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Two LAPD cops who ignored calls to attend a robbery at a nearby Macy's to play Pokemon have failed in their bid to have their firing reversed. California's court of appeals ruled Tuesday that Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell were rightfully terminated in 2017 after refusing to go to the scene of a robbery at the Crenshaw mall, with Lozano responding: 'Aw, screw it.' Instead, the cops decided to hunt down a 'Snorlax' character that had appeared nearby on Pokemon Go, which lets players 'capture' virtual reality characters who pop up on a phone map of nearby locations. Players must...

In Rome ... President Joe Biden met with Pope Francis at the Vatican, where the pontiff apparently gave the second Catholic U.S. president a subtle political message. “We just talked about the fact he was happy that I was a good Catholic and I should keep receiving Communion," Biden said, referring to the growing rift in the U.S. Catholic Church over whether public officials who publicly advocate for abortion should be denied the sacrament

At urging of U.S. bishops, Catholic leaders to meet on immigrationSAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (CNS) — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will host an emergency meeting with prelates from Central America as well as Vatican representatives June 1 and 2 in Chicago to set forth a path for the U.S. church’s response to immigration.The meeting comes as parts of Latin America have been hard hit economically by the COVID-19 pandemic, changing climate patterns and emerging political strife.The meeting will include representatives from the Vatican’s Migrants and Refugees Section, bishops from Central America and Mexico, as well as U.S. Cardinals...

WASHINGTON — Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit will head up a special working group of the U.S. bishops to address issues surrounding the election of a Catholic president and policies that may come about that would be in conflict with Catholic teaching and the bishops’ priorities. Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, announced the establishment of this working group at the end of the public portion of the bishops’ Nov. 16-17 meeting, held this year completely online. Archbishop Vigneron is vice president of the USCCB. Other members of the working...

Los Angeles, Calif., Aug 13, 2019 / 05:00 pm (CNA).- The Archbishop of Los Angeles wrote this week that the white nationalism that motivated a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas is a sign that the U.S. has lost touch with the Christian ideals of the nation’s founding. He called Christians to give witness to the common humanity of all people. “In the 22 dead in El Paso, and the two dozen more wounded, in the children left with no parents, in the shattered security of a peaceful border town, we are left with some hard questions about what our...

After his election to head up the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops(USCCB), Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, born in Monterrey, Mexico, stated the situation at the southern border is a "tragedy." He said he witnessed firsthand the "suffering of the people there " during his visits to south Texas last year. Gomez calls his new position "a blessing for the Latino people."  Gomez became archbishop of Los Angeles in 2011 which has had a homelessness crisis of “Dickensian “ dystopian proportions, according to the LA Times. But the drug addicts and mentally ill homeless people on the streets...

Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles has called on Catholics to achieve a “unity of life” and let their faith form their political decisions as they prepare to vote this November. “We have important obligations as citizens. But we have to carry out those obligations always in light of our duty to God,” the archbishop wrote in his Sept. 21 column for The Tidings. The column is the first in a series he will write on the principles that should guide Catholics in thinking about this year's elections. Archbishop Gomez observed that Catholics have a dual temptation with regards to...

Through his well-chronicled derelictions of duty, Roger Mahony, the cardinal emeritus of Los Angeles, placed a number of ticking time bombs near his successor's feet. Last week, one of them went off. Archbishop Jose Gomez, who replaced Mahony last year, announced that Los Angeles auxiliary bishop Gabino Zavala had submitted his resignation to the Vatican after fessing up about two children he fathered years before.The media fatuously describes this scandal as Archbishop Gomez's first "controversy." But it belongs entirely to his predecessor. Cardinal Mahony appointed Zavala to his position in 1994. Did Cardinal Mahony know about Zavala's children? (The Los...

When Archbishop José Gomez asked retired Valero Energy Corp. President Edward Benninger who could help the Archdiocese of San Antonio streamline its budget, Benninger gave him three names. "Edward Benninger" was on the list. The archbishop Friday tabbed Benninger to fill the newly created job of vice chancellor for administration. Benninger will be looking for ways to bring modern business practices to the work of the archdiocese starting Monday. "There are always ways to do thing better," Benninger said. "If you look hard at any operation, you see ways you make it more efficient." There's plenty to put a pencil...