I have several e-mails right in my in-box this morning about a Coadjutor for Los Angeles.
What’s up?
Roger Card. Mahony has been Archbishop of Los Angeles seemingly forever.
On 27 February, His Eminence will turn 74 years old.
He was made Archbishop of Los Angeles in 1985 and raised to the College in 1991.
He was 55.
You might remember some of the highlights of his long tenure.
Have you been to LA to admire the new cathedral?
Who can forget that great liturgical manifesto Gather Faithfully Together?
Consider his tender exchange with Mother Angelica!
Will the "three days of darkness", the annual education conference be the same once he has retired?
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My eye caught the last three letters on the screen in the second picture. Indeed.
I hope they get the most traditionally minded and conservative Archbishop in the US. Someone who will finally put a stop to all those innovations in liturgy. And I hope Mahony has not one say on whose his successor will be.
Wow, those pictures say it all. I hope influential people in the Vatican read WDTPRS! Tom
“I hope influential people in the Vatican read WDTPRS!”
So do I!
What is going on in that last picture??? I’ve never seen anything like that before. Are those alter serves dancing up there? And this girl singing… You can see up her skirt! I’m horrified.
I hope there is a co-adjutor being appointed. It will give him a chance to study key players in the diocese before taking the helm.
I’ve only seen this from one source, but I wouldn’t be surprised. I’m just wondering who in the world are they going to send. Is there a Hercules strong enough to clean out that Augean stable that is the Archdiocese of Los Angeles?
The photo on the upper right looks frightenly like something from 1930’s Nuremburg.
Coadjutor or no, I would think that Cardinal Mahoney’s successor would be Roman. And so I would not be surprised if it turned out to be Bp Olmstead of Lincoln.
…Smilinginellay…
I used to live in Long Beach under the Mahony regime, and I can attest in all truthfulness that Mahony is a heretic and enemy of the Faith. Why would I say that? Here are a couple of my experiences in the LA archdiocese:
1) The annual Religious Education Congress held in Anaheim is notorious for heresy (see pictures above). Some of what I personally heard:
A “nun” teaching that Mary was the incarnation of the Holy Spirit; a priest teaching that some day we will no longer have need for priests or sacraments; another priest teaching that Jesus bodily resurrection is a myth and that His Body was probably eaten by dogs. After this last attack on the Faith, I called Sr. Edith Prendergast, head of Religious Education for the LA Archdiocese, and told her about what I heard… her response: “Oh yes, I heard that talk, and I SAW NOTHING WRONG WITH IT”.
2) I went to a silent retreat sponsored by the vocation office of the LA archdiocese, and at one of the “masses” a priest dressed up like an old storyteller (fake beard and all) and related some goofy story to us, and that served as the Liturgy of the Word. I’m not making this up…
3) A priest in Long Beach at St. Bartholomew’s church told the RCIA class that he didn’t believe in angels or demons… I wrote to the auxiliary bishop about it and he wrote me back and said “I sure you understand that I won’t be doing anything about this”. No, I didn’t understand. At that same church a visiting priest said that the Trinity was a purely human concept to help us get to know God a little better. I didn’t bother writing about that one, but if it happened today, I would stand up and shout “Heresy!” and get myself out of that church.
4) At St. John’s Seminary where I was going to go in 1989, a seminarian told me that it was all he could to do keep his Faith while at the seminary!
5) The Enneagram was a favorite tool of the archdiocese for spiritual awakening and self-discovery. I encountered it at vocation retreats, religious events and at the Religious Ed Congress.
6) Mahony was ruthless in encouraging removal of all altar rails and in approving the wreckovation of as many churches in his archdiocese as possible.
7) Mahony’s paper (The Tidings) frequently showcases heretical commentary on the Faith.
8) Mahony has discussed closing the seminary due to “lack of vocations – which he himself has caused.
In short, I will never understand how this man was made a Cardinal of the Holy Church. I can only hope and pray that his successor will be a man of the True Faith… and I also pray for all the souls in danger of being lost during the remainder of his reign of error.
Fr. Z,
If it true, who will it be?
58 yr. old Archbishop Jose H. Gomes of San Antonio, Texas. He is a native of Mexico and an Opus Dei priest?
65 yr, old Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver, Colorado?
63 yr. old Bishop Thomas J. Olmstead of Phoenix, Arizona?
56 yr. old Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City – St. Joseph, Missouri?
Or someone else?
All are an excellent choice.
My money is on Archbishop Gomez.
His Age, Ethnicity, Experience and Being an Opus Dei priest are all in his favor.
Who ever it will be I pray for him already. It’s going to be one tuff up-hill battle. Thanks MarkJ for the comments, unfortunatly I have experienced some of the same stuff here in Minnesota and I’m sure others have in thier own states. I only hope the USCCB has nothing to do with this.
56 yr. old Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City – St. Joseph, Missouri?
There ya go. Chaput’s awesome, but he’s “short.” And Gomes is waaay too busy with a huge Texas church, Cardinal DiNardo and all.
How close to Sambi is Mahoney?
DetJohn: I’d put my money on Archbishop Chaput. He’s the only one that could best take on the Tinseltown Establishment. His Native American background, scholarship and intellect, orthodoxy, and loyalty to the Holy Father would prove very helpful.
MarkJ – that is incredible. I wish it had all been written to make us laugh but it horrifying to hear that things like that are true. I totally understand more now why people who oppose liturgical abuses are so vehement about it. I personally haven’t seen anything so dire and am shocked completely that this is “Catholic”. I’m surprised that you aren’t numb to it.
Jacob: “How close to Sambi is Mahony?”
I think this call will be made not so much by Mahony, but by the Congregation for Bishops, specifically, a certain cardinal who is a native of Los Angeles and happens to be a classmate of Cardinal Mahony’s.
I mean to say, “I think this call will be made not so much by SAMBI..”
Laurinda:
I have since found my vocation in the married life. I have a wonderful faith-filled wife and we have been blessed with two beautiful daughters. We are also blessed to have found St. Margaret’s parish in Oceanside, CA (San Diego diocese), where we have reverent, incense-filled Novus Ordo Masses, as well as a weekly Sunday Sung High Mass in the Extraordinary Form, and very solid preaching by our pastor. My wife and daughters wear a veil at every Mass we go to, as do some other women in the church. We try to encourage Tradition wherever we go, including on our annual trips to Brussels, Belgium, where they have their own horror stories to tell, and yet where they have just announced a new Bishop who is known as the most Traditional Bishop in all of Beligium. Like LA, the new bishop will have much to endure and correct… please remember to pray for him as well.
Not so sure if it would be Bruskewitz as he himself turns 75 this September 6th. How about someone born much closer to Los Angeles, aged 53, a Canon Lawyer, probably familiar with the situation in the Archdiocese: Bishop Salvatore Cordileone of Oakland? He’s been in Oakland less than a year, but he would be a wonderful choice.
Laurinda1230: What is going on in that last picture???
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The young “lady” in the slit skirt is standing right in front of the altar. See
http://www.recongress.org/2005/YDlit3.htm
LA Cathedral took the name Our Lady of the Nuclear Reactor.
The change cannot come soon enough. 2010-2012 will be interesting years for California as several hippy era bishops will be forced into retirment. How does Rome feel about Mahony? Other bishops stay on after their 75th birthday, but Roger is already being replaced. The Cardinal of the Congregation of Bishops is well aware of the issues in Los Angeles as he is and has been told repeatedly of them by clergy and layity. I personaly know priests who have had discussions with him.Eyes may all be focused on Los Angeles, but do not forget to pray for those of us in California outside of Los Angeles as we suffer greatly also. Those of eof us in Fresno can only pray to get a coadjutor in the diocese of Fresno. Pray God the replacement for the diocese of Fresno will come from outside of the diocese as those in Bp. Steinbocks inner circle know well the abuses and have remained silent to protect Bp. Steinbock even when they know things are very wrong in Fresno. Holy Father please send us good men to California.
Looks like the party I’m throwing at my house will be earlier than expected.
I have a feeling it’s going to be an outsider that none of us expect who will be completely faithful to the Magisterium and very friendly to the TLM…
What MarkJ says is completely right, I have horror stories too, which I’ll save anyone from hearing.
Those pictures are another sword through my heart. I know, from reading material from my once beloved Catholic Mt. St. Mary’s College, that some of those liturgical dancers are from the College. Videos I’ve seen of what passes for liturgy at the College demonstrate so many abuses that I want to scream. The lovely Mary Chapel, from which once rang the Angelus three times a day, is totally destroyed inside. God please send help to the Los Angeles Diocese in general. Oh for the days of Cardinals McIntyre and Manning and Sisters of St.Joseph of Carondelet who knew their identity.
Perhaps not unexpected. For such a major archdiocese, you’d want a coadjutor – and a period of overlap time so the new bishop gets acclimated and learns the doicese. A sharp cutover would be unnecessarily disruptive.
In other cases, I’ve seen about a year of overlap, so it seems about right.
Laurinda1230: there’s nothing in that picture that is “The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass;” Shouldn’t even be pretended to be referred to as such.
I think Satan was sitting there laughing that day, as he received all the “worship.”
Perhaps prayers to Fr. Junipera Serra are in order? He’s probably rolled over in his grave so much that his clothes are twisted in a knot.
Our bishop is still having problems with renegade clergy in our diocese and he was installed in 2005. So, yes the heterodox clergy in the LA Archdiocese probably will make things very hard for the new Archbishop if he doesn’t fit their standards.
The clergy revolted on Cardinal Pell to the point all the seminary instructors threatened to quite. The Cardinals response…see you later, if I have to i will instruct myself. Los Angles needs a nuclear attack. There will be much more pink flight from LA, I just thope they don’t end up in the Fresno diocese.
Imagine the glory if at the new Archbishops first Mass in the concrete cathedral he starts off…” In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sacti….Introibo ad altare Dei”. Imagine the joy of God, our rejoice. Well, I can dream can’t I?
Yes, I had heard through the “grapevine” for quite some time before today that a coadjutor would be announced.
Maybe, I can find out who it is before the announcement.
2010- coadjutor for Los Angeles
2011- coadjutor for Rochester?
One can dream, right?
We’ve had these liturgical dancers too. Just this past spring, the liturgical dancer at our Chrism Mass was a non-Catholic and homosexual marriage promoter who belongs to the local “Unity Church.” Please keep Rochester in your prayers as well.
Joe of St. Therese,
Can I come to Your party?
There ya go. Chaput’s awesome, but he’s “short.” And Gomes is waaay too busy with a huge Texas church, Cardinal DiNardo and all.
Comment by pcstokell
Finn would be a surprise because LA is so liberal.
I think this call will be made not so much by Mahony (or Sambi), but by the Congregation for Bishops, specifically, a certain cardinal who is a native of Los Angeles and happens to be a classmate of Cardinal Mahoney’s.
Comment by TNCath
Cardinal Rigali was ordained a year before Mahoney and is also a member of the Cong of Bishops.
DetJohn: I’d put my money on Archbishop Chaput. He’s the only one that could best take on the Tinseltown Establishment. His Native American background, scholarship and intellect, orthodoxy, and loyalty to the Holy Father would prove very helpful.
Comment by TNCath
He’s a good man, but that would be a surprise. More and more, the Pope is naming Romans in Cardinalate sees.
NB: Vigneron, Dolan, and DiNardo all have Roman backgrounds.
Although it can’t get any worse here in LA, if Thomas Peters is correct and Cardinal Mahony has “approved” the coadjutor….well, I guess I’m in the “wait-and-see” camp.
It’ll also be interesting to see if a coadjutor is appointed to SF, as Archbishop Niederauer is 75 in June 2011.
Remember, someone approved this sad display. Somebody has to have said ‘sure, do that, it’ll be swell.’
I agree with the ‘EEK’! And would add feelings of nausea.
Went over to “Whispers in the Loggia” a couple of times and Roco is silent. He got scooped! You can always count on Roco Palma to goo and gush over a liberal appointment; but so far, nothing.
Cardinal Mahony himself has been eager to retire, after years of crushing debt and a quagmire of lawsuits. Whatever his sins of omission or commission as a bishop, we should pray for him and for his successor. The Los Angeles priests and the archdiocese need a solid teacher, but they also need a bishop who will lift morale and chart them enthusiastically on a course of reform and spiritual renewal of the archdiocese.
The real nuclear bomb for LA would be Archbishop Burke, now stuck in the Vatican ‘Supreme Court.’ Too much to hope for, though.
He is in the Congregation for Bishops, so he’ll probably have some influence on all of the next generation of US bishops.
MarkJ, I understand and to some extent share your frustration, but the failure to correct abuses in his see does not make a bishop a heretic.
When I think of how frequently I fail in my own tiny responsibilities at home and at work, I shudder to imagine the weight on Cardinal Mahony’s shoulders. The Archbishopric of Los Angeles, with its three hundred parishes, is surely one of the most difficult jobs in the world.
I second Fr_Sotelo’s fine comment. What more needs to be said? In short, we should pray that our new bishop will be a saint; I think he’ll need to be.
First of all, is this “American Idol” or the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in this picture (forgive me, I am aware of what is going on in this culture, unfortunately!).
Secondly, I may be wrong here, but putting Archbishop Burke in LA is not exactly a good change; he’s in a very important position for the universal Church. Could be wrong; have been. That’s just my opinion.
LA needs a very solid, faithful and prudent coadjutor. There is such a mess to clean up. I’m sure the Holy See knows exactly who should be there.
Cordelione…
Cordelione – “heart of the lion” and likes and plays jazz. Oh when the saints – go marching in…..
I’m not one to ever be okay with “Liturgical Dance” but I’d think even liberals would think that was something you wouldn’t do in a penitential season. haha
Wouldn’t the next LA Archbishop/Cardinal pretty much have to be Hispanic or at least have some experience governing a heavily Hispanic diocese? Do any of the “Romans” fit that description?
Also, I don’t know that Cardinal Mahony’s “approval” means anything one way or the other about the character of the coadjutor. He HAS to know that no matter what he does, his successor is going to be more conservative than he, and if he’s been worn out with all the lawsuits, financial problems, etc. why would he want to delay the inevitable.
If I remember correctly, the infamous Abp. Raymond Hunthausen of Seattle had a coadjutor (Bp. Thomas Murphy) for the last 3 or 4 years of his administration, then Murphy served six more years as Ordinary until his death. Can anyone who was in the Seattle Archdiocese at the time tell us what Bp. Murphy’s tenure was like? That might give us some idea of what to expect in L.A.
Cordileone – No! Let LA get its own bishop, Cordileone is needed where he is already.
I bet if polled a better part of the laity is more faithful to the Magesterium that the lot of Bishops. Afterall we have nothing to gain career wise from our decisions..Many people I know are happy to follow what Rome says but it is the Bishops who constantly get in their way, or try to reshape their opinions and allegiance. What occurs in LA on a huge scale is a travesty. It always makes news and often in opposition to Church views. People there are hurting and we should pray for them all. LA does need a radical shift in the type of leadership it has had since 1985. As for the Cathedral, I would never visit it. It makes me terribly sad and prefer an out of the way traditional Church anytime. The only thing it has to do with the Faith is that it looks, (to me anyway) as ugly as original sin. Million and millions were spent on it. My 2 cents today.
Wouldn’t the next LA Archbishop/Cardinal pretty much have to be Hispanic or at least have some experience governing a heavily Hispanic diocese? Do any of the “Romans” fit that description?
If it were just a diocese or didn’t bring with it a Cardinal’s hat, then an Hispanic would be a likely choice. The importance of LA, however, goes beyond its borders.
The Romans speak Italian. Wouldn’t take much to learn Spanish.
Also, I don’t know that Cardinal Mahony’s “approval” means anything one way or the other about the character of the coadjutor. He HAS to know that no matter what he does, his successor is going to be more conservative than he, and if he’s been worn out with all the lawsuits, financial problems, etc. why would he want to delay the inevitable.
Agree. And Cardinal Mahoney has never really been one to challenge Rome.
If I remember correctly, the infamous Abp. Raymond Hunthausen of Seattle had a coadjutor (Bp. Thomas Murphy) for the last 3 or 4 years of his administration, then Murphy served six more years as Ordinary until his death. Can anyone who was in the Seattle Archdiocese at the time tell us what Bp. Murphy’s tenure was like? That might give us some idea of what to expect in L.A.
Comment by bookworm
It’s likely that a much more talented man will take over in LA.
As to the photos, just look on YouTube for a plethora of liturgical abuses in the LA Diocese and in the Cathedral. The worst exhibition in my mind were the dancing nuns with pots of fire and incense around the horrible altar in the Cathedral. As to coadjutors, let us pray for someone who will bring back the dignity of the office of Archbishop.
Are there any truly conservative Hispanic bishops besides the Archbishops of Miami or San Antonio in the United States? Many Hispanic priests I have had in parishes have been very liberal.
You know what else is sickening about this? Look at the young teens sitting in the ‘congregation.’ What on earth is being taught to these young people. Shame on all of them for subjecting these kids to this horrible display and for the leading these kids down the wrong road.
Millstone comes to mind..
I just looked at the picture again..does it remind anyone else of Herod having the girls come in and dance for him? There is Card. Mahoney, sitting on his throne and there are girls dancing in front of him..
I’ll have to stop now, this is too putrid..
The pictures from the religous congress don’t even begin to show what goes on in that sewer. The congress was started by the great Cardinal McIntyre and has been ruined by Mahony. Faithful fromall over California flock tot he three days of darkness. Many parishes pay for their CCD teachers to go. At one point the diocee of Fresno paid their teachers to go every year. Over the years I have seen so many cancers brought out of the congress and preached as doctrine. So many of the sheep come away saying, it must be ok Cardinal Mahony was there and approved it. I would hate to be Cardinal Mahony on judgment day explaining how many souls were lost on his watch
Men, really, why aren’t you up in arms over this? Where is the equality here – I see no male dancers. Disgraceful.
Dear Padre,
It’s happened BEFORE in Spain. There’s no reason it can’t happen there. Cardinal Carlos Amigo Vallejo was the Archbishop of Seville, and saw appointed a coadjutor from the neighboring diocese of Cordoba, who is now in charge of Seville while he remains Apostolic administrator of Cordoba (which, by the way, has a magnificent Cathedral, turned into mosque in the middle ages, and now a cathedral again, Deo Gratias).
Now, Seville had a TLM mass from the days of Ecclesia Dei Afflicta, even if it’s now celebrated daily. But before His Holiness chooses a bishop for Cordoba, Monsignor Asenjo has helped in finding a church and a priest for a traditional mass to take place monthly.
I find comparisons are horrible, but as Cardinal Mahony isn’t exactly the most orthodox bishop in the US, I find he might follow quickly his brother Carlos into retirement (and… penance). What troubles me is that there’s not been many consistories on Benedict XVI’s record, and the Collegio certainly needs of some top-quality reinforcements like Toulon-Fréjus Monsignor Rey from France, the new bishop of San Sebastián in Spain, Monsignor Munilla or the new Primate from Belgium (who’s been awfully criticized by Belgian liberal media).
I have never been west of Denver. Therefore, all I know about Cardinal Mahony is what I have read about him and the Los Angeles Archdiocese.
For the good of the universal Church, I wish the Cardinal a long retirement – to begin as soon as possible.
Rather than rip him any further, Cardinal Mahony, and all the clergy like him, are in need of prayers.
DetJohn, of course you can come
After reading about some of the guesses for the next Archbishop of LA I thought it time to opine. With ABp. Dolan newly assigned to NY I see very few men who could step-in a make a real difference in LA as it is today. Certainly not some of the men who have been mentioned here.
That leads me to believe that it’s time to break-up the Archdiocese of LA into more manageable parts much like they did in NY many years ago.
I could see the existing pastoral regions of Santa Barbara and San Fernando merged into a new suffragan. Build a new cathedral (when resources permit) midpoint in Camarillo. Parishes in the Santa Maria and Lompoc Valleys (currently part of the Santa Barbara pastoral region) could become part of the existing Diocese of Monterey. Bp. Garcia of Monterey might be a good candidate to run the new suffragen.
The remaining pastoral regions of Our Lady of the Angels, San Gabriel and San Pedro could remain as the Archdiocese at least for now and it would probably still be the largest in the USA.