus Christi, which included the Rio Grande Valley, until the Diocese of Brownsville was created in 1965.
Father Peña became assistant editor of the Texas Gulf Coast Register (now South Texas Catholic).
In May 1970, Father Peña took over as editor from Father James Ullrich, who succeeded Father Gough. Father Peña was principally responsible for the newspaper’s Spanish section.
In October 1970, Father Peña shepherded the newspaper to a new era when they cut their ties with the National Catholic Register and began publishing locally as the Texas Gulf Coast Catholic.
The newspaper was edited, assembled and printed locally. The change afforded the newspaper later deadlines, allowing it to cover local news better.
The change indicated a new editorial policy. Father Peña wrote, “to make the church in the modern world relevant to modern man.”
“There has always been a need in every diocese to communicate to the faithful items not covered by the public press,” Bishop Peña said.
Father Peña remained editor until October 1975, and a year after that, he was named auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of San Antonio.
In 1980, Bishop Peña was appointed the fourth bishop of the Diocese of El Paso, serving for 15 years there until his installation as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Brownsville in August 1995. His motto as bishop was “Haz todo con amor” - “To do all things in love of Christ” (1 Cor 16:14).
Bishop Peña led the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville for 14 years before retiring in 2009.