Pope Benedict has appointed San Antonio Archbishop Jose Gomez, a member of Opus Dei, as co-adjutor archbishop of Los Angeles succeeding Cardinal Roger Mahony. The appointment puts him in line to become the highest-ranking Latino in the American Catholic hierarchy, AP says.
"The Mexican-born prelate -- the lone American bishop professed as a numerary (full member) of Opus Dei -- will make history, becoming the first Hispanic prelate to, in time, receive the red hat of a cardinal at the helm of a Stateside diocese," Whispers in the Loggia noted.
Born in Monterrey and ordained for "The Work" in 1978, Gomez served in Texas from 1987 in both Houston and San Antonio.
A former executive director and president of the National Association of Hispanic Priests, in 2001 Pope John Paul II named him an auxiliary to Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, Whispers said.
Less than four years later, the late pontiff rocketed the young bishop into the lone senior US post customarily held by a Latin cleric, naming Gomez to San Antonio in succession to the legendary Archbishop Patrick Flores.
Six months after his installation there, TIME magazine named Gomez one of the nation's 25 most influential Hispanics.
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