Dear Friends,
I ask you to keep in your prayers Bishop Alex Aclan, the auxiliary Bishop of LA with responsibility for the San Fernando pastoral Region, who had a stroke last Saturday. Bp. Alex was the Vicar for clergy when I arrived and was very kind and helpful in that role for me to settle in. Bp. Alex was ordained Bishop in 1919 and has served with distinction.
This reality gives Archbishop José another pastoral headache. In the ADLA, we are already needing two new auxiliaries to replace Bishop Robert Barron, now in Minnesota, and Bishop Clark who has retired as bishop for the Our Lady Queen of Angels Region. A priest will have to be ap- pointed to help look after Bp. Aclan’s region until he is well. ABp. José has appointed Fr Leon Hon to serve as the Episcopal Vicar of the Santa Barbara Region until such time as the Pope appoints the new Auxiliaries to ADLA.
You may wonder why we need these Auxiliary Bishops. Well, LA Diocese is one of the largest Diocese in the world and certainly the largest in USA with over 4 million Catholics. The Auxiliaries not only preside at Confirmations but advise and help the priests with their roles and take on the care of certain ministries and initiatives, etc., in the Archdiocese. They are a very necessary part of the reality of the Catholic Church here in LA Archdiocese. So please pray that Pope Francis will provide 2-3 good pastoral bishops who ‘Smell the sheep’, to help Abp. José pastor the diocese soon.
God bless you and your families, Fr Aidan-Peter CJ
May God bless you, your families, and the week ahead,
Fr Aidan Peter