Posted on 02/14/2011 7:24:01 AM PST by marshmallow
Roman Catholic Archbishop José Gomez has been on a listening tour across Southern California as he prepares to take over leadership of the L.A. archdiocese.
Times religion writer Mitchell Landsberg talked to Gomez about his meetings, where some parishners have asked him about plans to make what is considered a progressive archdiocese more conservative:
Since he arrived in Southern California last May, the archbishop has put thousands of miles on the Ford Taurus he brought with him from San Antonio. He has crisscrossed the region, seemingly determined to meet every one of the 4 million to 5 million Catholics who make the Archdiocese of Los Angeles the most populous in the United States — more than six times the size of the one he left.
Gomez has been learning his new turf, which encompasses Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. In a sense, he has also been trying to sell himself to his parishioners and priests. Some of them were wary of his history as a member of Opus Dei, a controversial Catholic organization with a reputation for extreme orthodoxy.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimesblogs.latimes.com ...
Fixed it.
Thank God for Pope Benedict!!!
I hope so, too. Could it get any worse?
He is opening the Walk For Life in March with a PRAYER. That did not happen with Mahoney, ever! He will be a blessed relief here— it’s been a long drought.
He is opening the Walk For Life in March with a PRAYER. That did not happen with Mahoney, ever! He will be a blessed relief here— it’s been a long drought.
Yes, actually, it could get worse. It could get A LOT worse. I have found that even in the most dreadful of dioceses, there remain parishes (a remnant, one might say) that have not succumbed to the madness. I have found some parishes in LA that are not totally nuts; I have found the same in the Dreadful Diocese of Richmond.
That depends on what you call "worse":
Defeat of DREAM Act only a temporary setback, says Archbishop Gomez
Latino Archbishop to Head the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Well, that's good news. Actually, I have known quite a few people in Opus Dei, and although it is orthodox, it is far from the caricature of the Spanish Inquisition that its opponents like to paint it. And they make a specialty of reaching out to the young, especially college students.
It would be great if they can get that heretic Mahoney out of there and start turning things around. It will not be easy, because I'm sure there are hundreds of heretics ensconced everywhere in the Archdiocesan staff and in catechetical supervision, etc. And no doubt a fair number of dubious priests, who cannot simply all be kicked out, for lack of priests to replace them.
But Mahoney must be one of the last remaining big-time losers. Good to see him leave.
Yes, I couldn’t remember if Gomez was the guy who favored illegal immigrant amnesty, as reported here yesterday. If so, then he’ll need to be educated. Or simply ignored on that point.
Conservative?
American citizenship is absolutely irrelevant to him.
I resent the role the Catholic Church has played in establishing, maintaining, and supporting a separate nation of Mexican nationals here in Los Angeles and the entire state.
If Gomez is conservative he’ll have plenty of office heads and program directors to fire. I’ll give him a year of hands off—a peaceful transition. Then we’ll see what he is about.
As strongly as I disagree with him on that issue, having a Catholic with a wrong-headed stance on a gtiven issue is infinitely better than having a pagan with a wrong-headed stance on every issue.
**Some Wonder if José Gomez Will Make L.A. Archdiocese More Conservative**
Absolutely. But he works very quietly and humbly. I hope the people in the LA Archdiocese keep us informed of the little changes they see.
No, he is not for illegal immigration at all!
He is a NATURALIZED U. S. citizen.
He know how to do it right.
God bless him.
Thousands attend ceremony for next L.A. cardinal
Why Transitions Matter (Mahony to Gomez in Los Angeles)
Bishop answers readers' tough questions about immigration
Cardinal Roger Mahony's Religious and Political Agenda
Suspended Gay Calif. Priest Laments: Abp. Gomez a 'Sharp Thrust to the Right' for LA Diocese
More Bogus Charges Against Archbishop Gomez
SEX ABUSE LAWSUIT NAMES SAN ANTONIO ARCHDIOCESE
Latino Immigrants Proud That L.A.'s Next Archbishop Is 'One of Us' [Can We Get Rid of Ethnic Pride?]
In Defense of Archbishop Gomez's Handling of Abuse Scandals
Archbishop Gomez: Who is He?
Why Archbishop Gomez is like other Bishops Appointed by Pope Benedict
An Interview with Archbishop José H. Gomez
Gomez vows to be an advocate for L.A.'s immigrants...(misleading title alert!)
San Antonio's Archbishop José Gomez named by Pope to be successor to Cardinal Roger Mahony. ...
Precious words from the archbishop... [Jose Gomez]
New Coadjutor of Los Angeles One of 22 Opus Dei Bishops
Opus Dei Seeks to Make Everyday Life Holier
Archbishop Gomez 'deeply grateful' for Los Angeles appointment
Cardinal Mahony grateful LA will have Hispanic archbishop
Vatican: Archbishop Gomez appointed to Archdiocese of LA
Pope's 'Revenge' As LA Gets Opus Dei Bishop [Pope's "Revenge" on Hollywood Sodomites!]
Gomez Holds Both Conservative And Progressive Views [Denounced College for Pro-Abortion HRC Invite]
Pope Names Latino Leader For L.A. Archdiocese [Member of Conservative Opus Dei Movement]/a>
Historic Appointment to LA Archdiocese
Report: Gomez is going to L.A.
It's Official: New Archbishop [Gomez} for Los Angeles
El Tiempo Ha Venido -- Reports: (Archbishop) Gomez Up to LA (Catholic Caucus)
[To replace Cardinal Mahony] Vatican rumor: an American prelate in play?
Los Angeles Getting a New Archbishop (Part 1)
Los Angeles Getting a New Archbishop (Part 2)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2673411/posts?page=14#14
I don’t think Archbishop Gomez is of the cut of cloth you envision.
Very conservative.
I devoutly hope you are right. He may have been misrepresented in yesterday’s reports.
As I said, I have had some inside knowledge of Opus Dei over the years, and they are sound and solid. And, as it happens, their founder, St. Josemaria Escriva, was Spanish.
Archbishop Gomez wants to grant citizenship to millions of Mexican foreign nationals who illegally entered the United States. He is working to change the law to make it happen.
He said so in the article you directed me to.
That is NOT conservatism, it is liberal activism at its worst, because it has the imprimatur of the Church.
Incorrect.
Defeated driver's license bill deserved to be law
February 27 , 2002
Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Auxiliary Bishop of Denver
Colorado Senate Bill 67 died on Valentine's Day in the Senate's Government, Veterans and Military Relations Committee. Its defeat will hurt many good people in our state, and concerned citizens need to hope, pray and work earnestly to ensure that next year, the legislative result will be different.
SB 67 would have allowed undocumented immigrants to apply for driver's licenses. The main arguments in favor of such legislation are well known. They're worth restating one more time, though, so they remain fresh in people's minds. SB 67 may be dead for this year, but the underlying need for it is very much alive.
First, SB 67-style legislation would serve our public safety.
Colorado has a legitimate health and safety interest in licensing those who use its roads. More than 50,000 undocumented immigrants now drive on state roads unlicensed. If a job is at stake — a job that requires driving — a worker who cannot apply for a license will almost certainly drive anyway. And of course, unlicensed drivers are uninsured drivers, which makes them far more likely to flee the scene of an accident.
Second, SB 67-style legislation would aid law enforcement. A driver's license makes it easier to track outstanding warrants, repeat offenders and child support delinquents. It expands the database of fingerprints for crime investigation. It increases the willingness of immigrant witnesses and victims to aid crime investigations. It allows police to deal with traffic violators without becoming embroiled in policy issues. It also relieves police from issuing tickets for which there is no possible resolution. (Immigrants are rarely deported for driving and usually return — unlicensed — to Colorado roads.)
Third, it would not violate federal immigration law. Immigration law places no requirement on states regarding the licensing of drivers. The Immigration and Naturalization Service is not significantly interested in unlicensed drivers; rather, INS priorities focus on serious foreign criminals, terrorists and immigrant smugglers.
Moreover, state driver's licenses are irrelevant to work eligibility, government programs and benefits.
Fourth, it would arguably assist the fight against terrorism. Colorado licenses provide a database of identities including photographs and fingerprints. Excluding large numbers of people from this database could actually work against police efforts
Fifth and finally, it's the right thing to do. No one is a "criminal" for merely being an undocumented immigrant; it's a status with no criminal penalty. In fact, Colorado is host to thousands of working undocumented immigrants — and depends economically on their labor. A driver's license simply allows these people to drive safely and with insurance in Colorado while the U.S. Congress debates future policy on immigration.(emphasis added)
Shortly before the recent debate on SB 67, Archbishop Charles Chaput wrote to key members of the State Senate noting that, "SB 67 acknowledges the reality that thousands of good but undocumented immigrant workers live in our state, contribute productively to our economy and deserve the ability to travel safely and with insurance while here. I'm convinced that SB 67 will help improve security on our roads for the whole community, and it will add a very worthwhile element of stability to the lives of immigrant workers and their families."
SB 67 was a bill that urgently deserved to be a law. Both justice and common sense support it. We need to remember that for next year. This is an issue Coloradans can't afford to forget.
Anti-immigrant prejudice poses threat to American way of life
Week of March 17, 2004
Refusing college aid to immigrants keeps them from assimilating into mainstream
America is a nation built by immigrants, and illegal immigrants — Irish, Italian, German, Polish and others — have always been part of the mix. But throughout U.S. history, Catholics have carried the burden of anti-immigrant prejudice in a unique way, so we have a special duty to speak up when we see it happening again.
I remembered this last week as I thought about two separate but related events.
The first was the copy of Foreign Policy magazine I received in the mail. In its March/April issue, Samuel Huntington argues that Hispanic immigrants, because of their differences from the American mainstream in language and culture and their resistance to assimilation, pose a serious threat to the American way of life. Huntington is a world-class intellectual writing in a prestigious national journal. In effect, he gives a credible-sounding vocabulary to the worst kind of nativism.
The second event was last week's struggle in the Colorado Legislature over House Bill 1187, designed to deny in-state resident tuition to the children of undocumented immigrants.
In her comments on the bill, State Senator Paula Sandoval said it best when she observed that, "All of these children (of undocumented workers) want to achieve the American dream. In some ways, what we're really saying is it's OK for people to come to this country to clean the university, to plow the fields, to harvest the crops and to work in our restaurants. But when it comes to enjoying the fruits of those labors, what we're doing ... is saying you're not invited to sit at the table for dinner."
I saw Senator Sandoval's comments the same day I read this passage from Samuel Huntington's Foreign Policy article: "The education of people of Mexican origin in the United States lags well behind the U.S. norm. In 2000, 86.6 percent of native-born Americans had graduated from high school. The rates for foreign-born population in the United States varied from 94.9 percent for Africans, 83.8 percent for Asians, 49.6 percent for Latin Americans overall, and down to 33.8 percent for Mexicans, who ranked lowest."
Most Americans, native-born or not, know what the expression "Catch 22" means. We've got a great example of it here.
For Huntington, Mexican immigrants have an alarmingly low education rate. That depresses their earning power, which prevents their upward mobility, which reduces their assimilation into the American mainstream. So what are Coloradans urged to do? We're urged to make it more expensive — in other words, harder — for the children of undocumented workers to get a college education. As a result, they'll earn less, contribute less to the public square and assimilate even more slowly. The one thing they won't do is go away.
Good people can disagree strongly and legitimately about immigration and its related legal issues. But in making U.S. immigration policies more coherent and just, we need to at least avoid punishing the young.
In hurting them, we're only hurting ourselves. And we're making absolutely sure that Huntington's nightmare will come true.
God bless Archbishop Gomez (any minute now ...) and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. “He has restored the years the locust has eaten ...”
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