New Archbishop of Los Angeles

Dear Friends in Christ,

The appointment of Archbishop José Gomez as coadjutor to the Archbishop of Los Angeles may prompt some questions. What is a coadjutor? What is the difference between a bishop and an archbishop, a diocese and an archdiocese?

First, a coadjutor bishop is appointed by the Pope to assist the bishop, like an adjutant to a military commander. He may, as in the case of Archbishop Gomez, also have the right to succeed the present bishop. Since the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is the largest in the country the Holy See has wisely decided to give Cardinal Mahony’s successor a “breaking in” period of nearly a year so that he can become familiar with the tasks that await him when he takes charge next year.

The word “diocese” comes from a Greek word which means an administrative division. A diocese is usually a territory over which a bishop exercises ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The Diocese of Orange, where we live, comprises Orange County and Bishop Tod Brown is the ordinary. Some dioceses cover a larger territory, even several counties.

An “archdiocese”, you might imagine, is a larger or more important ecclesiastical jurisdiction. It is like the “capital” of an ecclesiastical province and is headed by an archbishop. Los Angeles is an archdiocese because of its size (it’s the largest in the U.S.) and importance. An archbishop, like other bishops, has immediate jurisdiction only over his archdiocese. However, he does have the right to convoke a provincial council of his bishops and others may appeal to him for decisions made on the diocesan level. Dioceses are grouped into ecclesiastical “provinces” and the archdiocese is the metropolitan see which presides over the province. For example, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and the Dioceses of Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, Fresno, and Monterey form the ecclesiastical province of Los Angeles.

Archbishop Gomez is going to have a huge task ahead of him in serving such a large and diverse archdiocese like Los Angeles. Let’s keep him in our prayers that the Lord will give him spiritual strength.

Fr. Hildebrand