Pope Francis Appoints a New Capuchin Bishop
The Holy Father has appointed auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles (USA): Msgr. Albert Bahhuth, of the same archdiocese, current pastor of the Holy Family in South Pasadena, assigning him the Titular See of Vadesi; Msgr. Brian Nunes, of the same archdiocese, currently Vicar General, assigning to him the Titular See of Kearney; the Rev. Slawomir Szkredka, of the same archdiocese, currently a professor at Saint John’s Seminary in Camarillo, assigning to him the Titular See of Vico della Torre; and our brother Matthew Elshoff, OFMCap, member of the Capuchin Province of Western America (Our Lady of the Angels), currently pastor of Saint Lawrence of Brindisi in Los Angeles, assigning him the Titular See of Lamzella.
Elshoff was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in September 1955 but grew up in the Los Angeles area, attending St. Bede the Venerable church and school in La Cañada Flintridge as a child. After graduating from St. Francis High School, also in La Cañada, he entered the Capuchin Order in 1973. He did his philosophical studies at Saint Albert’s Priory in Oakland and his theological studies at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, earning a Master of Divinity degree. He later obtained a Masters of Marriage and Family Therapy at the California Family Study Center in Hollywood. Finally, he was ordained a priest by Cardinal Timothy Manning in 1982.
As a Capuchin, he was engaged with vocation ministry, then as vice master of novices, and was soon elected for leadership in his province first as a definitor from 1999 to 2005 and then as provincial minister from 2008 to 2014. He has also exercised his ministry in the archdiocese by serving as chaplain and then president of his beloved St. Francis High School, then as pastor of Old Mission Santa Ines in Solvang, and most recently as pastor at St. Lawrence Brindisi in downtown Los Angeles.
“This momentous moment in my life and that of the archdiocese speaks to the mysterious ways of the Lord,” said bishop-elect Elshoff, who also served as provincial minister of his province from 2008 to 2014.
“I am very grateful to His Holiness Pope Francis for placing his trust in me by appointing me as an auxiliary bishop, as well as to Archbishop Gomez for his role in accepting me as one of his auxiliaries. I am honored to serve the priests, deacons, religious and people of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.”