PACIFIC PALISADES—On January 7, Corpus Christi Catholic Church located at 15100 Sunset Boulevard was lost in the Pacific Palisades fire. The frame of the Church was the only part left standing. The Corpus Christi School was damaged as well.
Corpus Christi Church was built in 1950. Monsignor Liam Kidney has been the Pastor of Corpus Christi since 1999. He was evacuated from the Church with only his passport and some other paperwork. Everything else was lost. Father Kidney left the following message with a photograph of the ruins of the Church for his parishioners on his webpage.
“I have no words. Our beautiful Church in Pacific Palisades, as of this morning. Praying for my hometown, the LAFD, and everyone affected by these horrific fires.”
A letter accompanied the photograph announcing that there will be Mass this Sunday, January 12, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. at St. Monica Parish for the people of Corpus Christi. Fr. Kidney will be the celebrant.
There are three priests assigned to Corpus Christi as it is the largest catholic church in the Archdiocese. Monsignor Liam J. Kidney is the pastor. Fr. Valerian Menezes is the associate pastor, and Reegan Jayakumar is the resident priest.
The Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Jose Gomez made the following statement during his homily in a special Mass for victims of the wildfires. The full text may be seen in the press release posted on the Archdiocese of Los Angeles webpage.
“In this moment, God is calling each of us to be the instruments through which he shows his love, compassion, and care to those who are suffering, We must be the ones who bring comfort to our neighbors in this time of disaster. And we must be the ones also who stand by their side and help them to rebuild and go forward with courage and faith and hope in God.”
In addition to losing the Corpus Christi parish, close to 80 Catholic schools have received damage from the fires that have devastated Southern California. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has set up a fund to offer financial support to those parishes and schools in need of rebuilding.
The Archdiocese has 288 parishes, 30 missions and chapels, 16 Eastern Rite Catholic Churches, 214 Catholic elementary schools, and 51 Catholic high schools.
The San Fernando Pastoral Region of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has over one million Catholics.
Weekly liturgies are offered at Mass in 32 languages.
The Archdiocese has 1,049 Priests, including 502 diocesan priests, and 547 religious priests(those that belong to orders). In addition, there are 1,503 religious sisters and 82 brothers in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
“We are a city of saints. We are four million Catholics strong. We are the people of God of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.”.—LA Catholics
By Sharon