José Horacio Gómez

José Horacio Gómez Velasco (born December 26, 1951) is a Mexican-American prelate of the Catholic Church. He became the fifth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in California in 2011. He previously served as Auxiliary Bishop of Denver in Colorado from 2001 to 2004 and as Archbishop of San Antonio in Texas from 2004 to 2010.

Gómez was vice president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) from November 15, 2016 until his election as president on November 12, 2019. He was the first person of Hispanic descent to hold each of those positions. His three-year presidential term ended on November 15, 2022, with the election of Archbishop Timothy Broglio.

Early life and education

José Horacio Gómez Velasco was born on December 26, 1951, in Monterrey, Mexico, to José H. Gómez and Esperanza Velasco. He has three older sisters and one younger sister.

From 1975 to 1980, Gómez studied at the University of Navarre in Pamplona, Spain, earning his Bachelor of Theology degree and Licentiate of Theology.

Priesthood

On August 15, 1978, Gómez was ordained a priest of Opus Dei by Cardinal Franz König at the Shrine of Torreciudad in Aragon, Spain. In 1980, Gómez obtained a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree from the University of Navarre. After his ordination, Opus Dei assigned him to pastoral work with college and high school students in Spain and Mexico. He also spearheaded the establishment of Centro San Juan Diego, a center for the formation of lay leaders and a base to provide welcoming services to immigrants, in Denver, Colorado. In 1999, he became the vicar of Opus Dei for Texas. Once he became bishop, he could no longer be a member of Opus Dei as he was now directly under the pope's jurisdiction. Gómez in 2010 reiterated that he was not a member of Opus Dei, but someone who was ordained a priest in Opus Dei and whose spirituality reflected that background.

Archbishop of San Antonio

Gómez was appointed archbishop of San Antonio by John Paul II on December 29, 2004.

During his tenure in San Antonio, Gómez earned a reputation as an orthodox leader who reversed some of the liberal initiatives in the diocese. As of 2025, Gómez is a member of the USCCB Committee on Migration, chair of the Task Force on the Spanish-language Bible, and a former member of the Committee on Doctrine.

Archbishop of Los Angeles

thumb|upright=1.5|Gómez (left) in the [[Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels,

Los Angeles, California (2011)]]

On April 6, 2010, Gómez was appointed coadjutor archbishop of Los Angeles by Pope Benedict XVI. Gómez succeeded Cardinal Roger Mahony on March 1, 2011, with a transition ceremony held on February 27, 2011. He was the first Hispanic to serve as archbishop of Los Angeles, as well as the highest-ranking Hispanic bishop in the United States. He was regarded as more conservative than his predecessor, Cardinal Mahony. In November 2012, Benedict XVI appointed him to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications in Rome In January 2013, Gómez stated that Mahony would "no longer have any administrative or public duties" for the Los Angeles Archdiocese. The announcement came as Gómez unveiled the archdiocese's files related to clergy sexual abuse. He said: <blockquote>I find these files to be brutal and painful reading. The behavior described in these files is terribly sad and evil. There is no excuse, no explaining away what happened to these children. The priests involved had the duty to be their spiritual fathers and they failed. We need to acknowledge that terrible failure today.</blockquote>With Gómez's blessing, the Queen of Angels Foundation in 2011 revived the custom of a Marian procession and Votive Mass in Los Angeles each September 4th. This event was to commemorate the founding of the City of Los Angeles in 1781. In 2012, Gómez started serving as the principal celebrant of this annual Mass.

During the November 2014 USCCB meeting, the bishops elected Gómez as a delegate to the 2015 World Synod of Bishops on the Family in Rome, pending Vatican approval. In November 2016, he was elected USCCB vice-president and in November 2019 USCCB president. Gómez became the first Hispanic bishop to hold that post. In June 2022, Gómez announced that he was praying for Paul Pelosi, the businessman husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, after he was brutally attacked by an intruder in their home in San Francisco.

In March 2023, Gómez presided at the funeral mass of Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. O'Connell was shot to death at his Hacienda Heights home by Carlos Medina, the husband of O'Connell's housekeeper.

Gómez, in June 2023, announced the celebration of a special Mass in Los Angeles to mark a day of prayer in reparation. This Mass was in response to the plan of the Los Angeles Dodgers professional baseball team to honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence at an upcoming game. Gómez denounced the Sisters, an LGBTQ activist and satirical group, as blasphemers.

Gomez is the Grand Prior of the USA Western Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

Views and theology

Abortion

During the 2008 US presidential election, Gómez publicly expressed concern when St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas, allowed Senator Hillary Clinton, who supported abortion rights for women, to hold a campaign event on campus.

In 2009, Gómez criticized the University of Notre Dame for inviting US President Barack Obama as its commencement speaker due to his support of abortion rights for women.

Gómez wrote a statement to be released on January 20, 2021, the day of Biden's inauguration as US president. It warned that the incoming administration would advance "moral evils" on several fronts, including abortion, gender, and religious liberty. The Vatican Secretariat of State blocked Gómez's statement hours before its release. It was released several hours later after the Vatican released a communique from Pope Francis extending "cordial good wishes" to Biden.

Following the US Supreme Court 2022 ruling Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision on legalized abortion, Gomez issued a statement praising the ruling as USCCB president.

Euthanasia

In June 2015, Gómez sent a letter to the Health Committee of the California State Assembly to voice his objections to a vote on legislation that would permit adults with a terminal illness to seek medication from a doctor to end their lives. In it, Gómez urged the assembly representatives to reject legislation that "has dangerous implications for our state, especially the poor and the most vulnerable". He added that "helping someone die – even if that person is desperate and asks for the help – is still killing".

Gómez said in June 2020 that legalizing euthanasia "is the beginning of tyranny" in which "we are crossing a line – from being a society that cares for those who are aging and sick to a society that kills those whose suffering we can no longer tolerate". Gómez said that euthanasia was a moral failure that also invites ambiguities over how such policies may be practiced, believing that it would also worsen the inequalities in the healthcare system.

Immigration

In 2013, Gómez published Immigration and the Next America, connecting the rights of immigrants to the highest principles of the American tradition. Gómez in 2025, along with other American bishops, criticized President Donald Trump's executive orders to aggressively deport undocumented immigrants, along with his intention to end birthright citizenship. Gomez stated:<blockquote>Statements and actions from the new administration in Washington have caused fear in our parishes, schools, and communities. That is not good for anybody. I pray that our leaders will proceed with restraint and compassion, with respect for the law, and with respect for the rights and dignity of all concerned.</blockquote>

Ordination of women

Gómez voiced concerns in 2010 when Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio allowed a high-profile nun who some claim supports female ordination to be a keynote speaker at an event.

Same-sex marriage

In 2011, Gómez warned that the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States was a threat to religious liberty. He complained about Catholic adoption agencies being forced to stop operation because they refused to place children with same-sex couples.

Tridentine Mass

Gómez welcomed the 2007 publication of the apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum by Pope Benedict XVI. It granted wider usage of the Tridentine Mass, which Gómez said would preserve "the rich heritage and legacy of the Church".

Publications

Men of Brave Heart: The Virtue of Courage in the Priestly Life (Our Sunday Visitor, 2009)
A Will to Live: Clear Answers on End of Life Issues (Basilica, 2008).
Named one of the 25 most influential Hispanics in the United States (2005), Time Magazine
Doctor of Humane Letters (2018) from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles
Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa (2018) from Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.