Few people have worked as closely — and in such different capacities — with Archbishop José H. Gomez over the last 15 years than Bishop Joseph Brennan.
Shortly after he officially began in LA, Archbishop Gomez surprised then-Father Brennan by asking him to serve as his top aide in the archdiocese. Then, in 2015, Pope Francis appointed Brennan and two other priests (a group dubbed “the triplets” by Pope Francis) to serve as auxiliary bishops under Archbishop Gomez.
But even since Brennan left LA to lead the Diocese of Fresno in 2019 (another Pope Francis appointment), the two have maintained their friendship and their working relationship. In 2024, Brennan dedicated his first pastoral letter — which addressed the Eucharist — to Archbishop Gomez, calling him “a great mentor, a good friend, and a lover of Jesus in the Eucharist.”
Brennan spoke candidly to Angelus in a phone interview about what he admires about the archbishop, what he’s learned from him, and the “weird” dynamic between them today.
Bishop, how did your relationship with Archbishop Gomez begin?
The first time I remember meeting him was at the funeral of Msgr. Michael Linahan, one of our great Irish pastors, in 2011.
Archbishop Gomez is greeting people, and I’m thinking he doesn't know me. But he gets to me and says, “Good to meet you, Joe!”
It was amazing that he knew our names (the priests), it mattered to him that he would be able to call us by name. It meant a lot.
That was the start of a positive trajectory in terms of our personal relationship and our working relationship. He was just that engaged, and cared that much that he would prepare himself that way.
A couple of years later, the archbishop asked you to serve as vicar general and moderator of the Curia for the archdiocese. What was it like going from being a pastor to working alongside him daily?
I remember the day everything changed, when the archbishop called me in for a meeting. The priests of the archdiocese had just voted among ourselves for a new vicar for clergy, and thankfully, I’d come in second the last few election cycles. My heart was starting to sink because I’m thinking, “Oh my, I didn’t dodge the bullet this time.”
When I went in, the archbishop said: “I presume you know what this meeting is about.”
And I said, “Well, I'm presuming I’ve been selected as the assistant vicar for clergy.”
He said, “No, I want you to be my vicar general.” My jaw dropped. Once I put my jaw back in place, I said, “You’re kidding.” And then he said, “I’m not kidding.” And then I said, “Well, then, I’m yours.”
That was pretty much it: We didn’t really talk about the job, he just said I would be tutored by Msgr. Royale Vadakin (the previous vicar general) and that was wonderful because he’d been my pastor at the old Cathedral of St. Vibiana for three years, and I loved my time with him.
I had been admiring and observing Archbishop Gomez from a distance as pastor at Holy Trinity in San Pedro, loving what I was hearing and seeing from him. And then I just saw and loved more after I became vicar general.
Those three years were tough because the job was tough. I would tell people: “I hate my job, but I love my boss.” I didn’t really hate the job, but it’s the toughest job I’ve ever done, honestly. But I did it willingly, and I would do it again for him, because he is such a gentle man, and he is so deeply spiritual.
One thing that I really admired about him is that he doesn’t just say that he listens: He really listens. He wouldn’t say, “I made up my mind, I’ve made the decision, get out of my office,” because some bishops would do that. He’d say, have a seat, I’ll listen. And listening, he was influenced by what others had to say.
What did he teach you about being a bishop that’s helped you over the years?
Two things stick out to me. One of them would be flexibility: the open heart, the flexible heart, that he brings to every situation. He doesn’t make decisions drastically.
The other was his immense patience. He is an incredibly patient man. I got to see how patient he is with people, and he was patient with me.
I honestly don’t think I did that great of a job as vicar general, but he was so patient with me. I think it was especially difficult for him when Msgr. Vadakin left after about three months of mentoring me and showing me the ropes. I don’t think I was what he was looking for, but he stuck with me for three years. I think that’s how I became bishop: He didn’t know what else to do with me (laughs)!
What are some moments during his time here so far that are closest to your heart, or that you think help explain who Archbishop Gomez is?
One was right before I found out that I was going to go to Fresno. The U.S. bishops had this retreat in January 2019 at Mundelein Seminary near Chicago, where it was cold and snowy, with the pope’s preacher, then-Father (now Cardinal) Raniero Cantalamessa.
During that retreat, I had a sense that the archbishop wanted to share something with me, but it just never happened. Two weeks later, I got the phone call telling me that I’d been appointed as bishop of Fresno, and that’s when I kind of put two and two together. I think I know why he wanted to say something, but couldn’t just yet.
So I called him immediately, and he was so supportive and positive that I could do this bishop thing up here in Fresno. Although he did apologize, too. “Joe, I tried to protect you,” he said.
I was the first of the “triplets” to be moved. I think that was hard for the archbishop. I think he knew it was going to be hard for me, and it already was when I got the phone call, because it changes your life forever.
Another was when I was living at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels shortly after starting as vicar general. For various reasons (none of them to do with Archbishop Gomez), I wasn’t comfortable living there.
I was reluctant to do it, but knowing how open he is and how he always listens, one day I finally went to him and said, “Archbishop. I’ve only been here for a few months, but living here at the cathedral is killing me, and the job is hard enough. Can I move my residence?”
I told him that I wanted to move to Mother of Sorrows in South Central LA, where a priest friend was pastor, and where I thought I could thrive helping out on weekends.
And he said, “I understand. Cathedrals are not normal places. Yes, of course you can go!”
Now that you’re both bishops in different California dioceses, what’s your relationship like today?
We’re still in the Los Angeles Province of Bishops, so he’s my metropolitan archbishop. So in a sense, he’s still my boss! Apart from the meetings that we go to, I call him regularly, just to say hi, to report in and touch base.
He’s only a couple years older than I am, but we have a bit of a weird father-son dynamic going on, except it’s much more eyeball to eyeball. Being an ordinary has affected that: you share a lot of the same stress and burdens and problems, you can commiserate with each other, understand each other better. I’m not doing all that great up here, but they haven’t fired me yet, and I guess I’m just grateful for that!
