LA Archbishop Rakes in Taxpayer Cash

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LOS ANGELES (ChurchMilitant.com) - Clean the Church (CC) is reporting that Abp. José Gomez of Los Angeles applied for and received $7 million from the Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) — money it says the archdiocese does not need but small businesses in the area do.

The loan, "designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll," comes to Gomez despite his archdiocese having a $700 million endowment fund and more than $180 million in cash, according to CC.

CC sources further confirm that Gomez required all parishes in the archdiocese to apply for PPP funds rather than draw from archdiocesan money to assist parishes in need of financial assistance in the wake of lockdown measures and the suppression of public Mass.

An independent organization of lay Catholics established to "expose and expel clergy members that are damaging the Church by their evil and sinister actions," CC wonders how Gomez can take this money when small business in Los Angeles are going bankrupt and "now have no access to the money that went to pay for parish expenses."

Protection for Questionable Clergy

Succeeding infamous pedophile-priest protector Cdl. Roger Mahony, Abp. Gomez became the local ordinary of Los Angeles in 2011.

Gomez removed Mahony from all administrative and public duties in January 2013 after releasing confidential Church files showing Mahony kept the abuse of children from law enforcement. In a statement at the time, Gomez wrote, "My predecessor, retired Cdl. Roger Mahony, has expressed his sorrow for his failure to fully protect young people entrusted to his care."

"Effective immediately, I have informed Cdl. Mahony that he will no longer have any administrative or public duties. Auxiliary Bp. Thomas Curry has also publicly apologized for his decisions while serving as vicar for clergy," he continued. "I have accepted his request to be relieved of his responsibility as the regional bishop of Santa Barbara."

Suddenly, one month later in February 2013, Gomez published another statement reversing his decision without explanation.

"Questions from the faithful and some members of the news media indicate that it would be helpful for me to clarify the status of Cdl. Roger Mahony and Bp. Thomas Curry," he wrote.

Support for a Heretical Conference

Sponsored by the Los Angeles archdiocese, the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress (LA REC) has continued unfettered under Gomez, who has regularly appeared at the conference in his capacity as archbishop since 2012.

Last year, Gomez permitted Cdl. Mahony to give a youth-focused presentation at the event titled "Connecting Junior High and High School Students with the Volatile Immigration Issues."

Described by some as a "blueprint for obliterating the Faith," LA REC has had speakers such as pro-LGBT Jesuits James Martin and Greg Boyle.

Talks at LA REC have included "LGBT Ministry & Justice," "Building Bridges with Catholics Who Are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender or Questioning," and "Human Sexuality and the Catholic Church."

The 2018 conference had a workshop titled "Transgender in Our Schools: One Bread, One Body." The presenters included a transgender panelist on a panel that discussed proper use of gender pronouns and raising awareness for Catholic schools to alter uniform policies to accommodate so-called transgender children.

President of the U.S. Bishops' Conference

Born in Mexico, Gomez became the first Latino president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in November 2019, as well as the first president of the USCCB to be elected while under state investigation for possible cover-up of sex abuse.

In May 2019, the Los Angeles Times reported that California Attorney General Xavier Becerra asked Gomez to preserve documents related to allegations of clergy sex abuse.

"The California Department of Justice is conducting a review of your archdiocese's handling of sexual misconduct allegations involving children, including whether your archdiocese has adequately reported allegations of sexual misconduct, as required under California's Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act," said Becerra.

Under Gomez, the archdiocese responded in a statement that it "has also already cooperated with two state and one federal investigation and continues to fully cooperate with all civil authorities."

"Allegations of abuse involving minors, whether by a member of the clergy or a layperson, are reported to law enforcement," continued the statement, adding: "public announcements are made at the places where the person has served, and if found credible the person is permanently removed from any capacity according to the archdiocese's zero-tolerance policy."

Link to Globalism?

Some see a globalist move in the USCCB's election of Gomez as its president.

One priest and former seminary professor told Church Militant at the time he was chosen: "This has nothing to do with Gomez being born in Mexico; it would be no different if he had been born in Spain, France or Ireland. This is about the Holy See using foreign-born bishops to control nations in which they govern — TOTALLY govern."

"Gomez' one allegiance is to Rome and the Francis papacy," he continued. "In the United States, he has no skin in the game, and his fierce push for immigration policies that challenge the sovereignty of the country show that. This is all about control."

According to the SBA website, PPP loans will be forgiven "if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities."

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