The diocese lost one of its beloved leaders, Bishop Gilberto Chávez, just as the coronavirus was beginning to spread. Two years later, almost to the day, the diocese was able to celebrate a memorial Mass for him, complete with the mariachi music he loved.
More than 150 people attended the Mass on March 19, celebrated by Bishop Robert McElroy, and a fiesta afterward. Those on hand included family members and friends who had traveled from San Bernardino County, and current and retired Hispanic ministry leaders who collaborated with him for decades.
Bishop Chávez died on March 15, at the age of 87, after years of declining health. He served the diocese for 47 years, 33 of them as auxiliary bishop.
Bishop Robert McElroy explained that health orders to slow the spread of the virus had forced the diocese to scale back its plans for the funeral Mass two years ago.
“First, they told us we could only have 100 people attend, then only 50, then only 10,” he said.
The diocese would go on to hold the Mass in an empty St. Joseph Cathedral, save for a handful of his family members who were present.
“Today, we’re finally able to gather together,” the Bishop said at the beginning of the Mass, held at the chapel of the diocese’s Pastoral Center.
He noted that the day was important: Bishop Chávez had been ordained on March 19 some 62 years earlier.
In his homily, he often directed his words to Bishop Chávez’s family members, who included his nieces, Veronica Alaniz and Martha Alcaráz.
“We gather today to pray for you, and to ask that God be with you in your grief and in your sense of loss which still endures, just as Christ was present for Martha and Mary at the death of their brother Lazarus,” the Bishop said, referring to the day’s Gospel reading (John 11:1-45).
The Bishop said that diocese is also experiencing a profound sense of grief because Bishop Chávez had played in important role in its history.
“Bishop Chavez’s appointment was historic,” Bishop said. “He was only the second Hispanic bishop in the United States; now we have about 50.”
He said Bishop Chávez helped to lead the Church in California and the San Diego Diocese.
“He helped the Church to understand that the ministry and outreach to the Hispanic community needed to be central in the life of the Church,” he continued.
“He was a prophetic figure in ministry for the Spanish-speaking community,” the Bishop said, noting that under his direction generations of leaders had been formed to serve in the Church.
Bishop Chávez also was a prophetic figure because he helped the Church to understand that the issues of justice and fundamental rights for immigrants “are not secondary concerns for the life of the Church but lie right at the center of our work.”
The Bishop invited everyone to reflect on this legacy.
“We come together to celebrate this Mass, filled with memories and filled with a sense of the prophetic work that he gave us still graces our local church.”
After the Mass, the diocese held a fiesta, presided by Auxiliary Bishop Ramón Bejarano. Several individuals who had known Bishop Chávez for decades took turns addressing the celebration, sharing their testimonial about the impact he had had on their lives.
The above comes from a March 20 story in the Southern Cross.
This is America. English only. Regardless of the color of your skin or where you came from, speak the language of the country you came to. Here that’s English. It’s a matter of respect for the place and the people where you have chosen to live.
I don’t want to hear vietnamese, spanish, chinese, japanese nor any other modern language at Mass. Just English and Latin.
When I go to another country, I don’t demand Mass in my language. I respectfully let them be who they are.
So why in America is the church supposed to cater to people who often can speak and read English well enough by celebrating Mass in their preferred modern language? It’s dividing the church. And don’t tell me unity in diversity. That’s not what’s happening.
Like the RECongress closing Mass… it was all these different languages instead of the one language everyone there knows: English. Just celebrate Mass in English.
In California where the official language is English, that is fine. But in other States that have not declared an official language, it is difficult to se that rule being implemented.
This is the Cathic Church! Not the State of California! A horrific disgrace! Is Our Lord allowed to speak Aramaic? Or read His Hebrew Scriptures?
What does aramaic have to do with the price of tea in china?
I went to Easter mass a few years ago in communist China, it was in English, for English speaking ex-pats and tourists. Not even the government of Communist China said they would only allow mass in Mandarin. And this is a country that has an official language and tries to suppress dozens of regional languages including the Chinese language we most commonly hear in the US, Cantonese.
This ugly, hateful, racist comment is a horrific disgrace! You should not consider yourself to be “Catholic” or even “Christian!” Shame on you!
The reply of “Disgrace!” is to the shameful comment of “English and Latin” on March 21 at 12:29pm.
What’s racist about a unifying language for a country? What’s racist about expecting or even demanding that people who come here speak our language? It has nothing to do with race, so stop with crying wolf. It’s old already. You people have neutered the word “racism” of any effect or meaning.
Like criticism of the unqualified and communist Ketanji Brown is not racist. It’s saying someone of her lack of qualifications and poor judicial record should not be on the Supreme Court. Skin color has nothing to do with it.
Ketanji can’t even define what the word “woman” means when asked, so how is she capable of ruling on cases? She’s not. She’s a plant to try to get left-leaning rulings.
What was racist was Joe Biden saying he would only nominate a black woman. Oh, that was sexist too. Why not nominate the best person in a color-blind manner? Because it’s the left that is racist, not conservatives.
Our Pope is a Spanish-speaker, from a Hispanic country. Hispanics now make up a gigantic part of our Church, in California and in the U.S. Most Calif. Catholic churches have a Spanish Mass on Sundays. Many have Chinese and Vietnamese Masses. In SF, we also have both French and Italian national churches, for immigrants from those countries.
The article title is misleading. A funeral was held soon after his death. It says so in the article text. What was held two years later was a memorial Mass, not a funeral.
From the pic it looks like the altar is set up for ad orientem celebration. Are my eyes deceiving me? Could that happen in the Diocese of San Diego? Was that approved by Bishop McElroy?
No, he came around to the front of the altar to accept the gifts being brought forward which is how it normally is done.
That’s what I thought at first too, but then I looked more carefully and it appears that the sacramentary is positioned so as to be read ad oriented. On the other hand, there are candles on the altar that would be dangerously close to vestments if celebrated ad orientem, so I think it’s ambiguous. But I think ad orientem has amazing eyes for spotting the book on the altar which is either an indication of ad orientem setup or an optical illusion.
Actually on an even closer look, the book I thought was the sacramentary now looks like it is on a stand of some kind apart from the altar, so it might be the Book of the Gospels which many Churches, including my own, take the guidelines about displaying that Book in a prominent place. So it does appear to be an optical illusion.
This article is about a memorial service for a Bishop. It is not about the qualifications of a candidate for SCOTUS. That is for another discussion.
This article is not about the language used at Mass.
The article talked about Spanish language communities in the church. I think that was the in. Then someone labeled a charge of racism, which led to other stuff.
You know, one thing leads to another.