Pope Names Latino Leader For L.A. Archdiocese [Member of Conservative Opus Dei Movement]

MSNBC ^ | April 06, 2010 | Nicole Windfield

[Steelfish]

Pope Names Latino Leader For L.A. Archdiocese More than 70 percent of the area’s 5 million Catholics are Hispanic

By NICOLE WINFIELD

VATICAN CITY - The pope on Tuesday named Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio, Texas, to take over the Los Angeles archdiocese when its current archbishop retires, putting him in line to become the highest-ranking Latino in the American Catholic hierarchy.

The appointment of the Mexican-born Gomez as coadjutor for Los Angeles also will likely make him the country's first Latino cardinal. Gomez, 58, is an archbishop of San Antonio and member of Opus Dei, the conservative movement which enjoys favor at the Vatican.

Cardinal Roger Mahony, who has been dogged by the clergy abuse scandal during his quarter-century tenure in Los Angeles, turns 75 in February. Under church rules, bishops submit their resignation at age 75.

Pope Benedict XVI can decide whether to keep him on the job longer. But the appointment of Gomez as coadjutor indicates Benedict wants a smooth transition to a new leader for the nation's largest diocese.

Gomez will have to oversee the fallout from the abuse scandal that came to light during Mahony's tenure.

In 2007, Mahony agreed to a record-setting $660 million settlement with more than 500 alleged victims of clergy abuse.

A federal grand jury is also investigating how the Archdiocese of Los Angeles handled claims of abuse, and has subpoenaed several witnesses, including a former Los Angeles priest convicted of child molestation and a monsignor who served as vicar for clergy under Mahony.

Mahony's attorney has said the cardinal, the longest-serving U.S. cardinal since the Second Vatican Council, is not a target of the investigation.

[Jake from AZ]

Good grief, what sadist makes his employees read The DaVinci Code?

[Pyro7480]

I was working on an anti-DaVinci Code campaign, so I had to read it as part of the opposition research. ;-)

[Tax-chick]

We met the Archbishop at the Rite of Election when we were in RCIA - he particularly greeted each Catechumen personally. Soon afterward, Abp. Flores wrote an article about the Rosary’s Biblical sources for the Catholic newspaper. It was the first time my husband had seen the information, and he said it seemed like the Archbishop was specifically address the misunderstandings he had about the Rosary.

[dangus]

I remember reading... and citing on FR... a poll which found that only 38% of Hispanics residing in the U.S. were Catholics, compared to 24% of the general population.

[Sun]

Thank you. I’m so glad for your husband.

[Tax-chick]

You’re welcome. It might not seem like much, but it really upset me that he wouldn’t say a Rosary with me on an occasion, not even when one of our children was sick or a loved one died. I was very grateful to Abp. Flores.