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I was able to visit the Los Angeles Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels yesterday. More will be said on its architecture in a later post. However, I did visit the gift shop, which has many nice Catholic books and other things. The problem came when I began talking with a man who worked there. His customer service couldn't have been better. His shiny jewelry and over-the-top attitude was a bit off-putting, but it was California, after all. My friend was looking for a rosary for his girlfriend, and the store worker started asking him about her favorite colors,...

Unless you're thinking mid-1940s East Coast priestly ordination, your eyes aren't deceiving you with that shot above. Then again, said conjure wouldn't have taken place on a football field: it's a scene from the aforementioned liturgy last weekend at which 60 permanent deacons were ordained for the Santa Barbara region of the archdiocese of Los Angeles, with Cardinal Roger Mahony as ordaining prelate. Glad Tidings in the archdiocesan weekly: The ordination of 60 men to the Permanent Diaconate at Santa Barbara City College's La Playa Stadium represented the largest single group of deacons ordained at one time in the...

LOS ANGELES – St. Vibiana's Cathedral, the 129-year-old church that narrowly escaped demolition after earthquake damage closed it a decade ago, has been resurrected. The Spanish-Baroque cathedral has been restored and converted into a community arts center with the name Vibiana Place and a stage in place of the altar. The center was scheduled to be unveiled Saturday night at a $350-a-person fund-raiser for the Los Angeles Conservancy, a preservation group that fought to save the building. Built in 1876, St. Vibiana's was the seat of the Roman Catholic Church in Southern California and a downtown landmark with an 83-foot-tall...

To: National Desk Contact: Amber Dolle of the American Life League, 540-903-9572 or adolle@ALL.org LOS ANGELES, July 1 /U.S. Newswire/ -- "Today's attempted arrest in Los Angeles of the student participants in American Life League's Crusade for the Defense of our Catholic Church is beyond scandalous," said Judie Brown, president of American Life League. "Since when is it against the law for Catholics to defend the Catholic faith at a Catholic Cathedral? We are outraged at the situation." Today's scene occurred when more than a dozen young people attempted to attend the inauguration ceremonies of Antonio Villaraigosa, mayor-elect of Los...