Special to The Texas Catholic
Jim Moroney III, retired publisher of The Dallas Morning News who also served as chairman, president, and CEO of A.H. Belo Corporation, the News’ former parent company, has been selected as the 43rd annual recipient of The Catholic Foundation Award.
Moroney will be recognized Feb. 7, 2026, during The Catholic Foundation Award Dinner at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas for his lifelong Catholic faith and philanthropic influence in support of organizations including the Institute for Homiletics, Cistercian Preparatory School in Irving, and Young Catholic Professionals.
For more than 40 years, The Catholic Foundation Award has honored an individual, couple, or family for their distinguished service and support to advance the religious, charitable and educational needs throughout the local Catholic community.
Moroney is the son of Jim Moroney Jr., who received the award in 2003, and the great-grandson of George Bannerman Dealey, first publisher of The Dallas Morning News.
“Jim transitioned his success in keeping quality journalism alive to fulfilling a sense of duty and service that he learned from his parents, ancestors and Cistercian monks,” said Matt Kramer, president and CEO of The Catholic Foundation. “Jim has served as a sage and trusted advisor and fundraiser for many organizations and his imprint can be felt throughout the Diocese of Dallas and beyond.”
A Dallas native, Moroney and his three siblings attended Holy Trinity Catholic Church with their parents as children. He enrolled at Cistercian Preparatory School in fourth grade and graduated from the school. Abbot Denis Farkasfalvy, O. Cist., who received the Catholic Foundation Award in 2016, served as his Form Master. The Form Master leads his Form from fifth grade through graduation and serves as an academic advisor, guidance counselor, disciplinarian, spiritual director, cheerleader and caregiver for each student.
Moroney and his wife, Barbara, both attended Stanford University and participated in a Shakespeare class together with Barbara’s identical twin, Bonnie. Their courtship began after a first date to a Cat Stevens concert in February 1976.
After several years of dating, and after obtaining their master’s degrees in business from The University of Texas at Austin, Moroney proposed to Barbara following midnight Christmas Mass at Our Lady of Dallas Cistercian Abbey. They married in August 1983 at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, where they remain parishioners. The couple founded Sixmilebridge Winery in Paso Robles, California, and are celebrating their 10th harvest this year.
They are the parents of five children — Sean, Mae, Kyle, and fraternal twins Callie and Jenny — and grandparents to four.
“Education was very important, and we tried to instill in our kids that whatever talents they had intellectually and God-given, that they needed to apply them as best as they could,” Moroney said.
Moroney has supported numerous initiatives, including:
- Raising more than $7.5 million to help establish the Institute for Homiletics at the University of Dallas in partnership with the Diocese of Dallas and The Catholic Foundation. The institute’s mission is to renew Catholic preaching in the U.S.
- Founding Cistercian’s alumni association, alumni publication, annual alumni award dinner, and planned giving program. He was the first alumnus to serve on the school board, a role he held for more than 30 years, and co-chaired several capital campaigns.
- Helping to make possible the founding and growth of Young Catholic Professionals by introducing donors to the original YCP executive director. YCP now operates more than 43 chapters nationwide, with more in development.
Moroney serves on the boards of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul North Texas and Catholic Charities Dallas. He is a lifetime member of the advisory board of the Moody College of Communications at UT Austin. He also served on the board of The Dallas Foundation for more than 10 years including chairing its board, the State Fair of Texas, the Associated Press, the Newspaper Association of America where he was chairman and was a member of the Bishop’s Finance Council of the Diocese of Dallas.
Apart from the influence of his parents, Moroney said he owes much gratitude to Abbot Farkasfalvy.
“He pushed me harder than anybody ever had,” Moroney said. “He influenced me tremendously academically and spiritually. He knew me as well, or maybe better, than my parents did. If I was having a personal issue or problem, I would always go to Father Denis and talk it through.”
Moroney believes in the Gospel of Luke’s message: “To whom much is given, much is owed.”
“I was given a lot by my parents, Cistercian, and God,” he said. “I could never repay my parents everything they did for me. I could work every day until I die and not give back what they have given to me.”
While humbled by all his philanthropic work, Moroney considers his efforts to establish the Institute for Homiletics and hire its founding executive director, Dr. Karla Bellinger, his most Holy Spirit-driven moment. The institute’s third clergy cohort will begin next year.
Believing there was a need to help priests and deacons do a better job of connecting people in the pews with the pulpit through homilies, Moroney met with Bishop Edward J. Burns and local priests. He worked with Kris Kramer, with support from then Auxiliary Bishop Greg Kelly, to raise $7.5 million from Catholic donors.
Being used as an instrument of God to establish the Institute has fueled his reliance on the Holy Spirit to be a positive force.
“If God allows, I would like to live long enough to see the renewal of Catholic preaching in the U.S. that was started by the Institute for Homiletics,” Jim said. “I want the Institute to make a difference so that people in the pew — through the homily — have a genuine encounter with the living God and walk out of church knowing and wanting to have a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.
“With the Holy Spirit, I believe anything is possible. If the priests pray enough, and we give them a little bit of practical help, I believe that can happen.”
Cutline for featured image: Jim Moroney III, retired publisher of The Dallas Morning News who also served as chairman, president, and CEO of A.H. Belo Corporation, the News’ former parent company, has been selected as the 43rd annual recipient of The Catholic Foundation Award. (KRISTINA BOWMAN/The Catholic Foundation)
