Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Brownsville and long-time friend of La Posada Providencia, Bishop Raymundo J. Peña, died on September 24 at age 87. Bishop Peña was ordained a priest in 1957 and appointed as a bishop in 1976 by St. John Paul II. He served as Bishop of Brownsville from 1995 until his retirement in 2009.

Bishop Peña’s support for La Posada goes back to shortly after his arrival in the Valley. The Sisters recalled his generous financial and spiritual support of La Posada. They remembered his attendance at gatherings for religious communities of Priests, Brother, and Sisters. He also had an annual Christmas party for religious, some of the “many ways he showed his appreciation for our pastoral work in the Valley. He was a faith-filled and generous man.” Even in retirement, Bishop Peña remained active and “was always on call for La Posada.”

Bishop Peña’s motto from his coat of arms was, ‘Haz todo con amor’ (‘Do everything with love’), taken from 1 Corinthians 16:14. We were witness that the Bishop definitely lived that motto. All of us at La Posada are most grateful for his ministry here in the Valley and will miss him.