POPE FRANCIS ACCEPTS RETIREMENT OF LA AUXILIARY BISHOP CLARK
February 15, 2022  |  By:   |  Press Releases  |  

Today, Pope Francis announced that he has accepted the retirement of Bishop Edward William Clark, Auxiliary Bishop for the Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region, upon reaching the retirement age for bishops, which is 75 years old.

In a statement released this morning, Archbishop José H. Gomez shared his congratulations, “I congratulate Bishop Clark on his retirement. For more than twenty years now, he has served Jesus Christ and the faithful of Los Angeles with zeal, dedication, and love.

“As the auxiliary bishop entrusted to the Archdiocese’s largest and most diverse pastoral region, he will be remembered as a shepherd who was always close to the people he served, especially those who were poor and living on the margins. His lasting legacy includes his strong work against the scourge of racism and discrimination against African Americans and his commitment to building up the bonds of mutual trust and respect with our Native American brothers and sisters.” (The full text of the statement follows this release.)

Bishop Clark was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and raised in Minnesota, Idaho and California (Orange County). He attended local schools in Los Angeles and graduated from St. John’s Seminary College in 1968. He was ordained for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 1972 and served as an associate pastor at Saint James Parish in Redondo Beach and Saint Joseph Parish in Pomona. He received a master’s degree in religion from Saint John’s Seminary in 1972 and a master’s degree in education from Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles in 1983. Appointed as Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles in January 2001, Bishop Clark was ordained to the Episcopacy in March 2001.

The Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region (OLA) is a pastoral region of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the largest Archdiocese in the United States with approximately 5 million Catholics covering nearly 9,000 square miles in 120 cities in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. The OLA Pastoral Region covers Downtown, Central Los Angeles, and west to Malibu. It covers Deaneries 13-16 and has 77 Parishes, 12 High schools, 48 Elementary Schools, 2 hospitals, and 4 Parochial Missions. The region is home to over 1 million Catholics. Learn more about the Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region here. For more information on the Archdiocese of Los Angeles visit LACatholics.org, or on social @LACatholics.

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Statement on the Retirement of Auxiliary Bishop Edward Clark

by

The Most Reverend José H. Gomez

Archbishop of Los Angeles

February 15, 2022

 

I congratulate Bishop Clark on his retirement. For more than twenty years now, he has served Jesus Christ and the faithful of Los Angeles with zeal, dedication, and love.  

As the auxiliary bishop entrusted to the Archdiocese’s largest and most diverse pastoral region, he will be remembered as a shepherd who was always close to the people he served, especially those who were poor and living on the margins.

His lasting legacy includes his strong work against the scourge of racism and discrimination against African Americans and his commitment to building up the bonds of mutual trust and respect with our Native American brothers and sisters.

In 2018, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles became the first in the nation to adopt protocols for respecting and integrating indigenous traditional perspectives in the life of the local Church. These protocols would not have been possible without years of patient work on the part of Bishop Clark. We will always be grateful.

Bishop Clark will also be remembered statewide as an advocate for Catholic schools and Catholic education. His leadership was instrumental in the California Catholic Conference’s 2016 action plan for the growth and sustainability of Catholic schools in the state’s twelve dioceses.

Entrusting him to the maternal care of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I wish him many years of health and happiness and joy in Our Lord.