{"id":518084,"date":"2010-04-06T14:35:30","date_gmt":"2010-04-06T18:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c630a53ef01347fb066e5970c"},"modified":"2010-04-06T14:56:56","modified_gmt":"2010-04-06T18:56:56","slug":"gomez-vows-to-be-an-advocate-for-l-a-s-immigrants-the-less-fortunate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/518084","title":{"rendered":"Gomez vows to be an advocate for L.A.’s immigrants, the less fortunate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Archbishop-elect<\/img><\/a><\/p>\n

Cardinal Roger Mahony on Tuesday introduced Los Angeles to his successor, San Antonio Archbishop Jose Gomez, saying Gomez would be an advocate for the city’s vast immigrant community as well as the less fortunate.<\/p>\n

\n"Over the years he has been a most effective leader working with priests serving the Spanish-speaking communities across the country, and his leadership in proclaiming the dignity and rights of our immigrant peoples has helped motivate many people to advocate for our immigrants," Mahony said. <\/p>\n

Gomez voiced his unequivocal support for immigration reform and said he
\nwholeheartedly supported Mahony’s advocacy for immigrant rights.<\/p>\n

Gomez spoke of his joy of coming to Los Angeles, which he said \u201clike no other city in the world, has the global face of the Catholic Church.\u201d<\/p>\n

He recalled how immediately after he was told about his new appointment, \u201cthe first thing I saw was a painting of our Lady of Guadalupe in the hallway.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt her love and protection. To Mary of Guadalupe, I would like to entrust my new ministry in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.\u201d <\/p>\n

He invited everyone to \u201cthank God for our diversity and to commit ourselves to things that unite us,\u201d which he explained were \u201cour service to Jesus, the poor, the defense of the unborn child, the immigrant and the disabled.\u201d <\/p>\n

Gomez, who was warm and funny in his interaction with reporters, said he had not spent much time in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI need to learn about it,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know too much about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Mahony, who spoke first, stressed to the pope about the importance of having a Hispanic archbishop. He noted that Los Angeles has the largest Spanish-speaking diocese in the U.S. and the fourth-largest in the world.<\/p>\n

He said that is the real story today. <\/p>\n

He said Gomez\u2019s appointment sends a signal around the world that the church supports Spanish-speaking Catholics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so grateful to God for this gift of a Hispanic archbishop,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI welcome Archbishop Gomez to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles with enthusiasm and personal excitement,\u201d Mahony said. \u201cDuring the process to select a new Archbishop, I urged that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles deserved to have a Hispanic as the next Archbishop. Los Angeles is the largest Hispanic Diocese or Archdiocese in the United States.\u201d <\/p>\n

Gomez, 58, has risen rapidly through the Catholic church and earned a
\nnational reputation.<\/p>\n

In replacing Mahony, Gomez would instantly become
\nthe most prominent Latino bishop in the U.S., leading an
\narchdiocese that by far is the nation\u2019s largest and is dominated by
\nparishioners with roots in his native Mexico.<\/p>\n

If his personal history is any guide, he also could be expected to guide
\n the Los Angeles church along a more traditional — some would say
\nconservative — path than Mahony, known as one of the most progressive
\narchbishops in the country and an impassioned fighter for immigrants\u2019
\nrights.<\/p>\n

Gomez is a
\nformer member of Opus Dei, a conservative and controversial Catholic
\norganization (known to most Americans because of its unflattering role
\nin \u201cThe DaVinci Code,\u201d which Opus Dei leaders denounced as misleading
\nand offensive). <\/p>\n

Mahony addressed that issue in his statement Tuesday morning: \u201cSome may conclude that since Archbishop Gomez was ordained a priest of Opus Dei he must be ‘conservative.’ In fact, these labels of ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal’ are really unhelpful in the life of the Church. We are all called to a deep relationship with Jesus Christ, and I can attest that both of us share a common commitment to Christ and to the Church, and that both of us are interested in promoting the teachings of the Church fully as well as bringing the words and example of Christ to today\u2019s society and world. I consider ourselves to share an equal commitment to the continued growth of the Church here in Los Angeles.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Gomez built a reputation in San Antonio as a staunch
\n traditionalist who reversed some of the more liberal-leaning
\ninitiatives of his predecessor. According to local news reports, he
\ndisbanded a Justice and Peace Commission whose members disagreed with
\nhis support for a state constitutional amendment barring gay marriage,
\nand he once denounced a local Catholic college for hosting
\nthen-presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, an advocate of abortion
\nrights.<\/p>\n

Since taking over the San Antonio archdiocese in 2005, Gomez has pleased
\nsome members of the community with his strong anti-abortion stance and
\nhis insistence on traditional church doctrine, while alienating others
\nwho favor a more progressive approach, according to the San Antonio
\nExpress-News.<\/p>\n

— Mitchell Landsberg and Jessica Garrison at Our Lady of Angels
\nCathedral\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Photo: Archbishop-elect Jose H. Gomez in 2005.<\/em> Credit: Eric Gay \/ Associated Press<\/em><\/p>\n

RELATED
<\/br><\/strong><\/p>\n

Times coverage on Jose Gomez<\/a><\/p>\n

Share your thoughts on Gomez’s appointment: Will Mahony successor press for real priest abuse reform?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cardinal Roger Mahony on Tuesday introduced Los Angeles to his successor, San Antonio Archbishop Jose Gomez, saying Gomez would be an advocate for the city’s vast immigrant community as well as the less fortunate. "Over the years he has been a most effective leader working with priests serving the Spanish-speaking communities across the country, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4131,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-518084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=518084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518084\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=518084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=518084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=518084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}