Texas Catholic Voice May 2026
In this issue:
- EFA Award notifications sent to families of 95,935 students
- May Matters – Vote May 26
- Welcome to Bishop-elect Gomez
- Bishops’ statement on Texas’ 600th execution
- And more!
A Message from Jennifer Allmon, Executive Director
It’s May, the time of year when we honor Mary in a special way and calendars are full of joyful celebrations. With First Communions and Confirmations to Mother’s Day, graduations and weddings, it is a festive and busy season.
For 95,935 students and their families it is an exceptionally joyful time as they received notification of their TEFA awards earlier this month. These families were in Tiers 1 and 2, meaning they either have a student with a disability and/or are in a lower poverty level. Remarkably, 77% of all who received an award were below 200% of the federal poverty level (that’s below $66,000 for a family of four).
Our faith teaches that a preferential option is to be given to the poor and we are grateful to the Legislature for putting those most in need first in line for this program.
There are wonderful stories coming forward of families who are both new to Catholic schools and those who have been making great sacrifices to attend Catholic school and now will have less burden to bear. One dad said that he has been holding three jobs to afford Catholic school for his children and now he may be able to let go of one job so that he can attend soccer games on the weekends with his family.
The gift of this financial assistance is changing so many families, and we are excited for the fall when these students will take their places in our communities. Consider joining your school’s welcome committee for new families or volunteering as a mentor family to make sure all the new students and their families know the inside scoop at your school.
Families on the waitlist have been notified of their approximate position on the list. We expect that those waitlisted Tier 2 families will receive notifications of awards as soon as June.
This will come when someone who has already received an award decides not to participate in the program and returns the award or changes their award level to homeschooling, which receives less funding. We are hopeful that most Tier 2 families will be awarded in this school year. Those in Tiers 3 and 4 are not likely to be funded this year as there were enough applicants in the higher needs categories to exhaust the allocated funds in this biennium.
May matters
Texas primary election runoffs will be held on May26; these elections decide who appears on the November ballot for US Congress, the Texas Legislature and statewide offices. Typically, only a small percentage of eligible voters show up. Primary voters also tend to skew older and more firmly aligned with one political party, which means many community voices are missing from the conversation.
Most Texans aren't aware that if you didn't vote in the primary, you can vote in either runoff election! If you did vote in the primary, you must vote in that same party in the runoff. The act of voting in a primary election affiliates a voter with a political party for one calendar year. In the general election, you may vote for a candidate from either party.
Key May Runoff Dates
- May 18 – 22: Early Voting
- May 26: Election Day
Help us get the word out!
- How runoffs work: marchmatters.org/how-runoffs-work
- Why they matter: marchmatters.org/why-runoffs-matter
Civilize It is a call by the US bishops to greater civility and the common good, a way to respond to our polarized, divided communities – in politics, in the Church and even in our own families.
As Pope Francis writes in Fratelli Tutti, we can seek “a better kind of politics, one truly at the service of the common good” (no. 154). We can see ourselves as members of one family. We can seek to encounter and to grow. We can identify common values. We can listen to understand. We can seek the truth together. We can jointly come up with creative solutions to the problems that face our world.
Helpful links for further study and preparation for voting:
New Bishop for the Diocese of Laredo
Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Bishop James A. Tamayo, 76, from the pastoral governance of the Laredo Diocese of Laredo, and has appointed Father John Jairo Gomez as bishop-elect of Laredo. Father Gómez is a priest of the Tyler Diocese and currently serves as the vicar general of the diocese.
With deep gratitude, we thank Bishop Tamayo for his years of faithful service, leadership, and care for the Laredo Diocese and we welcome Bishop-elect Gómez.
Bishop Lopes receives additional assignment
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Steven Lopes as apostolic administrator of the Ordinariate of the Southern Cross in Australia and Oceania. He remains bishop in the Ordinariate in North America and receives this new role in addition to that mandate.
Bishops denounce death penalty as Texas executes 600th person
On Thursday, May 14, the State of Texas executed Edward Busby, the 600th person killed by lethal injection. The bishops of Texas again denounce the death penalty for its detrimental effects on the victims of violence and all society.
Additional information
“Mr. Busby’s case is illustrative of several patterns that show how the death penalty is used in Texas and nationally…For decades, Texas stood apart from the rest of the country with its heavy use of the death penalty. As it reaches the milestone of 600 executions, Texas now appears to be falling in line with broader national trends. Like use of the death penalty nationally, which is heavily concentrated in a minority of states, Texas’ death penalty is isolated in a handful of counties. Like the U.S. death penalty, which has declined in both popularity and use over the last 25 years, Texas’ death sentences and executions have slowed to a fraction of their former numbers. Like the U.S. death penalty, Texas’ death penalty can be characterized by racial bias, arbitrariness, and high costs.”
Read more: How a person with intellectual disability became Texas’ 600th execution in the modern era
“In his final statement, Busby apologized repeatedly for Crane’s death and said he ‘never meant anything bad to happen to her.’ ...
‘I am so sorry for what happened. … Miss Crane was a lovely woman. I never meant anything bad to happen to her,’ he said. ‘I’ll take the blame if it will help.’”
Read more: Texas executes 600th inmate since death penalty was reinstated in 1976
“TCADP laments the 600 lives ended by the State of Texas and the harm suffered by all Texans impacted by violence. This milestone represents not just the men and women killed by the State but the thousands upon thousands of people who have been impacted by the death penalty system: the friends and family of the victims; the friends and family of the defendants; the more than 8,400 jurors who served their civic duty; the legal teams; the corrections officers on death row and at the Huntsville Unit; the journalists who have covered these cases and/or witnessed executions; and so many others.”
Read more: Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty statement
Upcoming executions
- LeJames Norman, Sept. 16, 2026
- Ramey Ker’sean Olajuwa, Sept. 23, 2026
- Jamaal Howard, Oct. 7, 2026
- John Rubio, Nov. 12, 2026
We pray for the victims of violence and their loved ones, for those on death row and for an end to the death penalty.
Pray with Pope Leo
That everyone might have food
Let us pray that everyone, from large producers to small consumers, be committed to avoid wasting food, and to ensure that everyone has access to quality food.