Four Los Angeles priests who were selected by Pope Francis to become auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles will be ordained Tuesday in a Mass celebrated by Archbishop José Gomez.
Msgr. Albert Bahhuth, Father Matthew Elshoff, Father Brian Nunes and Father Slawomir Szkredka were selected in July as auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
“This is a day of joy for the family of God in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles,” Archbishop José H. Gomez said in a statement at the time of the announcement. “We give thanks to God, and we thank the Holy Father for this great blessing of new bishops. Each is a man of prayer who loves Jesus and has a deep desire to share God’s love and to serve God’s people. We are praying for them, and we entrust them to the tender care of Holy Mary, our Blessed Mother.”
According to the archdiocese, Auxiliary Bishop Bahhuth will serve as episcopal vicar for the San Fernando Pastoral Region; Auxiliary Bishop Elshoff will serve as episcopal vicar for the Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region; Auxiliary Bishop Nunes will serve as episcopal vicar for the San Gabriel Pastoral Region; and Auxiliary Bishop Szkredka will serve as episcopal vicar for the Santa Barbara Pastoral Region.
They will join current Auxiliary Bishops Alex Aclan and Marc Trudeau.
In earlier remarks, Gomez said the new bishops “reflect the beautiful diversity of the Catholic community in Los Angeles.”
“As many of you know, we are a church of immigrants, with faithful men and women and families who come from every continent and many nations; and we carry out our ministries and charities here in more than 40 different languages. And as I said, our new bishops reflect that diversity,” Gomez said.
“What these four priests have in common is their love for Jesus Christ and their love for their brothers and sisters. Each of them is a man of prayer who has a heart for the poor, and a deep desire to spread God’s love and to serve God’s people.”