Goodbye Mahoney...Hello Gomez!

Cardinal Roger Mahoney of the Diocese of Los Angeles is to retire. Modernists will mourn the moving on of a giant of liturgical 'renewal'. Men and women of sound faith will welcome with great joy the news of the placement of Archbishop Jose Gomez in the vacancy that Mahoney left.

Above is video evidence of just what can happen when a senior figure in the Church tears up the rule book and starts all over again. My, oh my, I think there is a garden water feature on the Sanctuary somewhere in there...

The Telegraph has reported the Pope's placement of Archbishop Jose Gomez there as being "revenge" on Hollywood for filming The Da Vinci Code. Somehow, I don't think that's quite how the mind of our Holy Father works! However, it does appear that Archbishop Jose Gomez will be a breath of fresh air in a Diocese which has really gone, quite literally, to pot, under Cardinal Roger Mahoney.

And what a fascinating move this is by the Holy Father. The Telegraph has acknowledged that Opus Dei priests have avoided the taint of scandal which has afflicted the LA Diocese under, perhaps, more liberal leadership.The article reports...

'One of Archbishop Gomez's primary tasks will be to deal with the fallout from the abuse crisis. None of the 2,000 priests of Opus Dei, which has the status of a "personal prelature" of the Pope, has ever been embroiled in a sexual scandal. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, however, is one of the worst afflicted by the clerical sexual abuse crisis that has convulsed the US Church since 2002. Three years ago Cardina Roger Mahony, the reigning archbishop, agreed to a record-setting £430 million settlement with more than 500 alleged victims of clergy abuse.'

The new appointment, whose personality and orthodoxy may somewhat clash with Mahoney's more 'maverick' leadership of the Diocese and loose interpretation of liturgy, is effusive about both the future of his ministry and the people of Los Angeles. In a statement posted on the Los Angeles archdiocese website, Archbishop Gomez said...

"When I was collecting my thoughts for today, I wrote down that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is one of the great Catholic communities in the United States. But it’s really much more than that. It’s one of the great Catholic communities in the world. Los Angeles, like no other city in the world, has the global face of the Catholic Church. That fact invites us to do two things: first, to thank God for our diversity and the energy it creates; and second, to commit ourselves more deeply to the things that unite us – a zeal for Jesus Christ; confidence in the Gospel; reverence for the Eucharist; service to the poor; defence of the unborn child, the immigrant and the disabled; and a love for the Church as our mother and teacher."

I think that in Archbishop Gomez, LA may have a man both prepared to truly proclaim the Gospel and one who is willing to 'Say the black and do the red'. Looks promising! Get ready for the liturgical revolution in LA! To buy the official 'Say the black, do the red' sweatshirts click here.

Sadly, there is little the Archbishop will be able to do about the Cathedral architecture, but, there we go, some vandalism is insurmountable! It sounds like the new appointment will defend Holy Mother Church and proclaim the Gospel. That is all that matters.