This is pretty unusual, via CNA:
Archbishop Jose Gomez has rebuked an online claim that he plans to vote for Joe Biden in the November presidential election, stating that an alleged conversation in which he disclosed his voting plans never actually took place.
“In all my years as a priest and a bishop, I have never publicly or privately endorsed a political candidate or told anyone who I might be voting for. It is disgraceful that some would use the media to spread misinformation and try to confuse and divide people,” Gomez, the president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, said in an Oct. 20 statement.
Cleanthechurch.com, a website based in California, published a blog post Tuesday evening which alleged that in February 2020, Gomez and a “wealthy ex-donor to the church” met over breakfast at the Jonathan Club in downtown Los Angeles.
The blog post claimed that Gomez told the individual that he is “voting [for] and supporting Jose [sic] Biden because he did not ‘like the way Trump talks.’”
“[T]he president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is voting for a pro-abortion, pro-gay-marriage, socialist because he ‘does not like the way Trump talks’…. I am sure that he is also forcing priests in the archdiocese to support Biden… So infuriating!” the blog reads.
Gomez denied the alleged conversation, and even the breakfast, ever took place.
A spokeswoman for the archdiocese told CNA on Wednesday that the archbishop had no breakfast meetings on his calendar during the month of February.
In his statement, Gomez urged Catholics to pray and reflect on the U.S. bishops’ voting guide, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility.”
The archbishop’s statement:
On October 20, a petition was posted on Change.org claiming that Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles had told an anonymous “wealthy ex-donor to the Church” in a recent meeting that he would be voting for Joe Biden in the upcoming presidential election. Archbishop Gomez has issued the following response:
“What this petition claims is totally false. The meeting and conversation never happened. In all my years as a priest and a bishop, I have never publicly or privately endorsed a political candidate or told anyone who I might be voting for. It is disgraceful that some would use the media to spread misinformation and try to confuse and divide people. As we prepare for our national elections, I urge all Catholics to pray and reflect on the U.S. Bishops’ guide, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility. And let us pray for the grace to treat one another as brothers and sisters, with dignity and respect.”
