KTLA
April 6, 2010
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-mahony-successor,0,4628057.story
LOS ANGELES (CA) -- Cardinal Roger Mahony is the longest-serving U.S. cardinal since the Second Vatican Council.
The pope has named Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio, Texas, to take over the Los Angeles archdiocese -- the nation's most populous -- when Cardinal Roger Mahony retires.
The appointment of the 58-year-old Mexican-born Gomez as coadjutor for Los Angeles puts him in line to become the highest-ranking Latino in the American Catholic hierarchy.
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| Archbishop Jose Gomez (Archdiocese of San Antonio) |
Gomez is a priest of the conservative Opus Dei order. He has been the archbishop in San Antonio since 2004.
"I welcome Archbishop Gomez to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles with enthusiasm and personal excitement," Mahony said in a statement. "The Auxiliary Bishops and I are looking forward to working closely with him over the coming months until he becomes the Archbishop early in 2011."
Cardinal Roger Mahony is the longest-serving U.S. cardinal since the Second Vatican Council.
He turns 75 next February. Under church rules, bishops must resign at age 75.
Pope Benedict XVI can decide whether to keep Mahony on the job longer. But the appointment of Gomez as coadjutor indicates Benedict wanted a smooth transition to a new leader for the nation's largest diocese.
"I'm very grateful to the Holy Father for giving me this opportunity to serve the Church with a mentor and leader like Cardinal Roger Mahony," Gomez said in a statement. "I'm grateful to the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, for supporting the Holy Father's confidence in me. I will try with all my strength to earn that trust."
Mahony is expected to introduce Gomez at a 10 a.m. Tuesday news conference at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels.
During his 25-year tenure in Los Angeles, Mahony has been dogged by the clergy abuse scandal.
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.
Gomez was born in Monterrey, Mexico, and studied theology at the University of Navarra in Spain. He was ordained an Opus priest in 1978 and worked in the Houston-Galveston area and in Denver before being named archbishop of San Antonio in 2004.
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