Pastor Celebrates Controversial Past : L.A.’s Oldest Church Marks 175th Year as a Parish by Helping Poor, Refugees

Father Luis Olivares was posing for a photograph in front of the historic La Placita Church, the oldest in Los Angeles, and the photographer instructed the slouching pastor to “straighten up.”

“That’s what a lot of people would like him to do,” one of his acquaintances standing nearby joked. “ ‘Hey buddy, straighten up.’ ”

The priest chuckled, knowing that he hardly bends over backward to satisfy mainstream public opinion. His church isn’t likely to, either.

For more than 200 years, the posture of La Iglesia de la Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula has been the same. Founded in 1784, it has always offered refuge to the poor and downtrodden. Half a century ago, for instance, the church protected Mexican citizens when U.S. authorities ordered the massive repatriations of thousands of aliens.

And now, to the outrage of immigration authorities and others, La Placita under Olivares has declared itself a place of sanctuary for refugees from Central America and the homeless. It is one of two Catholic churches in Los Angeles to issue such a declaration.

Controversial History

It is this sometimes controversial history that the church marked Tuesday with a celebratory Mass, presided over by Archbishop Roger M. Mahony, and a reception at the historic Pico House to observe the 175th anniversary of its establishment as a parish. A fund-raising dinner and a variety show at Disneyland are planned in October as part of the observance.

Church officials hope to use some of the proceeds to rehabilitate part of the 1,200-seat church’s interior. But most of the funds will help purchase a building so most of the estimated 200 men who sleep at La Placita each night, seeking protection from immigration authorities or just a roof over their heads, can have more adequate accommodations.

Olivares knows such plans may be unpopular, especially when the neighbors of the yet-to-be-selected building find out, but he is unwilling to apologize for the celebration or the purpose behind it.

“I ask my critics to put themselves in my position and asked themselves what would they do if they . . . had to respond to the presence of desperate people in their midst,” said the priest, whose activism led him to help establish the United Neighborhoods Organization on the Eastside. “Would they not respond because it was going to make them unpopular?

“This celebration is not fireworks, rah rah or a band playing. It’s a statement of everything this church stands for. And yes . . . including those things that are controversial.”

Despite the church’s sometimes controversial stances, some of Los Angeles’ power brokers have signed on to help out. Civic leader and lawyer Richard J. Riordan, for example, hosted a a reception after the celebratory Mass. And others have worked quietly behind the scenes to line up contributions for the October banquet.

“I may not always agree with Father Olivares, but we need men like him,” said one corporate executive who declined to have his name publicly connected to the celebration. “He keeps jabbing at you, reminding you of all that’s really going on in the streets.”

Mexican TV Personality

Olivares has managed to enlist Mexican television personality Raul Velasco--who normally shuns controversy even though he wields considerable influence within the powerful Televisa television conglomerate south of the border. Velasco, whose weekly show “Siempre en Domingo” (“Always on Sunday”) attracts a wide audience throughout Latin America and the United States, has agreed to stage the show at Disneyland to benefit La Placita.

“He was impressed with the church when he visited recently,” a spokesman for Velasco said in a telephone interview from Mexico City. “He decided he wanted to help those who help poor Mexicanos in Los Angeles.”

Olivares, who has a framed Christmas card from Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega hanging in his office, said La Placita has been an advocate for Latinos long before he arrived as pastor in 1981.

The church was established three years after the pueblo was founded along the banks of the then-named Porciuncula River, as a chapel. An extension of the San Gabriel Mission, services were limited.

New Church Built

Named the Church of Our Lady the Queen of Angels, the tiny chapel faced the town plaza and was quickly dubbed La Placita (Little Plaza) by the townspeople. But it soon became inadequate and construction of a new church, also near the river, began on Aug. 15, 1814.

Although that structure was abandoned after a flood and another building was completed in 1822 at the church’s current site--just north of Civic Center on Main Street--archdiocese officials regard the 1814 date as the founding of the Los Angeles parish.

Church officials took note of La Placita’s importance in the growing pueblo and transferred the seat of the diocese from Monterey to the church in 1859.

Because of that, La Placita became the gathering place for the town’s Spanish-speaking Catholics. Historians note that the town’s growing English-speaking population grew uneasy about attending services there because of the pervasive Mexican atmosphere and clamored for a new church.

Cathedral Shunned

In 1878, the Cathedral of St. Vibiana’s, near the present-day intersection of Main and 2nd streets, was built as the new headquarters for the diocese. But the town’s Latino Catholics refused to follow the English-speakers to the new cathedral, preferring to worship at the old church.

In the early 1930s, during the massive repatriations of Mexican illegals, authorities raided the church on several occasions, arresting aliens. Outraged priests at the time loudly protested, but most of Los Angeles supported the deportations.

Today, because of the sanctuary declaration, immigration agents have been declared persona non grata on church grounds.

More uneasiness over the church’s role in sanctuary, however, has surfaced in recent months over complaints that many of the refugees are, in fact, thieves who are responsible for increasing violence and crime. The merchants at nearby Olvera Street are particularly concerned because they fear that the situation will hurt the venerable tourist spot.

‘I Will Support This’

“Father (Olivares) means well and I, like most of Olvera Street, will support this 175th anniversary in any way we can,” said an Olvera Street merchant who asked not to be identified. “But we can’t have this crime business go on.”

Olivares, who has met with the merchants to work out a solution, said he understands their concerns. But, he said, there is La Placita’s historic mission to consider:

“La Placita has always been a refuge for the poor. . . . People may be unhappy with me but I’ve got to act in accordance with what I consider to be my responsibility.”