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, and Ventura Counties |
| Ecclesiastical province | Los Angeles |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 14,019 km2 (5,413 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics | (as of 2015) 11,599,000 4,392,000 (37.9%) |
| Parishes | 287 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | June 1, 1922 (As Diocese of Los Angeles-San Diego) July 11, 1936 (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 | Francis |
| Archbishop | José Horacio Gómez Velasco |
| Auxiliary Bishops | |
| Bishops emeritus | |
| Map | |
 | |
| Website | |
| lacatholics.org | |
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 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 Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles 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.