Free Republic

In this toxic era of bitter cultural division, few things divide people as bitterly as Critical Race Theory (CRT), which isn’t a surprise, given that CRT divides. It divides people into groups pitted against one another, into categories of oppressed vs. oppressor. Your group defines you. It’s an ideology that stereotypes and separates based on race—ironically, in the name of opposing racism. In that regard, it smacks of so many bad ideas on the political Left, such as the “tolerance” movement and its rigid intolerance toward those who dare disagree, or the “diversity” movement and its lack of diversity toward...

LOS ANGELES, June 7, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – Archbishop José Gomez tore apart the “seamless garment” argument that intrinsic evils and social ills are morally equivalent in the Los Angeles archdiocesan newspaper June 3.  Advocates of the “seamless garment” approach to moral issues and social justice, promoted by the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, often use it to suggest a moral equivalency between issues like abortion, poverty, and immigration.  “The hard truth is that not all injustices in the world are ‘equal,’” wrote Gomez. “We can understand this perhaps better about issues in the past than we can with issues in...

Last week, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles told scholars at the Dorothy Day Conference at St. Francis University [in Fort Wayne, Indiana] that the social activist was not converted by ideology, but by love. “It was not the teachings of the Church that convinced her to leave the past behind and change her life. She was changed by Love, changed by the over-powering awareness of the reality of God’s love and mercy,” the archbishop said.... As a young woman ... Day embraced ... a life that included abortion, communism and “free love.” “Dorothy and many others thought they...

Los Angeles, Calif., Feb 21, 2014 / 12:58 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- L.A. Archbishop José H. Gomez has called for “interim measures” such as a moratorium on immigration raids and help for undocumented minors in order to bypass immigration reform’s apparent “political dead end.” “These two proposals are no substitute for true immigration reform — but they would make a big difference in the lives of millions of our neighbors,” Archbishop Gomez said in his Nov. 21 column for the Los Angeles archdiocese’s newspaper The Tidings. He voiced disappointment in the House of Representatives’ recent decision not to move forward with...

Los Angeles, Calif., Nov 30, 2013 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez and local political leaders have held a 24-hour fast to pray for immigration reform and to remember families who are separated from each other at Thanksgiving. “Today we are standing up for those who won't be sharing Thanksgiving dinner with their families and loved ones – those who are suffering because of our broken immigration system,” Archbishop Gomez said Nov. 25 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. He called for a “conversion of hearts” to fix U.S. immigration law. The...

A chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on Tuesday called for Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform, citing remarks made by Pope Francis about the treatment of immigrants. “I call upon the House of Representatives to pass comprehensive immigration reform which is just and humane,” said Archbishop Jose H. Gomez (of Los Angeles), who chairs the conference’s committee on migration issues. “The current immigration system, which causes so much human suffering, is a stain on the soul of our nation.” The pope over the weekend criticized a “globalization of indifference” when it comes to the status of...

didn't realize that Archbishop Jose Gomez of the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese has a new book out, Immigration and the Next America: Renewing the Soul of Our Nation, that steps right into the national debate on immigration reform. Gomez and the publisher describe the book as "a personal, passionate and practical contribution to the national debate about immigration - pointing the way toward a recovery of America's highest ideals....Immigration is a human rights test of our generation. It's also a defining historical moment for America." Daily News columnist Tim Rutten disagrees in his Sunday column. He calls the book by...

In the midst of renewed public outrage over its handling of clergy sex abuse, the Los Angeles Archdiocese is considering a $200-million fundraising campaign that could erase debts brought on by the scandal. [SNIP] The archdiocese's $660-million settlement in 2007 with more than 500 victims was the largest in U.S. history. According to a December financial report, the archdiocese is still paying down loans it used to cover the settlement, and its liabilities now outstrip its assets by $80 million. [SNIP] If the new fundraiser occurs, it would place Archbishop Jose Gomez in the potentially difficult position of seeking large...

The archbishop of Los Angeles is among a group of Latino bishops from throughout the US to have called for undocumented immigrants to be seen as a "revitalizing force" -- instead of as criminals. The group of 30, including Los Angeles Archbishop José Gómez, released a joint letter vowing to work for immigration law reform, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday. [SNIP] "The lack of a just, humane and effective reform of immigration laws negatively affects the common good of the United States. We promise to keep working to bring about this change."

Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez snubbed the leftist organizers of the annual May Day Rally in Los Angeles this year and did not attend – unlike his predecessor, Cardinal Roger Mahony, who always went out of his way to participate. “Only a few thousand people showed up for the nine-block march that started early and ended quickly,” the Los Angeles Times reported. “Los Angeles police declined to issue a crowd estimate, but marchers didn't even fill the intersection of Broadway and 1st Street, where the demonstration ended.” Most of the marchers, said the Times “were union members -- particularly from...

Washington D.C., Dec 22, 2010 / 07:50 pm (CNA).- Although the controversial immigration DREAM Act failed to pass through the Senate last week, the support that the bill garnered in the House was enough to make Archbishop Jose Gomez, chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Migration, “confident” that the legislation will succeed in the near future. Despite the U.S. bishops endorsing the the DREAM Act – a bill that would grant citizenship to many children brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents – the measure was defeated in the U.S. Senate on Dec. 18 after supporters failed to...

Leading the Biggest Flock in the US (Part 1) Interview With Los Angeles Coadjutor, Archbishop Gómez By Carmen Elena Villa LOS ANGELES, SEPT. 9, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Being named to the largest and one of the most diverse archdioceses in the United States unquestionably implies a variety of challenges. But the coadjutor archbishop of Los Angeles sees his appointment simply as God's plan for him. This is the affirmation made by Archbishop José Gómez, moved in April from the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Texas, to California, where he will assist Cardinal Roger Mahony, 74, until the cardinal retires. The 58-year-old archbishop,...

LOS ANGELES (CNA) — In an interview with the Catholic News Agency, the new archbishop of Los Angeles, the Most Rev. José Gomez, leader of the largest archdiocese in the United States and the fourth largest Catholic population in the world, addressed the role of Hispanics in the U. S. Catholic Church, and other issues related to immigration.Q. What is your own background?A. I grew up in Monterrey, Mexico. My father was a medical doctor in Monterrey. My mother was raised in San Antonio, Texas, where she completed high school. She also went to college in Mexico City, and although...

Precious words from the archbishop...   This sermon was preached by Archbishop Gomez at the parish a few years ago, on the occasion of our twenty-fifth anniversary.  It's good for us to remember what a faithful father-in-God he has been for us, and we pray for him as he prepares for his new and important work. My brother Bishops, Priests, Sisters and Brothers in Christ, Today as we gather for this special celebration it is providential that we celebrate the feast of St. Benedict. We can say that he is the Patron Saint of the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI. So, we...

San Antonio's Archbishop José Gomez named by Pope to be successor to Cardinal Roger Mahony upon his retirement as Archbishop of Los Angeles.The people of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the largest archdiocese in the United States, now know who will be the successor to Cardinal Roger M. Mahony upon his retirement. San Antonio's Archbishop José Gomez has been named the "coadjutor archbishop" of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles by Pope Benedict XVI, which carries with it the right of succession. As coadjutor archbishop, Archbishop Gomez will aid Cardinal Mahony in the governance of the diocese and would take his...

Nov. 22 (CNA/CWNews.com) - During the International Congress on Churches, the Lay State and Society, Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio, Texas said most Catholic politicians in the United States have fallen into "a distorted understanding of what their faith is." During a speech on Catholics and public life in the US, Archbishop Gomez noted that "today 70% of politicians who claim to be Catholic in Congress and the Senate support abortion, and that figure reaches almost 90 percent in traditional Catholic states such as Massachusetts or New York." Many Catholic politicians, inspired by the interpretation of some influential theologians,...

Full feed to come, but suffice it to say, it's official... and historic -- in this pontificate's most significant move to date for the Stateside church, the Holy See has announced Pope Benedict's appointment of Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio as coadjutor-archbishop of Los Angeles, the nation's largest diocese. Here, the LA chancery's release: As Coadjutor, Archbishop Gomez, 58, will automatically become head of the three-county Archdiocese of Los Angeles upon Cardinal Roger Mahony’s retirement at age 75 on February, 27, 2011. A Mass of Reception for Archbishop Gomez is scheduled for May 26. Cardinal Roger Mahony will...

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...

The Anglican Communion is headed “straight for the rocks” and if its member churches do not change course and adopt a concordat laying out the parameters of a common faith and order, Archbishop Drexel Gomez, Primate of the West Indies, told the Diocese of Central Florida on May 15. Meeting with the clergy and lay members of the diocesan board and standing committee at Canterbury Retreat and Conference Center in Oviedo, Archbishop Gomez offered a somber analysis of the tensions between The Episcopal Church and parts of the 38-member Anglican Communion while leading a day-long discussion of the proposed Anglican...