Archbishop Gómez Named to Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, APRIL 11, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The archbishop of San Antonio has been named the coadjutor of Los Angeles, one of the largest archdioceses in the world.

Archbishop José Gómez, 58, was appointed to the California archdiocese last Tuesday.

He will assist Cardinal Roger Mahony, 74, until the cardinal retires.

José Gómez was born in Monterrey, Mexico, in 1951. He was ordained a priest for Opus Dei in 1978. He has been serving in the episcopate for nearly a decade, having been named auxiliary bishop of Denver in 2001, and then the archbishop of San Antonio in 2004.

He has a well-established history of advocacy for Hispanic Catholics. The year he was installed as archbishop of San Antonio, he was named one of Time Magazine's 25 most influential Hispanics in the United States, and in 2007 he was on a CNN list of "Notable Hispanics."

In Los Angeles, Archbishop Gómez will lead more than 4.3 million Catholics (according to 2005 statistics), served by 530 diocesan priests, 640 religious priests and 1,710 religious sisters. The archdiocese has a significant Hispanic population.