Archdiocese of Los Angeles


The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is an 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 it comprises the 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.
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, [Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey in California|Diocese of Monterey in California|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 [Roman Catholic Diocese of Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey in California|Monterey in California|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.
WWW la-archdiocese.org𝕏 lacatholics

History

In 1840, Pope Gregory XVI erect the Diocese of California. It was also called "Diocese of Two Californias" or "Diocese of Both Californias".The new diocese included the following Mexican territories:
Gregory XVI set the episcopal residence for the Diocese of California at San Diego and made the diocese a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mexico City. The pope appointed Francisco Garcia Diego y Moreno as the first bishop of California, with Mission Santa Barbara serving as its pro-cathedral.
When Mexico ceded Alta California to the United States after the end of the Mexican–American War in 1848, its government complained to the Vatican about having an American bishop administer Mexican parishes in Baja California. In response, the Vatican divided the Diocese of California into American and Mexican dioceses. On November 20, 1849, the American diocese became the Diocese of Monterey. The Royal Presidio Chapel in Monterey served as the pro-cathedral of the American diocese.
In 1853, Pope Pius IX erected the Archdiocese of San Francisco, taking Nevada, Utah, and much of northern California from the Diocese of Monterey.
In 1859, Pius IX renamed the Diocese of Monterey as the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles to recognize the growth of the city of Los Angeles. The bishop moved his principal residence to Los Angeles.The Mission of Santa Barbara served as its 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 placed the northern California counties into a new Diocese of Monterey-Fresno. The Diocese of Los Angeles-San Diego now included Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties.
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. He also erected the Diocese of San Diego 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.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Pope Paul VI reorganized the dioceses in southern and central california
  • On October 6, 1967, Paul VI suppressed the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno. He erected the Diocese of Fresno and the Diocese of Monterey in California, making both new dioceses suffragans of Los Angeles.
  • On March 24, 1976, Paul VI erected the Diocese of Orange He took Orange County from the archdiocese and made the new diocese a suffragan of Los Angeles. This action also established the present territory of the archdiocese consisting of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties.
  • On July 14, 1978, Paul VI erected the Diocese of San Bernardino, making the new diocese a suffragan of Los Angeles.
In February 2013, Archbishop Gomez relieved Cardinal Roger Mahony of all administrative duties due to his failures in handling sexual abuse allegations against priests.

Pastoral regions

In 1986, Auxiliary Bishop Roger Mahony divided the archdiocese into five pastoral regions, each led by an auxiliary bishop who functioned as the region's episcopal vicar. The five regions are:
Our Lady of the Angels
Our Lady of the Angels covers downtown and central Los Angeles west to Malibu and south to Los 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 Bishop Matthew G. Elshoff.
San Fernando
San Fernando includes 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.
San Gabriel
San Gabriel covers 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.
San Pedro
San Pedro contains 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.
Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara covers Santa Barbara and Ventura Count. 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.

Clergy sexual abuse

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 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.
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.
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. The archdiocese was one of six Catholic dioceses in California that were expected to be subpoenaed during the upcoming lawsuits. 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.

Archbishop

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 succeeded his predecessor, Cardinal Roger Mahony, who served for 25 years, upon the latter's retirement on March 1, 2011. Previously, Gómez served as coadjutor archbishop of Los Angeles since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on April 6, 2010. He is an ordained priest of Opus Dei.
Gómez is assisted by the current auxiliary bishops: Marc Vincent Trudeau, Albert Bahhuth, Slawomir Szkredka, Matthew Elshoff, Brian Nunes, and Alejandro D. Aclan. In addition, Edward W. Clark and Gerald Eugene Wilkerson are retired auxiliary bishops still living and residing within the archdiocese.

Bishops

Bishop of California (Two Californias, Both Californias)

Francisco Garcia Diego y Moreno

Bishop of Monterey

Joseph Alemany, appointed Archbishop of San Francisco

Bishops of Monterey-Los Angeles

  1. Thaddeus Amat y Brusi
  2. Francisco Mora y Borrell
  3. George Thomas Montgomery, appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of San Francisco but died before succession to that see
  4. Thomas James Conaty
  5. John Joseph Cantwell, title changed with title of diocese

Bishop of Los Angeles-San Diego

John Joseph Cantwell, elevated to Archbishop of Los Angeles

Archbishops of Los Angeles

  1. John Joseph Cantwell
  2. James Francis McIntyre
  3. Timothy Manning
  4. Roger Mahony
  5. José Horacio Gómez

Current auxiliary bishops of Los Angeles

Former auxiliary bishops of Los Angeles

Other priests of the diocese who became bishops

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.

Holy days of obligation

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 six for Latin Church dioceses in the United States., no provinces in the United States celebrate the solemnities of Epiphany, Corpus Christi, Saint Joseph, or the Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles as holy days of obligation. The Metropolitan Province of Los Angeles, which includes the L.A. Archdiocese, further modified the list, and as of 2019, 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.

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."

Province of Los Angeles

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles includes the following suffragan dioceses in its ecclesiastical province:

Primary sources

  • Sister Mary Rose Cunningham, C.S.C., ed. Calendar of Documents and Related Historical Materials in the Archival Center, Archdiocese of Los Angeles, for the Most Reverend J. Francis A. McIntyre, Volume One: 1948–1960 and ''Volume Two: 1961–1970''