Blog - Talks & Writings

February 27, 2022: "Please know that your Roman Catholic brothers and sisters in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles will always be near to you in solidarity and prayer. We are praying for a swift end to the evil of this war. We ask Jesus Christ, the Lord of Peace, to touch the hearts of the aggressors, and move them to conversion. We also call on those in authority to seek a just peace that recognizes the dignity and sovereignty of the Ukrainian people."

January 22, 2022: "OneLife LA has always been more than a procession, and more than an event. OneLife LA is a movement of love and peace. We are seeking to build a new culture and a new way of life in our country."

November 5, 2021: "From the first century, the Catholic Church has taught that abortion is a moral evil that involves the killing of the unborn child. In our day, abortion often victimizes women in poor and minority communities and is used to eliminate children with disabilities."

Noviembre 4, 2021: "Ustedes me han pedido que aborde un tema serio, delicado y complicado: relativo al surgimiento de nuevas ideologías y movimientos seculares que buscan el cambio social en Estados Unidos y las implicaciones que esto tiene para la Iglesia."

November 4, 2021: "You have asked me to address a serious, sensitive, and complicated topic — the rise of new secular ideologies and movements for social change in the United States and the implications for the Church."

September 13, 2021: "California lawmakers have passed legislation to replace a statue of St. Junípero Serra at the Capitol in Sacramento with a new monument honoring the state’s native peoples. The Serra statue has been in storage since it was torn down by protesters in July 2020."

September 8, 2021: "Two hundred and fifty years ago tonight, on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the year 1771, Mission San Gabriel Acrángel was established by St. Junípero Serra, together with Tongva natives, who were this land’s first peoples."

April 15, 2021: "Racism, as we all know, is a grave sin, a spiritual disease and a social injustice. We need to stand together as one Church to eradicate this evil from our own hearts, from the hearts of our neighbors, and from the structures of our society."

February 6, 2021: "The Church is the conscience of every society, in every time and place. And our duty in our country at this time is to help our leaders and our neighbors to hear the cry of the poor — to understand that we belong to one another, to feel our responsibility for the vulnerable and weak."

February 2, 2021: "For much of this past year, America has been confronting the sad reality that racist thinking and practices remain all too common in our society. Millions of our brothers and sisters still experience indignity and are denied opportunity only because of their race."

January 12, 2021: "As Christians, we worship a God who has revealed himself as Love. And as Christians, we know that human beings are made in the image of this God, in the image of Love. We are created out of love. And we are made to love. To love as Jesus loved, and as Mother Teresa and the saints love."

August 1, 2020: “Let’s ask for the grace to continue his mission of love. As I was saying — we are all called to be missionary disciples, no matter how young or how old we are. If we follow Jesus we share in his mission.”

June 29, 2020: "Entiendo el profundo dolor que manifiestan algunos pueblos nativos de California. Pero también creo que Fray Junípero es un santo para nuestros tiempos, el fundador espiritual de Los Ángeles, un defensor de los derechos humanos y el primer santo hispano de este país. Yo tuve el privilegio de concelebrar con el Papa Francisco en su misa de canonización, en el año 2015. Confío en su intercesión para mi ministerio y su deseo de llevar la tierna misericordia de Dios a cada persona, es una fuente de inspiración para mí."

June 29, 2020: "I understand the deep pain being expressed by some native peoples in California. But I also believe Fray Junípero is a saint for our times, the spiritual founder of Los Angeles, a champion of human rights, and this country’s first Hispanic saint. I was privileged to celebrate his canonization Mass with Pope Francis in 2015. I rely on his intercession in my ministry, and I am inspired by his desire to bring God’s tender mercy to every person."

June 2, 2020: "The anger and unrest that has swept Los Angeles and the rest of the country since his death is a sad reminder that racism remains real. Millions of our brothers and sisters still today experience humiliation, indignity, and unequal opportunity only because of their race or the color of their skin."

August 13, 2019: "El Paso hit me in a personal way. My family is Mexican and American, and we trace our roots back to the early 1800s in what is now Texas; I lived much of my adult life there, including my five years as Archbishop of San Antonio."

July 2, 2019: "Serra was a 56-year-old Franciscan friar when he came to California; he suffered from asthma and a chronic, near-crippling leg infection. He had come to the New World from Spain nearly 20 years earlier, leaving behind his family and a comfortable career teaching theology."

June 18, 2019: "Usually when we talk about the state of the family, we talk about a cluster of issues — contraception and abortion; divorce rates, out-of-wedlock births, people living together rather than getting married; we talk about the growth of same-sex unions and the confusion about sex that we see in our society."

Agosto 30, 2018: "Éste es un momento de tristeza y confusión para todos nosotros, debido a las recientes revelaciones sobre los pecados y abusos en la Iglesia de este país... Y estoy orando todavía más intensamente por las víctimas sobrevivientes de estos crímenes."

August 30, 2018: "It is a sad and confusing time for all of us, with the recent revelations about sin and abuse in the Church in this country... I am praying most intensely for the victim-survivors of these crimes, and am trying to offer what small penance I can for everyone who has suffered abuse by pastors of the Church."