Archdiocese of Los Angeles Archidiœcesis Angelorum in California Arquidiócesis de Los Ángeles | |
|---|---|
 Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels | |
 Coat of arms | |
| Location | |
| Country |  United States |
| Territory | Los Angeles,Santa Barbara, andVentura Counties |
| Ecclesiastical province | Los Angeles |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 14,019 km2 (5,413 sq mi) |
Population
|
|
| Parishes | 287 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | June 1, 1922; 103 years ago (1922-06-01) (As Diocese of Los Angeles-San Diego) July 11, 1936; 89 years ago (1936-07-11) (As Archdiocese of Los Angeles) |
| Cathedral | Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels |
| Patron saint | Saint Vibiana,Saint Patrick,Saint Rita,Saint Emidius[1] |
| Secular priests | 590 |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Leo XIV |
| Archbishop | José Horacio Gómez Velasco |
| Auxiliary Bishops | |
| Vicar General | James M. Anguiano |
| Episcopal Vicars | Alejandro D. Aclan |
| Judicial Vicar | Reynaldo Matunog |
| Bishops emeritus | |
| Map | |
 | |
| Website | |
| lacatholics.org | |
TheArchdiocese of Los Angeles (Latin:Archidiœcesis Angelorum in California,Spanish:Arquidiócesis de Los Ángeles) is an archdiocese of theCatholic Church located in the southern part ofCalifornia in the United States, The archdiocese contains the counties ofLos Angeles,Santa Barbara, andVentura. The cathedral is theCathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, and its present archbishop isJosé Horacio Gómez Velasco.
With over five million professing members and weekly liturgies celebrated in 32 languages, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is numerically the single largest and most ethnically diverse archdiocese in the United States.[2]
The archbishop of Los Angeles also serves asmetropolitan bishop of thesuffragan dioceses within theEcclesiastical Province of Los Angeles, which includes the dioceses ofFresno,Monterey,Orange,San Bernardino, andSan Diego.
Spanish Franciscan missionaries establishedSpanish missions in the region during the 18th century, but they were abandoned by 1834. The Vatican established the diocese of the Two Californias in 1840, when the Los Angeles region was still part ofMexico. In 1848, Mexican California was ceded to the United States, and the American portion of the diocese was renamed theDiocese of Monterey. The diocese was renamed the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles in 1859, and theepiscopal see was moved to Los Angeles upon the completion of theCathedral of Saint Vibiana in 1876. Los Angeles split from Monterey to become the Diocese of Los Angeles-San Diego in 1922. The diocese was split again in 1936 to create theDiocese of San Diego, and the Los Angeles was seen elevated to an archdiocese. The archdiocese's present territory was established in 1976, when Orange County was split off to establish the Diocese of Orange.
Thesexual abuse scandal in the archdiocese resulted in a $880 million court settlement in 2024; bringing the total settlement payouts for the archdiocese to over $1.5 billion. Instances of sexual abuse within the archdiocese have been documented back to the 1930s, though instances from the 1970s through 1990s have been more highly publicized.
The first Catholic presence in the present-day archdiocese was that of priests who accompanied the Spanish expedition ofJuan Cabrillo in 1542 andSebastian Vizcaíno in 1602.[3][4] During the 18th century, the Spanish established a chain of 21 missions, operated by theFranciscan Order, in present-day California to solidify their territorial claims to the area.[5]
The goal of the missions was to convert members of the Native American tribes in what was now the Spanish province ofAlta California.[6] Once they were baptised, these converts were forced to live at the missions, where worked in the fields and built the mission churches and other buildings. The missions soon controlled large blocks of land in the province and amassed great wealth.[5]
The first of three missions in the archdiocese was theMission San Buenaventura, founded inVentura in 1749 by the missionaryJunipero Serra to evangelize theChumash people.[7] It was followed in 1771 by theMission San Gabriel Arcángel inSan Gabriel, established by the missionaries Benito Cambon and Angel Somera for theTongva people. This mission served as the base for the founding of Los Angeles.[8][9]
The first parish church in Santa Barbara was Our Lady of Sorrows, established in 1782 to serve the Spanish soldiers stationed at thepresidio, or fort, in that community.[10] It was followed in 1789 by the third mission,Mission Santa Barbara, founded to evangelize the Chumash.
The first Catholic church in the City of Los Angeles wasLa Iglesia de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles, founded in 1814 in what became the downtown of the city.
After the end of theMexican War of Independence in 1822, control of Alta California passed from Spain to the newMexican Empire. Mexico in 1834 passed a law that required all the missions to disgorge most of their property holdings and free the Native American converts from servitude. As a result, the Franciscans abandoned the missions, leaving them in disrepair.
In 1840, PopeGregory XVI erect the Diocese of California. It was also called"Diocese of Two Californias" or "Diocese of Both Californias".[11] Gregory XVI set the episcopal see inSan Diego .[12][13] The new diocese included the following Mexican territories:
After the conclusion of theMexican American War in 1848, Mexico surrendered control of Alta California to the United States.[14] Mexico then petitioned the Vatican to divide the Diocese of California into American and Mexican dioceses. On November 20, 1849, the American diocese became the Diocese of Monterey, with the episcopal see inMonterey, California.[15] California gained statehood in 1850.[16]
In 1853,Pope Pius IX erected theArchdiocese of San Francisco, taking Nevada, Utah, and much ofNorthern California from the Diocese of Monterey.[17] In 1859, Pius IX renamed the Diocese of Monterey as the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles to recognize the growth of the city ofLos Angeles.[18] The bishop moved his principal residence to Los Angeles, with the Mission Santa Barbara serving as its pro-cathedral. In 1856, theDaughters of Charity opened the Los Angeles Infirmary, the first Catholic hospital in Los Angeles. It became the former St. Vincent Medical Center.
TheCongregation of the Mission opened the St. Vincent's College for Boys in Los Angeles in 1865.[19] It was the first institution of higher learning in Los Angeles.[20] TheCathedral of Saint Vibiana was dedicated in Los Angeles in 1876.[21]St. Monica Parish, erected in 1882 inSanta Monica, was the first parish in that city.[22]St. Andrew's Catholic Parish was founded inPasadena in 1886.[23]
In 1902, St. Anthony Parish was established inLong Beach.[24] Blessed Sacrament Parish, which opened inHollywood in 1904, came to serve many Catholics working in the film industry.[25] In Burbank,St. Robert Bellarmine Parish was founded in 1907. That same year, the first parish in Glendale,Holy Family, opened. St. Vincent College closed in 1911, to be replaced by Loyola College in Los Angeles.[20]
By 1917, the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles had a Catholic population of 180,000 with 276 priests serving in 128 parishes, 85 missions, and 93 stations. The diocese had 44 parochial schools with 9,000 students.[26] On June 1, 1922,Pope Pius XI changed the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles to the Diocese of Los Angeles-San Diego, removing the counties in northern and central California.[27] It now includedImperial, Los Angeles,Orange, Riverside,San Bernardino, San Diego,Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties. In 1923, theSisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word established St. Mary's Hospital in Long Beach. It is today part ofDignity Health.[28]
In 1925, theSisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet establishedMount Saint Mary's University, the only university for women in Southern California.[29] TheReligious of the Sacred Heart of Mary opened Marymount Junior College in the Westwood area of Los Angeles in 1933. It later became Marymount College.
On July 11, 1936, Pius XI split the Diocese of Los Angeles-San Diego into the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Diocese of San Diego.[30][31] The pope named BishopJohn Joseph Cantwell of Los Angeles-San Diego as the first bishop of the new archdiocese.St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica was founded as a military hospital duringWorld War II by theSisters of Charity of Leavenworth: it is today Provident Saint John's Health Center.[32]
Cantwell's tenure was a period of growth for the Catholic Church inSouthern California. By the time of his death in 1947, the archdiocese had a Catholic population of 601,200 with 688 priests, 217 parishes, 44 missions, 20 stations, four Catholic colleges and universities with 2,350 total students, 35 Catholic high schools with 8,673 total students, and 115 Catholic elementary schools with 38,821 total students.[33] Cantwell establishedLos Angeles College, aminor seminary, in 1927 andSt. John's Seminary in Camarillo in 1938.[34] Cantwell died in 1947.
In 1948,Pope Pius XII named Auxiliary BishopJames Francis McIntyre of the Archdiocese of New York as the second archbishop of Los Angeles. In McIntyre's first four years, the archdiocese established 26 new parishes, 64 new parochial schools, and 18 new high schools.[35] At one point during his tenure, he oversaw the construction of a new church every 66 days and a new school every 26 days to accommodate thepost-World War II population boom in Southern California.[36] I
TheSisters of the Holy Cross in 1961 opened Holy Cross Medical Center in theMission Hills section of Los Angeles. It is todayProvidence Holy Cross Medical Center.[37] In 1967, McIntyre banned members of theSisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary from teaching in schools in the archdiocese. The nuns had recently abandoned some traditional elements of cloistered life, such as compulsory daily prayer and the wearing of habits in the classroom.[38] In 1968, theSacred Congregation of Religious in Rome ruled that the nuns had to restore their former practices or requestdispensation from their vows.[38][39]
In 1969,Pope Paul VI named BishopTimothy Manning of theDiocese of Fresno as coadjutor archbishop in Los Angeles to assist McIntyre. When McIntyre retired in 1970, Manning automatically succeeded him as archbishop. While a strong proponent of ecclesiastical authority, Manning assumed a gentler style than his predecessor. The end of McIntyre's tenure saw tensions with the clergy and minorities. Following Manning's ascension, he stated, "My first reaction was to make it known that I was here to listen."
Manning instituted ministries forblacks andHispanics, apresbyterial council to grant the clergy greater participation in the governance of the archdiocese, and an Inter-Parochial Council to extend the same participation to thelaity. Shortly after becoming archbishop, a majority of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who had feuded with McIntyre, left thereligious life and founded a lay community. He also supported the 1973 merger of the all-male Loyola University and all-female Marymount College intoLoyola Marymount University in 1973; McIntyre had resisted attempts to allow co-education in the archdiocese's university and colleges.
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On March 24, 1976, Paul VI erected theDiocese of Orange, taking Orange County from the Archdiocese.[40] This action also established the present territory of the archdiocese: Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties. Manning retired as archbishop in 1985. That same year,Pope John Paul II named BishopRoger Mahony of theDiocese of Stockton as the next archbishop of Los Angeles.
In 1986, Auxiliary BishopRoger Mahony divided the archdiocese into five pastoral regions, each led by anauxiliary bishop who functioned as the region'sepiscopal vicar.[41]
In 1987, Mahony announced the auction of the Doheny rare book collection atSt. John's Seminary .The philanthropist Carrie Estelle Doheny had donated the collection to the seminary during the 1940s and 1950s. It included aGutenberg Bible and a first edition of the 1885 novelThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn byMark Twain. Mahony cited the financial needs of the archdiocese and the high cost of insuring the collection as the reasons for its sale. The proceeds were intended to fund an endowment for training new priests.[42] The Doheny auction raised $37.8 million for the archdiocese. However, by 1996 the archdiocese had spent as much as $25 million of the proceeds on other projects, including $1 million to renovate Mahony's residence.[43]
The1994 Northridge earthquake severely damaged the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana, making it unusable. Mahony then began planning the new $190 millionCathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Many Catholics were upset about its non-traditional design and high project cost. In response, Mahony noted that foundations and donors were funding the new cathedral, not parishes. He also said that the archdiocese needed a mother church and religious center to unite its people.[44][45]
Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral was dedicated on September 2, 2002.[46] In 2010,Pope Benedict XVI named ArchbishopJosé H. Gómez from theArchdiocese of San Antonio as thecoadjutor archbishop in Los Angeles to assist Mahony.[47] After the Vatican accepted Mahony's resignation as archbishop of Los Angeles in 2011, Gómez automatically succeeded him.
In February 2013, Gomez relieved Mahony of all administrative duties due to his failures in handling sexual abuse allegations against priests.[48] In March 2023, Gómez presided at the funeral mass of Auxiliary BishopDavid O’Connell at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. O'Connell was shot to death at hisHacienda Heights home by Carlos Medina, the husband of O'Connell's housekeeper.[49]
Gómez in June 2023 announced a special mass in Los Angeles to mark a day of prayer in reparation. This mass was in response to the plan of theLos Angeles Dodgers professional baseball team to honor theSisters of Perpetual Indulgence at an upcoming game. Gómez denounced the Sisters, anLGBTQ activist and satirical group, asblasphemers.[50]
TheOur Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region covers downtown and central Los Angeles west toMalibu and south toLos Angeles International Airport. The region contains the cathedral, 78 parishes, 12 high schools, two Catholic hospitals, one cemetery, four parochial missions, one seminary, and no Spanish missions. As of 2025, the episcopal vicar is BishopMatthew G. Elshoff.[41]
TheSan Fernando Pastoral Region includes theSan Fernando,Santa Clarita andAntelope Valleys and northeast Los Angeles. The region has 54 parishes, 12 Catholic high schools, three Catholic hospitals, two cemeteries, seven parochial missions, one active-duty military chapel installation, and one Spanish mission. As of 2025, BishopAlbert M. Bahhuth is the episcopal vicar.[41]
TheSan Gabriel Pastoral Region coversEast Los Angeles through theSan Gabriel Valley and thePomona Valley. The region has 66 parishes, 13 Catholic high schools, three Catholic hospitals, four cemeteries, two parochial missions and one Spanish mission. As of 2025, BishopBrian A. Nunes serves as the episcopal vicar.[41]
TheSan Pedro Pastoral Region containsLong Beach and southernLos Angeles County. The region has 67 parishes, eight Catholic high schools, four Catholic hospitals, one cemetery, one active duty military chapel installation, and one parochial mission. Gómez appointed BishopMarc V. Trudeau as episcopal vicar for this region in 2018.[41]
TheSanta Barbara Pastoral Region coversSanta Barbara andVentura Counties. The region has 37 parishes, six Catholic high schools, three Catholic hospitals, four cemeteries, three active duty military chapel installations, six parochial missions and four Spanish missions. As of 2025, the episcopal vicar is BishopSławomir Szkredka.[41]
There were many cases of sexual abuse by priests in the diocese, first reported as dating from the 1930s. On July 16, 2007, Cardinal Mahony and the archdiocese reached a record-breaking settlement with 508 alleged victims ofsexual abuse by priests. The settlement was worth$660 million, with an average of $1.3 million for each plaintiff. Mahony described theabuse as a "terriblesin and crime," after a series of trials into sex abuse claims since the 1940s were to begin. The agreement settled all outstanding civil lawsuits at that time against the archdiocese.[51]
In 2014, the archdiocese agreed to pay $13 million to settle a final group of 17 sex abuse lawsuits, including eleven that involved "a visiting Mexican priest who fled prosecution and remains a fugitive more than 25 years later." The financial settlement followed a court order forcing the archdiocese to release files which showed that it had shielded accused priests, for example by ordering church officials not to turn over a list of altar boys to police who were investigating.[52]
From May to December 2019, the archdiocese provided numerous documents to California State AttorneyXavier Becerra in preparation for a series of pending lawsuits which were expected to be filed after a new California law went into effect on January 1, 2020.[53][54] In January 2020, theLos Angeles Times reported that the archdiocese settled a sexual abuse case against a former archdiocesan priest for $1.9 million.[55]
The archdiocese is led by thearchbishop, who governs from themother church, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. The cathedral was dedicated on September 2, 2002, and replaced the former Cathedral of Saint Vibiana, damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
The archbishop of Los Angeles is themetropolitan of theProvince of Los Angeles of the Catholic Church. Its suffragans are the dioceses ofFresno,Monterey in California,Orange in California,San Bernardino, andSan Diego. Metropolitan archbishops historically wielded great administrative powers over the suffragan dioceses. Today, such power is only ceremonial and kept as a tradition.
José H. Gómez is the current archbishop of Los Angeles, having succeeded his predecessor, CardinalRoger Mahony, who served for 25 years, upon the latter's retirement on March 1, 2011.[56] Previously, Gómez served ascoadjutor archbishop of Los Angeles since his appointment byPope Benedict XVI on April 6, 2010.[57][58][59] He is an ordained priest ofOpus Dei.[60][61]
Gómez is assisted by the current auxiliary bishops:Marc Vincent Trudeau,Albert Bahhuth,Slawomir Szkredka,Matthew Elshoff,Brian Nunes, andAlejandro D. Aclan. In addition,Edward W. Clark andGerald Eugene Wilkerson are retired auxiliary bishops still living and residing within the archdiocese.
Francisco Garcia Diego y Moreno (1840–1846)
Joseph Alemany (1850–1853), appointedArchbishop of San Francisco
John Joseph Cantwell (1922–1936), elevated to Archbishop of Los Angeles
There are five colleges and over 50 high schools within the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Many churches have affiliated primary schools as well.
The archdiocese's office of religious education produces theLos Angeles Religious Education Congress, the largest annual event of its kind in the United States, with an attendance of approximately 38,000.
As directed by theU.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on the Liturgy and theEcclesiastical Province of Los Angeles, the archdiocese annually observes fourholy days of obligation. The Catholic Church currently recognizes 10 holy days, established in the 1917Code of Canon Law. However, the USCCB has reduced that number to six forLatin Church dioceses in the United States. As of January 1993[update], no provinces in the United States celebrate the solemnities ofEpiphany (which transfers to the Sunday after January 1),Corpus Christi (which transfers to the Sunday after Trinity Sunday),Saint Joseph, or theSaints Peter and Paul, Apostles as holy days of obligation.[63] The Metropolitan Province of Los Angeles, which includes the L.A. Archdiocese, further modified the list, and as of 2019[update], celebrates four holy days of obligation on the days prescribed by canon law. The solemnity of theAscension is transferred from Thursday of the sixth week ofEaster to the seventh Sunday of Easter. The province has abrogated the obligation to attend mass on theSolemnity of Mary, Mother of God.[64]
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, being one of the most diverse dioceses in the world, strives for all of their employees to live and work in accord withCatholic social teaching andservant leadership. "The dignity of the human person, the call to community and participation, rights and responsibilities, dignity of work and the rights of workers, and solidarity, are intrinsic to servant leadership."[65]
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles includes the following suffragan dioceses in its ecclesiastical province:
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