Mahony said that "these labels of 'conservative' and 'liberal' are really unhelpful in the life of the church" and "I can attest that both of us share a common commitment to Christ and to the Church, and that both of us are interested in promoting the teachings of the Church fully as well as bringing the words and example of Christ to today's society and world." Gómez also said it would be wrong for observers to conclude he was a conservative because he was a priest of Opus Dei. On September 18, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Gómez one of the Synod Fathers for the 13th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization in October 2012.On November 24, 2012, he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. On January 31, 2013, Gómez stated that Mahony would "no longer have any administrative or public duties" for the Los Angeles Archdiocese. The announcement came as Gómez unveiled its files related to clergy sexual abuse. He said: "I find these files to be brutal and painful reading. The behavior described in these files is terribly sad and evil. There is no excuse, no explaining away what happened to these children. The priests involved had the duty to be their spiritual fathers and they failed. We need to acknowledge that terrible failure today."Under Gómez's stewardship and with his blessing, the Queen of Angels Foundation, a public association of the faithful under canon law founded by Mark Anchor Albert, has since 2011 revived the lapsed custom of sponsoring a Marian procession and Votive Mass in commemoration of the founding of the City of Los Angeles on September 4, 1781. Since 2012, Gómez has been the principal celebrant of this annual Mass in honour of Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles (Our Lady of the Angels). On Friday, November 14, 2014, during the fall USCCB meeting, Gómez was elected as a delegate to the 2015 World Synod of Bishops on the Family, pending Vatican approval.On November 15, 2016, he was elected vice-president of the USCCB, and on November 12, 2019, he was elected USCCB president. He is the first Latino bishop to hold the post. Views and theology Immigration In 2013, Gómez published Immigration and the Next America, connecting the rights of immigrants to the highest principles of the American tradition. Abortion Gómez has stated in the