DENVER (CO)
TheDenverChannel.com
POSTED: 2:46 pm MST December 29, 2004
For the Most Rev. Jose Horacio Gomez, becoming Roman Catholic archbishop of San Antonio will be a homecoming of sorts.
Rev. Jose Horacio Gomez of Denver was picked to become the Roman Catholic archbishop of San Antonio.
Pope John Paul II on Wednesday named Gomez -- an auxiliary bishop in Denver -- to succeed retiring Archbishop Patrick Flores, Texas' top Catholic clergyman for 25 years.
A native of Monterrey, Mexico, Gomez worked at San Antonio's Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church from 1987 to 1999. And his grandparents were married at San Fernando Cathedral, the historic downtown church that dates to the 1730s. ...
In 2000, a man held the archbishop and his longtime secretary hostage for nine hours with what he claimed to be a homemade grenade. When the case went to trial, it was difficult to tell whether Flores was a witness for the prosecution or defense, "because he was so compassionate about the guy who tried to kill him," said the Rev. Virgil Elizondo, former rector of San Fernando Cathedral.
But the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests complained that Flores' compassion did not extend to sex abuse victims, despite his frequent apologies for not doing more to protect children against abuse by clergy.
The archdiocese announced earlier this year that it paid more than $5.2 million over a 52-year period in settlements and counseling connected with sexual abuse of minors. It documented allegations against 20 priests by 58 victims.
Posted by kshaw at December 29, 2004 05:07 PM