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Gerald Wilkerson, the popular former pastor of Our Lady of Grace Church in Encino, was ordained Wednesday as an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles in a ceremonial Mass steeped in ritual but lightened with levity.
During the two-hour ordination, Cardinal Roger Mahony, head of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, presented Wilkerson the bishop's ring, miter and pastoral staff.
"The bishop has a very important role in our history, in our tradition," Mahony told more than 1,000 faithful packing the pews of the parish where parishioners knew Wilkerson as "Father Jerry." He served there for more than 15 years.
As one of the archdiocese's five auxiliary bishops, Wilkerson, 58, will serve as an assistant to Mahony and oversee 50 parishes and hundreds of thousands of parishioners in the San Fernando Pastoral Region, which contains the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys.
Before the closing hymn, Wilkerson rose to address the faithful,...