In a surprise move, B16 has accepted the early resignation of LA Auxiliary Gabino Zavala, who turned 60 last September.
While rumors of unspecified Vatican concerns over Zavala have circulated for some time, and have intensified over recent months, Catholic News Service reported this morning that the bishop's resignation was accepted after he confessed to having fathered two children.
In a letter to the Los Angeles church, Archbishop José Gomez wrote that the auxiliary "informed [him] in early December that he is the father of two minor teenage children, who live with their mother in another state."
Since submitting his resignation to Benedict shortly thereafter, Zavala "has not been in ministry and will be living privately."
Gomez added that the LA church will assist the teens with their college costs.
Ordained to assist Cardinal Roger Mahony in 1994, at age 43, the Mexican-born Zavala -- until now the senior auxiliary of the nation's largest diocese -- had been in the final year of his term as Chair of Communications for the US bishops.
A former head of the Stateside branch of Pax Christi, he made national headlines for advocating a more progressive stance on church teaching in the public square during the 2008 elections, and a prominent speech that lambasted "blogs" that "engage in attacks and hurtful, judgmental language... assume the role of Magisterium and judge others in the church" during the 2010 Catholic Press Convention in New Orleans.
>>>This news from Whispers in the Loggia; one of the important blogs I follow.
>>>This is so disturbing. But we should send prayers his way and for those children and for all the faithful who looked to Bishop Zavala for spiritual guidance.
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