José Horacio Gomez

José Horacio Gómez (2012)

Archbishop's coat of arms by José Horacio Gómez

José Horacio Gómez Velasco (born December 26, 1951 in Monterrey , Mexico ) is a Mexican - American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church and since 2011 Archbishop of Los Angeles . He has served as Chairman of the United States Bishops' Conference since 2019 .

Life

education

José Horacio Gómez studied at the Institute for Technological and Advanced Studies in Monterrey. He then continued his studies at the National Autonomous University of Mexico . In 1975 Gómez received a degree in accounting and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in philosophy . He began studying theology in 1975 at the University of Navarra in Pamplona , which he completed in 1978 with a further BA.

Act as a priest

José Horacio Gómez received the sacrament of ordination for the personal prelature Opus Dei on August 15, 1978 in the sanctuary of Torreciudad from the Archbishop of Vienna , Cardinal Franz König . From 1978 to 1980 José Horacio Gómez worked as a pastor in a youth center of Opus Dei in Spain . In 1980 he was at the University of Navarra to the doctor of theology doctorate . Gómez taught from 1980 to 1987 at a college and university in Mexico. In addition, from 1985 to 1987 he was in charge of youth in the deanery of Fatima in the Archdiocese of Monterrey . From 1987 to 1999 José Horacio Gómez served as an assistant priest in the parish of Our Lady of Grace in San Antonio . During this time he also worked as vicar in Katy in the Diocese of Galveston-Houston . In 1991 Gómez became regional representative of the National Association of Hispanic Priests and in 1995 he became its president. On December 15, 1995, José Horacio Gómez received US citizenship . From 1997 to 1998 he was a member of the executive board of the National Catholic Council of Hispanic Ministry and in 1999 he became its treasurer . José Horacio Gómez was also Managing Director of the National Association of Hispanic Priests from 1999 to 2001 . In addition, Gómez was a member of the committee for the planning of "Encuentro 2000", a national celebration of the anniversary year 2000, from 1998 to 2000. In 1999 he was also delegate of the Opus Dei personal prelature for Texas . Together with the Archbishop of Mexico City , Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera , José Horacio Gómez played a key role in founding the Hispanic Seminary of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City , which opened in August 2000. Gómez also founded the Centro San Juan Diego for Family and Pastoral Care in Denver , a facility for lay education and assistance to immigrants. In 2003 José Horacio Gómez received the “El Buen Pastor” award from the National Association of Hispanic Priests .

Act as a bishop

On January 23, 2001, Pope John Paul II appointed José Horacio Gómez Titular Bishop of Belali and Auxiliary Bishop in Denver . He was ordained episcopal on March 26th of the same year by the Archbishop of Denver, Charles Joseph Chaput, OFMCap ; Co- consecrators were the Bishop of Galveston-Houston , Joseph Fiorenza , and the prelate of the Personal Prelature Opus Dei , Bishop Javier Echevarría . José Horacio Gómez chose the motto Adeamus cum fiducia ad thronum gratiae (“So let us go confidently to the throne of grace”), which comes from the letter to the Hebrews ( Heb 4:16  EU ). From 2001 to 2003 Gómez was Rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Denver. In 2004 he became the moderator of the Curia of the Archdiocese of Denver and pastor of the Mother of God Parish in Denver.

On December 29, 2004, Pope John Paul II appointed him Archbishop of San Antonio . The inauguration took place on February 15, 2005. In 2005, José Horacio Gómez was named one of the 25 Most Influential Hispanics in the United States by Time Magazine , and in 2007 he was named one of the most famous Hispanics in the United States by the CNN television special in the Hispanic Heritage Month web special. In 2006, Gómez established the Catholic Community Foundation for the Roman Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of San Antonio and founded Hope for the Future , a fund to support Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of San Antonio. He helped create the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders in 2007 . In March 2010, José Horacio Gómez visited Haiti on behalf of the Bishops' Conference of the United States to determine the level of support needed to rebuild the Church in Haiti after the 2010 Haiti earthquake .

On April 6, 2010 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him . as Coadjutor Archbishop of Los Angeles. The inauguration took place on May 26th of the same year. With the acceptance of the age-related resignation of Roger Michael Cardinal Mahony by Benedict XVI. on March 1, 2011, Gómez succeeded him as Archbishop of Los Angeles. In November 2016, the United States Bishops' Conference elected him vice chairman. In November 2019, the Episcopal Conference elected José Horacio Gómez as its chairman, having previously been its vice-president.

José Gómez is Commander with Star (KC * HS) of the Order of Knights of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem . He is also a member of Opus Dei.

Supra-diocesan tasks

Roman Curia

• since 2008 consultor of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America
• Pontifical Council for Social Communications (2012-2016)

United States Bishops' Conference

• since 2019 chairman of the bishops' conference
• from 2016 to 2019 Vice-Chairman of the Bishops' Conference
• since 2003 chairman of the Task Force on the Spanish Language Bible for the Church in America
• from 2008 to 2009 chaired the Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church
• since 2009 chairman of the subcommittee for the Church in Latin America
• since 2010 chairman of the migration committee
• member of the Doctrine of the Faith Committee since 2003
• member of the Hispanics and Liturgy Subcommittee since 2005

Other organizations

• Board member of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.
• Board member of ENDOW - Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women
• Board member of MATT - Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together
• Board member of the Catholic Community Foundation , San Antonio
• Episcopal moderator of the ANSH - National Association of Hispanic Priests
• Episcopal Moderator of the National Catholic Network de Pastoral Juvenil Hispana
• Member of the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders (CALL)
• Member of the Board of Trustees of the Catholic University of America

Web links

• Entry on José Horacio Gómez on catholic-hierarchy.org
• Biography on the homepage of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles

Individual evidence

1. ^ Catholic Bishops Elect Defender of Immigrants as First Hispanic President. New York Times, November 12, 2019, accessed November 12, 2019.
2. ↑ ^{a b} http://www.la-archdiocese.org/archbishop/Pages/bio.aspx
3. ↑ nouns dell'Ausiliare di Denver (USA) , in: Holy See Press Office: Daily Bulletin of 23 January 2,001th
4. ^ Rinuncia dell'Arcivescovo Metropolita dell'arcidiocesi di San Antonio (USA) e Nomina del Successore , in: Holy See Press Office: Daily Bulletin of December 29, 2004.
5. ^ Nomina del Coadiutore di Los Angeles (USA) , in: Holy See Press Office: Daily Bulletin, April 6, 2010.
6. ^ Rinuncia e Successione dell'Arcivescovo di Los Angeles (USA) , in: Holy See Press Office: Daily Bulletin of March 1, 2011.
7. ^ US bishops-elect Cardinal Daniel DiNardo as their new president
8. ↑ Nomina di Consiglieri della Pontificia Commissione per l'America Latina , in: Holy See Press Office: Daily Bulletin of July 25, 2008.
9. ^ Nomina di Membri del Pontificio Consiglio delle Comunicazioni Sociali , in: Press Office of the Holy See: Daily Bulletin of November 24, 2012.

predecessor	Office	successor
Roger Michael Cardinal Mahony	Archbishop of Los Angeles since 2011	...
Patrick Fernández Flores	Archbishop of San Antonio 2004–2010	Gustavo García-Siller MSpS