{"id":9855,"date":"2012-01-04T08:10:10","date_gmt":"2012-01-04T14:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=9855"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:34:56","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:34:56","slug":"las-bishop-zavala-resigns-admits-fathering-two-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/01\/las-bishop-zavala-resigns-admits-fathering-two-children\/","title":{"rendered":"LA’s Bishop Zavala resigns, admits fathering two children"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Rocco broke the news this morning, and now there\u2019s more: <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

In a surprise move, B16 has accepted the\u00a0early resignation\u00a0of LA Auxiliary Gabino Zavala,\u00a0who turned 60 last September.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>While rumors of unspecified Vatican concerns over Zavala have circulated for some time, and have intensified over recent months,\u00a0Catholic News Servicereported this morning\u00a0via Twitter<\/a> that the bishop\u2019s resignation was accepted after he confessed to having fathered two children.<\/p>\n

In a letter to the Los Angeles church, Archbishop Jos\u00e9 Gomez wrote that the auxiliary \u201cinformed [him] in early December that he is the father of two minor teenage children, who live with their mother in another state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since submitting his resignation to Benedict shortly thereafter, Zavala \u201chas not been in ministry and will be living privately,\u201d the archbishop said.<\/p>\n

Gomez added that the LA church will assist the teens with their college costs.<\/p>\n

Ordained to assist Cardinal Roger Mahony at age 43 in 1994, the Mexican-born Zavala \u2014 until now the senior auxiliary of the nation\u2019s largest diocese \u2014 had been in the final year of his term as Chair of Communications for the US bishops.<\/p>\n

The longtime bishop-president of the Stateside branch of\u00a0Pax Christi,<\/a>he previously made\u00a0national headlines<\/a> for advocating a more progressive stance on church teaching in the public square during the 2008 elections, and a\u00a0prominent speech<\/a> that lambasted \u201cblogs\u201d that \u201cengage in attacks and hurtful, judgmental language\u2026 assume the role of Magisterium and judge others in the church\u201d during the 2010 Catholic Press Convention in New Orleans.<\/p>\n

Reacting to the news, all one longtime friend of Zavala\u2019s among the Angeleno crowd could say was, \u201cI\u2019m numb.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The letter from Archbishop Gomez is at the link<\/a><\/strong>, along with more details.<\/p>\n

I worked with Bishop Zavala when he chaired the USCCB\u2019s Communications Committee. \u00a0\u201cNumb\u201d about sums it up. \u00a0He\u2019s a kind, thoughtful, unfailingly joyful man. \u00a0My prayers go out to him and those who love him.<\/p>\n

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