CALIFORNIA
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
IRWINDALE – An auxiliary bishop for the San Gabriel Pastoral Region on Wednesday stepped down from his duties with the Catholic church after revealing to superiors that he fathered two children.
Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala, 60, resigned Wednesday under the code of canon law that lets bishops step down earlier than the normal retirement age of 75 if they’re sick or for some other reason that makes them unfit for office.
The pope accepted the early resignation from Zavala, who has since 1994 overseen 67 parishes and several Catholic Schools throughout East Los Angeles, Pasadena and the San Gabriel and Pomona valleys. …
During his time as bishop, Zavala was politically active and would on several occasions ask Catholics to contemplate war, poverty, health care, capital punishment, immigration reform, racism and other issues.
In October, he wrote letters in support of about 350 Florida tomato pickers and their allies who marched to Trader Joe’s corporate headquarters in Monrovia in October to demand better wages and conditions for farm workers.
While he was a champion of human rights, Zavala’s revelation came as a shock to the Catholic community.
“It came as a surprise,” Covina resident and parishioner Lina Nolasco, 45, said. “You always suppose that Catholic priests are only supposed to devote themselves to God.”
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