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Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Archdiocese in California From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Archdiocese of Los Angeles (Latin: Archidiœcesis Angelorum in California, Spanish: Arquidiócesis de Los Ángeles) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the southern coastal portion of the U.S. state of California. The archdiocese's cathedra is in Los Angeles, and the archdiocese comprises the California counties of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The cathedral is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, and its present archbishop is José 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 as metropolitan bishop of the suffragan dioceses within the Ecclesiastical Province of Los Angeles, which includes the dioceses of Fresno, Monterey, Orange, San Bernardino, and San Diego.
Following the establishment of the Spanish missions in California, the diocese of the Two Californias was established on 1840, when the Los Angeles region was still part of Mexico. In 1848, Mexican California was ceded to the United States, and the U.S. portion of the diocese was renamed the Diocese of Monterey. The diocese was renamed the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles in 1859, and the episcopal see was moved to Los Angeles upon the completion of the Cathedral 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 the Diocese 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.
The sexual abuse scandal in the archdiocese resulted in a $880 million court settlement, a record-breaking amount, in 2024; bringing the total settlement payouts for the archdiocese to over $1.5 billion. Instances of sexual abuse within the archdiocese are documented starting in the 1930s, though instances from the 1970s through 1990s have been more highly publicized.
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History
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With the papal bull Apostolicam sollicitudinem of April 27, 1840, Pope Gregory XVI set up a new episcopal see, to which he gave the name of Diocese of California (also interchangeably called "Diocese of Two Californias" or "Diocese of Both Californias"). He assigned to it a vast territory taken from that of the Diocese of Sonora, now the Archdiocese of Hermosillo in Mexico. It included Alta California, encompassing the present states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, western Colorado and southwestern Wyoming, and the Baja California Territory, encompassing the modern Mexican states of Baja California and Baja California Sur. He set the episcopal residence at San Diego and made the diocese a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mexico City.[3] Francisco Garcia Diego y Moreno, OFM became the first bishop of the new diocese, with Mission Santa Barbara serving as its pro-cathedral.
After ceding Alta California to the United States at the close of the Mexican–American War, the government of Mexico objected to a bishop based in the United States having jurisdiction over parishes in Baja California, which was Mexican territory. The Holy See divided the diocese into American and Mexican sections. On November 20, 1849, with the episcopal residence moved to Monterey, a more central position for the new diocese, the American section became the Diocese of Monterey.[4] The Royal Presidio Chapel in Monterey served as the pro-cathedral of the American diocese.
In 1853, Pope Pius IX erected the Metropolitan Archdiocese of San Francisco, taking the territory that now constitutes Nevada, Utah, and much of northern California from the Diocese of Monterey.[5]
In 1859, the same pope renamed the Diocese of Monterey as the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles to recognize the growth of the city of Los Angeles.[6] The bishop moved his principal residence to Los Angeles and used the Mission of Santa Barbara as a pro-cathedral until the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana opened in 1876.
On June 1, 1922, Pope Pius XI renamed the diocese again, making it the Diocese of Los Angeles-San Diego, and simultaneously erected a new diocese, named the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno, in what had become northern portion of its territory after the erection of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.[7] This changed the title of Bishop John Joseph Cantwell from Bishop of Monterey-Los Angeles to bishop Los Angeles-San Diego, which then comprised the counties of Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura.
On July 11, 1936, the same pope elevated and renamed the diocese as the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Los Angeles, with Cantwell becoming the first archbishop of Los Angeles,[8] concurrently erecting the Diocese of San Diego[9] with the territory of Imperial, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego Counties, and designated the new Diocese of San Diego and the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno as suffragan of the new metropolitan see.
Pope Paul VI subsequently split each of the three dioceses of the Metropolitan Province of Los Angeles into two.
- On October 6, 1967, he suppressed the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno and erected the present Diocese of Fresno[10] and the present Diocese of Monterey in California,[11] splitting in the territory of the suppressed diocese between them making both new dioceses also suffragans of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The inclusion of "in California" in the title of the latter of the new dioceses differentiates it from other dioceses with see cities that have the same name.
- On March 24, 1976, he erected Diocese of Orange,[12] taking Orange County from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and making the new diocese a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Los Angeles. This action also established the present territory of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, consisting of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties.
- On July 14, 1978, he erected the Diocese of San Bernardino, taking San Bernardino and Riverside Counties from the Diocese of San Diego and making the new diocese also a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Los Angeles.[13]
These actions established the present configuration of the Metropolitan Province of Los Angeles.
Pastoral regions
In 1986, Roger Mahony designated five geographical administrative pastoral regions, each led by an auxiliary bishop who functions as the region's episcopal vicar.[14] The five regions are:
- Our Lady of the Angels, covering downtown and central Los Angeles west to Malibu, south to Los Angeles International Airport. The region has 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 Bishop Matthew G. Elshoff.[14]
- San Fernando, covering the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope 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, Bishop Albert M. Bahhuth is the episcopal vicar.[14]
- San Gabriel, covering East Los Angeles through the San Gabriel Valley and the Pomona 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, Bishop Brian A. Nunes serves as the episcopal vicar.[14]
- San Pedro, covering Long Beach and southern Los 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 Bishop Marc V. Trudeau as episcopal vicar for this region in 2018.[14]
- Santa Barbara, covering Santa Barbara and Ventura 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 Bishop Sławomir Szkredka.[14]
Clergy sexual abuse
There were many cases of sexual abuse by priests in the diocese, first reported as dating from the 1930s. Cases were ignored or dealt with secretly until the 21st century, when priests were dismissed and a report and apology produced.
On July 16, 2007, Cardinal Mahony and the archdiocese reached a record-breaking settlement with 508 alleged victims of sexual abuse by priests. The settlement was worth $660 million, with an average of $1.3 million for each plaintiff. Mahony described the abuse as a "terrible sin 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.[15]
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.[16]
From May to December 2019, the archdiocese provided numerous documents to California State Attorney Xavier Becerra in preparation for a series of pending lawsuits which are expected to be filed after a new California law which will temporarily remove the statute of limitations. The new law went into effect on January 1, 2020.[17][18] The archdiocese is one of six Catholic dioceses in California that were expected to be subpoenaed during the upcoming lawsuits.[17][18][19] In January 2020, the Los Angeles Times reported that the archdiocese settled a sexual abuse case against a former archdiocesan priest for $1.9 million.[20]
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Archbishop
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The archdiocese is led by the archbishop, who governs from the mother 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 the metropolitan of the Province of Los Angeles of the Catholic Church. Its suffragans are the dioceses of Fresno, Monterey in California, Orange in California, San Bernardino, and San 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 automatically succeeded his predecessor, Cardinal Roger Mahony, who served for 25 years, upon the latter's retirement which took effect on March 1, 2011.[21] Previously, Gómez served as coadjutor archbishop of Los Angeles since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on April 6, 2010.[22][23][24] He is an ordained priest of Opus Dei.[25][26]
Gómez is assisted by the current auxiliary bishops: Marc Vincent Trudeau and Alejandro D. Aclan. In addition, Edward W. Clark, Joseph Martin Sartoris and Gerald Eugene Wilkerson are retired auxiliary bishops still living and residing within the archdiocese.
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Bishops
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Bishop of California (Two Californias, Both Californias)
Francisco Garcia Diego y Moreno (1840–1846)
Bishop of Monterey
Joseph Alemany (1850–1853), appointed Archbishop of San Francisco
Bishops of Monterey-Los Angeles
- Thaddeus Amat y Brusi (1853–1878)
- Francisco Mora y Borrell (1878–1896; coadjutor bishop 1873–1878)
- George Thomas Montgomery (1896–1902; coadjutor bishop 1894–1896), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of San Francisco but died before succession to that see
- Thomas James Conaty (1903–1915)
- John Joseph Cantwell (1917–1922), title changed with title of diocese
Bishop of Los Angeles-San Diego
John Joseph Cantwell (1922–1936), elevated to Archbishop of Los Angeles
Archbishops of Los Angeles
- John Joseph Cantwell (1936–1947)
- James Francis McIntyre (1948–1970)
- Timothy Manning (1970–1985)
- Roger Mahony (1985–2011)
- José Horacio Gómez (2011–present; coadjutor archbishop 2010–2011)
Current auxiliary bishops of Los Angeles
- Marc Vincent Trudeau (2018–present) – San Pedro Pastoral Region
- Alejandro D. Aclan (2019–present) – Episcopal Vicar for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
- Albert Bahhuth (2023–present) – San Fernando Pastoral Region
- Matthew Elshoff (2023–present) – Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region
- Brian Nunes (2023–present) – San Gabriel Pastoral Region
- Slawomir Szkredka (2023–present) – Santa Barbara Pastoral Region
Former auxiliary bishops of Los Angeles
- Joseph Thomas McGucken (1941–1955), appointed Bishop of Sacramento and later Archbishop of San Francisco
- Timothy Manning (1946–1967), appointed Bishop of Fresno and later Coadjutor Archbishop and Archbishop of Los Angeles(see above); created Cardinal in 1973
- Alden John Bell (1956–1962), appointed Bishop of Sacramento
- John J. Ward (1963–1996)
- Joseph Patrick Dougherty (1969–1970)
- William Robert Johnson (1971–1976), appointed Bishop of Orange
- Juan Alfredo Arzube (1971–1993)
- Thaddeus Anthony Shubsda (1976–1982), appointed Bishop of Monterey in California
- Manuel Duran Moreno (1976–1982), appointed Coadjutor Bishop and later Bishop of Tucson
- Donald William Montrose (1983–1985), appointed Bishop of Stockton
- William Levada (1983–1986), appointed Archbishop of Portland in Oregon and later Archbishop of San Francisco and Prefect of Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (elevated to Cardinal in 2006)
- Carl Anthony Fisher (1986–1993)
- Armando Xavier Ochoa (1986–1996), appointed Bishop of El Paso and later Bishop of Fresno
- George Patrick Ziemann (1986–1992), appointed Bishop of Santa Rosa in California
- Sylvester Donovan Ryan (1990–1992), appointed Bishop of Monterey in California
- Stephen Blaire (1990–1999), appointed Bishop of Stockton
- Thomas John Curry (1994–2018)
- Joseph Martin Sartoris (1994–2002)
- Gabino Zavala (1994–2012)
- Gerald Eugene Wilkerson (1997–2015)
- Edward W. Clark (2001–2022)
- Oscar Azarcon Solis (2003–2017), appointed Bishop of Salt Lake City
- Alexander Salazar (2004–2018)[27]
- Joseph Vincent Brennan (2015–2019), appointed Bishop of Fresno
- Robert E. Barron (2015–2022) appointed Bishop of Winona-Rochester
- David G. O'Connell (2015–2023)
Other priests of the diocese who became bishops
- Note: Years in parentheses indicate the time of service as a priest of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles (or predecessor diocese), prior to appointment to the episcopacy.
- Robert Emmet Lucey (1922–1934), appointed Bishop of Amarillo and later Archbishop of San Antonio
- John Thomas Steinbock (1963–1984), appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Orange and later Bishop of Fresno
- Justin F. Rigali (1961–1985), appointed President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy and later Secretary of the Congregation for Bishops and the College of Cardinals, Archbishop of Saint Louis, and Archbishop of Philadelphia (elevated to Cardinal in 2003)
- Michael Patrick Driscoll (1965–1989), appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Orange and later Bishop of Boise
- George Hugh Niederauer (1962–1994), appointed Bishop of Salt Lake City and Archbishop of San Francisco
- Dennis Patrick O'Neil (1966–2001), appointed Auxiliary Bishop of San Bernardino
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Schools
There are five colleges and over 50 high schools within the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Many churches have affiliated primary schools as well.
Events
Religious education congress
The archdiocese's office of religious education produces the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, the largest annual event of its kind in the United States, with an attendance of approximately 38,000.
Annual Marian procession and mass
The archdiocese has entrusted the annual celebration of the votive mass in honor of Our Lady of the Angels to the Queen of Angels Foundation, a lay association of the Catholic Church. The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels has hosted these masses since 2011. The mass follows a Marian procession that starts at Queen of Angels Parish and ends at the cathedral. Gomez has served as the homilist and principal celebrant of the mass since 2012. Future Marian processions and masses will coincide with the City of Los Angeles' official birthday celebrations on the last Saturday of August.
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Holy days of obligation
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As directed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on the Liturgy and the Ecclesiastical Province of Los Angeles, the archdiocese annually observes four holy days of obligation. The Catholic Church currently recognizes 10 holy days, established in the 1917 Code of Canon Law. However, the USCCB has reduced that number to 6 for Latin Church dioceses in the United States. As of January 1993[update], no provinces in the United States celebrate the solemnities of Epiphany (which transfers to the Sunday after January 1), Corpus Christi (which transfers to the Sunday after Trinity Sunday), Saint Joseph, or the Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles as holy days of obligation.[28] 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 the Ascension is transferred from Thursday of the sixth week of Easter to the seventh Sunday of Easter. The province has abrogated the obligation to attend mass on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.[29]
- Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – August 15th. If it falls on a Saturday or Monday, there is no obligation to attend mass.
- All Saints – November 1st. If it falls on a Saturday or Monday, there is no obligation to attend mass.
- Immaculate Conception– December 8th. If it falls on a Sunday, the solemnity is transferred to the following Monday and there is no obligation to attend mass.
- Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ– December 25th
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Administrative handbook
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 with Catholic social teaching and servant 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."[30]
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Province of Los Angeles
See also
- Catholic Church by country
- Catholic Church hierarchy
- List of churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles
- List of schools in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles
- List of the Catholic bishops of the United States
- List of the Catholic cathedrals of the United States
- List of the Catholic dioceses of the United States
- Queen of Angels Foundation
References
Further reading
External links
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