LA Archbishop Gomez Supports Cardinal Mahony for Conclave

By Gerard O'Connell
Vatican Insider
February 21, 2013

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/inquiries-and-interviews/detail/articolo/los-angeles-mahony-gomez-conclave-22536/

the Archbishop of Los Angeles, Jose H. Gomez

In a highly significant move and in the midst of a ferocious controversy in the USA, the Archbishop of Los Angeles, Jose H. Gomez, has publicly expressed his support for Cardinal Roger Mahony’s participation in the conclave that will elect the next Pope.

He did so in a letter to the priests of the LA archdiocese on February 15, in the midst of a heated debate in the USA and elsewhere in which organizations representing victims of abuse by priests demanded that Cardinal Mahony not participate in the conclave because of his alleged role in the cover up of 129 cases of abuse in the LA archdiocese where he was archbishop for many years.

In his letter, Archbishop Gomez invited the LA priests to join him in extending their “prayers and warm wishes for Cardinal Roger Mahony as he prepares to travel to Rome to exercise his sacred duty as Cardinal Elector of our next Pope.”

As a cardinal, he said, “Cardinal Mahony has all of the prerogatives and privileges of his standing as a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church”.

Seeking to remove any doubt about Mahony’s participation in the conclave, the archbishop said, “Cardinal Mahony will be the senior American Cardinal among the 11 Cardinal Electors from this country.”

The LA archbishop expressed confidence that Cardinal Mahony’s “accomplishments and experience in the areas of immigration, social justice, sacred liturgy, and the role of the laity in the Church will serve the College of Cardinal well as it works to discern the will of the Holy Spirit in these deliberations that will lead to the election of our new Pope”

He let it be understood too that Cardinal Mahony will be present at the College of Cardinals “farewell gathering” for the Pope, in the Vatican, on February 28.

Archbishop Gomez also sought to clear up what he called “confusion in some media about the status of Cardinal Mahony and Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Curry” by stating that both the cardinal and bishop are “in good standing” in the LA archdiocese, and have “full rights to celebrate the Holy Sacraments of the Church and to minister to the faithful without restriction.”

That confusion was actually caused by Archbishop Gomez himself, when he issued a statement downgrading the status of both prelates, without first consulting the Holy See. His action was not well received in Rome.

Archbishop Gomez concluded his letter by inviting the priests and Catholics in the LA archdiocese “to keep our Holy Father Pope Benedict in your prayers, and to pray for Cardinal Mahony as he fulfills this sacred duty as Cardinal Elector”.