Opinion

I have just received word that, after voting to remove a large statue of St. Junípero Serra that stands in front of their City Hall, the government of Ventura, California (which is in my pastoral region) is now considering removing the image of Padre Serra from the county seal.

A principal reason why the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s was so successful both morally and practically was that it was led largely by people with a strong religious sensibility.

In the early morning hours of July 11, fire broke out at Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, destroying the 249-year-old church’s roof and causing extensive damage. After visiting the mission just hours after the fire was contained, Archbishop Gomez returned the next day to celebrate Mass. The following is adapted from his homily.)

Recently, the bishops of California made a statement regarding the attacks on the statues of St. Junipero Serra in San Francisco, Ventura, and Los Angeles.

Earlier last week, I delivered a graduation message to the Class of 2020 — virtually. It was posted on YouTube and shared on social media. Another sign of these unusual times since the coronavirus.

The death of George Floyd last week was senseless and brutal and cries out to heaven for justice.

As I write these words, it is the 100th birthday of the great pope, St. John Paul II.

As we enter our seventh week under statewide “stay at home orders,” I continue to be humbled and amazed by the way our parishes and schools are responding to this ongoing pandemic with charity, creativity, and pastoral zeal.

One silver lining for me during this weird coronavirus shutdown has been the opportunity to return to some writing projects that I had left on the back-burner.

Last week, Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, made a rather interesting theological observation.