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Archbishop-Designate José H. Gomez sat down with Today’s Catholic editor Jordan McMorrough the morning of Jan. 18 at the archbishop’s residence for a wide-ranging one-on-one interview discussing the new prelate’s background, his upcoming installation and his plans for the future.
TC: Would you describe your anticipation about your upcoming installation?
Gomez: I’m very happy and looking forward to my service to the people of the Archdiocese of San Antonio. I went to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe as my first activity as the archbishop-designate of San Antonio because I wanted to put in the hands of the Blessed Mother my ministry to the people of San Antonio, to the priests and the religious and the people of San Antonio. As I was praying to the Blessed Mother, my joy and my desire to come here was increasing, so this was a special time for me to pray for my ministry and for the people of the archdiocese. So I’m really looking forward to starting to work in the service of the people here.
TC: How did you discover your vocation?
Gomez: It was a long process. This happened when I went to Catholic schools. When you go to Catholic schools you always feel the possibility of God calling you to the priesthood or the religious life. But when I was 14 or 15 two things happened. One was that my mother got sick. She had cancer, but then she was cured. So that was a special moment that I remember when I was growing up. That made me think about the possibility of a vocation. Then one of my cousins, he was in his early 20s, died in a crash, in a car accident. So those two things made me think, “What am I going to do with my life?” So as a consequence of that I decided to try to take my faith seriously. I tried to start going to daily Mass and to receive the sacraments more often. That’s one of the initial moments in my recollection of my vocation. Then I talked to my father and I told him that I wanted to go to the seminary. He said that he was not happy with that because he had a good reason. His reason was, he told me, that the only thing I’m going to give you — your inheritance — is going to be your education, so I want you to go to college, and when you finish college you can do whatever you want. And that’s what I did. I went to college in Mexico City. I got a degree as an accountant. And after I finished I was still feeling that something was missing in my life, so I decided to go to Rome for my theology degree. When I was in high school I got in contact with Opus Dei. They helped me to develop my spiritual life and helped me to learn how to practice my faith. So that helped me a lot. I joined Opus Dei as a single member and then when I finished college I went to the international seminary of Opus Dei in Rome, where I did my theology. The key thing for me in my decision was to try to take my faith seriously when I was a teenager.
TC: You said that your father initially had some concerns regarding your vocation. How did your mother and sisters react to the news that you were pursuing the priesthood?
Gomez: They were very happy. I think especially my mother was very happy. She knew that my father was not in favor of it. It makes sense. (Laughing) I’m the only boy in the family so my poor father was feeling the pressure of me going to the seminary. So my mother and my sisters were very happy and they were praying for me, but they understood why my father was taking that position. But when I was ordained my father was the happiest person in the world. He was very happy for me.
TC: What do you think is the most important thing in the life of a priest?
Gomez: I think the personal relationship with Christ. I think we as priests are supposed to be another Christ, so I think it is important for us to develop a relationship with Christ through prayer and the sacraments. That’s why, I think, for a priest the most essential thing is prayer life, because in that way you can develop that relationship and learn how to identify yourself with Christ.
TC: What do you feel you’ve gained most personally from your priesthood?
Gomez: I think the love of God. I think the foundation of the priesthood is doing it for the love of God, and as a consequence of that — loving people. Due to circumstances in life, I have learned to love people, all kinds of people, just by the fact that we all are children of God. Once you know God better, then it is easier to appreciate the human person as a creation of God, the dignity of the human person. So my priesthood helped me to know and love God and also to keep my faith in the service of the people and loving them too.
TC: What is your vision for the church in San Antonio?
Gomez: The first thing I would like to do is listen to the people, the priests and the people of the archdiocese, before making any specific plans. But I think that we as Catholics have a treasure in our faith. The richness of the Catholic faith is just a joyful way of seeing life. I would like all Catholics in San Antonio to be aware of that treasure and try to share that treasure with everybody else in the city and the world for that matter. That means that we need to learn our faith better and to have a missionary sense that our mission is to make the world better through the understanding and practice of our faith.
TC: How would you suggest that Catholics in the archdiocese learn their faith better in order to get this missionary spirit?
Gomez: There are many ways that we all can do it. I think first of all is our personal interest to giving God importance in our life. Sometimes the temptation is to think we do not need God or that God is not interested in us. My belief is that God is a loving God who is always reaching out. So the first thing is to develop that interest in getting to know God better. There are many ways. There is a personal way of doing it, reading and making the effort to learn the teachings of the church. But there is also a collective way of doing it through the ministry of the priest and the commitment of the lay faithful and there are many activities — going to Mass on Sunday, participating in retreats, or even just reading Today’s Catholic newspaper.
TC: What are some things that make you optimistic about the future of the church in North America?
Gomez: First of all, I’m an optimist and I think my episcopal motto talks about that, “Let us go forward with confidence to the throne of grace.” We have to look for improvement in our relationship with God and in society in an optimistic way. I think I’m an optimist because I trust in the presence of God in our lives because I have seen it in my life and in the lives of so many people, and then also because the human person was created in the image and likeness of God. So we have an empowering capacity to grow as a human person. I think we are capable of really changing the world. I think the time that we are living in is a time of renewal in the church. We have gone through difficult times. The Holy Father has called us to a new evangelization. I think this is a special moment in the life of the church in this country that we have to take advantage of. The world needs the testimony and the witness of Catholics, so I’m very optimistic. But I’m realistic too. I see that there are difficulties. We live in a secularistic society; there is the presence of evil and the presence of sin. But I think with the help of the grace of God and the goodness of the human person we can overcome those obstacles and create a better world.
TC: Is there anything particular about the charism of the church in San Antonio that gives you encouragement?
Gomez: Yes, and for two reasons. First of all, the history of the city of San Antonio is a rich history and we have a lot of roots in a deep sense of community, family and faith. And also in San Antonio is the combination of different cultures and different immigrations, the Hispanic immigration, German, Polish, Irish, that we have been able to put this together in a beautiful way. It is a welcoming city; it is a progressive city. It is really an example for the whole country. The concept of being able to respect the cultures and live together, being open to the good things of every culture and trying to improve the bad and negative things, the putting together of that in the Archdiocese of San Antonio and city of San Antonio is just a wonderful example for our society.
TC: What are some other issues that trouble you that are going on in society and worldwide?
Gomez: I think the existence of evil that we have seen through terrorism is a reality that brings the worst on the human person. I think there are many, many manifestations of that. I think one of the things that is more bizarre in our society is this indifference — indifference to God, indifference to other people. We fall into the temptation of becoming more selfish, to center on ourselves instead of coming out and looking for God and making life better for others. It is a big danger, especially for the next generation. The danger is the virtual world in which the young people live with the PlayStations and the computers; there is no freedom. The danger is becoming centered on yourself. You are related to machines and becoming indifferent to the people around you. When I was a kid we didn’t have any of this stuff. We just went out and played sports and learned to enjoy people and have a good time. I think indifference to the world and other people is a big challenge.
TC: What work do you still believe needs to be done before Christian unity can be attained?
Gomez: Since the Second Vatican Council we have engaged in more dialogue, but I think at the bottom of the dialogue should always be the truth. For me the truth is the starting point for possibly coming to unity. That is what I have seen in the life of the Holy Father. He’s offered to dialogue with different religions, but he always goes to the foundation of the truth of God and the truth of the human person. All of his documents go back to Genesis, to the creation of the human person looking for the truth. What is the truth of the human person? And if we uphold the truth in his teachings, then we can come together and resolve our differences. If we are not based on the truth, then it is very difficult to come to agreement on anything.
TC: What are your feelings toward John Paul II?
Gomez: I admire him a lot. He was elected pope just a few months after I was ordained a priest, so for all practical purposes my priesthood has been under Pope John Paul II. I admire his commitment to the Gospel, his strong prayer life and his openness to the people. His model of priesthood and being a bishop is what I’m trying to do, that’s also my image of what a priest and a bishop should be. There are many other things that I admire about him. His fidelity to Christ and at the same time his participation in the life of society I think he is a wonderful example for all of us, how we can make a positive impact on society based on the truths of the Gospel. He’s my hero. I think he has made an extraordinary contribution to the church and to society. His contribution is not just emotional or superficial; it’s really deep, based on the truth. He’s authentic. Someone was telling me that when he was in Denver in 1993 he stayed at the cathedral, and I was part of the cathedral while I was in Denver. He’s just a normal person. I admire his missionary zeal and activity, going all over the world, and even his example now when he is so sick. I admire that.
TC: What advice has Archbishop Patrick Flores given to you coming in as shepherd of the Archdiocese of San Antonio?
Gomez: When I first came to the United States and the Archdiocese of San Antonio, he welcomed me in a fraternal and wonderful way, so I have considered him a friend since I met him. He has made an extraordinary contribution to the life of the church in the United States, and of course to the Archdiocese of San Antonio. His prayer life and his commitment to the service of the Gospel are extraordinary and I admire that. He’s fun too. I enjoy his simplicity of life and his example of reaching out to people. He’s just a good man and a good friend. Sometimes we have the impression that bishops are people far away from other people, and I think Archbishop Flores has changed that, because he’s been a bishop for the people. A man of God for the people of God. His advice to me was to love people, independently of how they think or how they do things. My mission is to love the people of God. He has been really kind and nice to me since I was appointed and he’s been with me all the time, so I am very grateful to him for his warm welcome and to the archdiocese. I said the other day that I cannot replace him and it is true. He is just an extraordinary man, but I’m going to do my best to continue his work in the archdiocese, keep working along with the people of the archdiocese in the service of the Gospel. His stories are really good, so in my preaching and my talks sometimes I relay to people some of his stories because he is very clear.
TC: What are your short term plans in the archdiocese in the weeks and months after your installation?
Gomez: First of all, I need to listen and get to know the priests of the archdiocese, so I hope that we can have some meetings one-on-one and group meetings. When I went to Denver one of the first things that I did was to organize gatherings of people, especially the leaders of the community, and I learned a lot from them. What they talked about was important for the church in Denver. I had meetings with a lot of Hispanic leaders in the Archdiocese of Denver. I enjoyed that and I learned a lot and they helped me to deal with the issues that were important for the people. So what I am planning to do is first, to have individual meetings and small gatherings, and then I would like to go to all the parishes of the archdiocese. However, that’s going to take me a year or more. I was thinking that we can have at least one Mass in each deanery of the archdiocese in the next month or two.
TC: How did Centro San Juan Diego in Denver come about?
Gomez: There were a couple of things that were very important for the people. One was education in the faith and also the need for the church to participate in the material needs of the people. So that’s how the idea of Centro San Juan Diego came about, to have a center where we can provide people with education and at the same time provide them with social services so that they can become active members of society. Education was really an important part of it; it’s an issue for everyone, so I’m sure it’s a very important need here.
TC: You have stressed the importance of a Catholic education, especially for the Hispanic community. Could you elaborate on that?
Gomez: I think a great priority for all of us is the education of children for the next generation. As a product of Catholic schools myself, I would like to address the importance of Catholic schools as part of preserving the faith and also preserving our culture, our Catholic culture. At Catholic schools you learn not just the subject of science, but you learn a way of life. I think it is important that we preserve that. As I have said before, the Catholic culture is essential for the life of this country. So I’m 100 percent behind Catholic schools and I think we provide an extraordinary service to the church and to society. I know that nowadays it’s more difficult to preserve the schools and there are many challenges, financial challenges and all kinds of difficulties. But I think if we work together and see the importance of Catholic schools we can find the solutions for the problems and then develop a new model, a new system to maintain Catholic schools and to promote them. We need to develop a new system, maybe through the more active participation of parents and some other active members of society. But we need to develop a new model. In Denver there is a program called Seeds of Hopes that raises money for inner city Catholic schools. There are new ways of doing it, creative ways of promoting Catholic schools that are very important and we have to keep looking for that.
TC: During your episcopal ordination in Denver, Archbishop Charles Chaput said he specifically requested an auxiliary bishop to work with the growing Hispanic population in his archdiocese. What emphasis would you like to see or would you expect to see with regards to Hispanic Ministry following your installation?
Gomez: The reality of the Archdiocese of San Antonio is different than the one from Denver. I think the integration of all peoples in the Archdiocese of San Antonio is much more advanced than the one I found in Denver. So the reality is different. I think the fact that I’m an immigrant, my presence, helps people to feel welcome in the church. I know that they are in the Archdiocese of San Antonio and I think that makes a big difference when you feel, “This is my church. I belong to the church as much as anybody else.” On the other hand, I think that because of my background, with my mother growing up in San Antonio, I know the American culture. I can always learn more, but I think for me it’s been an ongoing reality since I was a kid. I feel comfortable with everyone, every culture. In my seminary, when I went to the international seminary in Rome, it had people from five continents, so I learned how to understand and respect the different cultures. So I think obviously my ministry is important for the Hispanics but I hope that I can serve the people of the archdiocese with the same love and intensity and that I can be a bishop for all, for everyone.
TC: What do you see as your role nationally in being the only Hispanic archbishop in the United States?
Gomez: The bishops of the United States have said the Hispanic culture is a blessing for the church in the United States. So for me to follow in the footsteps of Archbishop Flores is an extraordinary grace of God and at the same time a huge responsibility to help people to know and respect each other and learn from each other to the point of being more united as a church. I think the Catholicity of the church is a great gift to the world. My leadership I think, in that sense, is helping people to grow in love for each other. I was also president of the National Association of Hispanic Priests so that helped me to see the needs of the priests and different communities all over the country. That’s also a plus for me because I know the blessings of Hispanic Ministry all over the country and also the challenges of Hispanic Ministry, including the need for Hispanics to be more integrated in society and in the church. I think learning English is an important thing. I’m pretty happy that kids are learning English. So then the respect for the Hispanics, Irish or whatever culture is very important too. I’m excited about the leadership of the Archdiocese of San Antonio and personally I think it’s a blessing for me and for the people.
TC: What are some of the efforts you’ll be looking at in increasing the number of vocations?
Gomez: I’ll be working together with the director of vocations for the archdiocese and also with the faculty and director of seminarians to look at creating ways of presenting our seminary and stories and vocations to the priesthood as something attractive to the young people. I hope that the priests and religious of the archdiocese work together with me to create this atmosphere of seeing the priesthood and religious life as a joyful way of life. Of course an important part of vocations is family life, so as we promote vocations we have to promote also family life according to the teachings of the church. In a sense we are all vocations directors. I think we present priesthood and religious life as a joyful and truthful call from God which young people of the archdiocese will see as a blessing and as a gift from God.
TC: Is there anything else you would like to tell our readers?
Gomez: My first priority is that we all grow in the knowledge of the faith and in sense of evangelization. My mission as a bishop is to evangelize as the apostles did. So I hope that we can all learn better and participate. I also think my number one priority is the promotion of vocations to the priesthood and to the religious life and cause the lay faithful to be more committed to the Gospel. I think if we are more committed to the Gospel then we are following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. I’m very happy to be in San Antonio. It’s an extraordinary joy in my life to come home and be a part of the life of the Archdiocese of San Antonio. I would like to ask all the people in the Archdiocese of San Antonio to pray for me, obviously I need a lot of prayers. And they can be assured of my prayers for them. |