The Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese--the most populous...

The Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese--the most populous among U.S. dioceses--has grown by 1% in the last year, and now officially has 3.6 million adherents, according to the 1995 Official Catholic Directory.

The archdiocese, which covers Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, remains well ahead of the Chicago archdiocese, which is second with 2.3 million Catholics. Church statistics are supplied annually by the dioceses to P.J. Kenedy & Sons, the New Jersey-based directory publisher.

Although parishioners are increasing in numbers, the number of Los Angeles archdiocesan priests dropped 5.9% in the last year, from 646 to 610. Of those 610, 120 are retired, sick or absent, according to the directory.

Priests in religious orders, whose assignments are primarily dictated by their order, totaled 644 in the archdiocese, up from 625 the previous year.

Los Angeles seminarian numbers also declined, to 213 from 242, reflecting a national trend.

The Los Angeles archdiocese reported that its parishes have 3,595,414 Catholics, or nearly 40% of the total population in its three counties.

Statewide, Catholics account for 25% of California’s population.

In Southern California, the San Diego diocese reported 670,787 Catholics and the San Bernardino diocese has 590,045--both reporting an increase of 3.5% over the previous year. The Diocese of Orange, however, reported a 3% drop to 580,535.

REORGANIZATION

Trying to energize Eastern Orthodox inter-church activities, the decades-old Council of Orthodox Clergy has redesigned itself as the Southern California Council of Orthodox Christian Churches.

Father Michael Laffoon, 37, of St. Mark Antiochian Orthodox Church in Irvine, was elected president of the umbrella body of priests from the more than 50 churches of various ethnic origins. Father Nicholas Ceko of St. Stephen Serbian Orthodox Church in Alhambra was elected vice president.

Lay representatives from each parish will join priests in new regional chapters forming under the council, Laffoon said. One chapter is for Los Angeles County churches; the other for parishes in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The chapters will organize pan-Orthodox services and fellowship gatherings.

“We think we will get more enthusiasm and more participation under this arrangement,” Laffoon said. Activities planned by the council include a clergy family picnic July 13 and a major Orthodox symposium in January.

HONORS

* Former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali and entertainer Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) will be honored June 11 by the Altadena-based Islamic Information Service at its second annual Outreach Awards dinner at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Tickets range from $75 for youths to $125 and $150 for adults. For information and reservations, call (818) 791-9818.

RELOCATION

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, who last week announced the closing of St. Vibiana’s Cathedral due to additional discoveries of structural damage, said that some events scheduled at the cathedral have been relocated to Blessed Sacrament Church, 6657 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. They include a priesthood ordination ceremony at 9 a.m. today and ordinations to the permanent diaconate, now set for 9 a.m. next Saturday .

DEPARTURE

The Rev. Dean K. Thompson, 51, senior pastor of Pasadena Presbyterian Church since 1984, will preach his last sermon Sunday before leaving to take a similar position with the 2,000-member First Presbyterian Church of Charleston, W.Va. Thompson and his wife, Rebecca, are natives of Huntington, W.Va. While pastoring the 120-year-old Pasadena church, Thompson served on the board of the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center at the School of Theology at Claremont and was a host on the KCBS television series “Faithways.” Guest preachers will fill the Pasadena pulpit until an interim pastor is selected in September, church officials said.

HOLIDAYS

The Jewish holiday of Shavuot begins at sunset tonight. Once only an agricultural festival, it later came to commemorate the divine gift of the Torah to the Israelites on Mt. Sinai. In many U.S. synagogues, Shavuot is marked by confirmation ceremonies. On Sunday, the first full day of Shavuot, the Book of Ruth is read, recalling the ancient Hebrew festival and Ruth’s adoption of the Jewish faith.

CONFERENCE

The Los Angeles District of the Church of the Nazarene, which includes congregations from Azusa to Santa Maria, will open its 45th annual assembly at 6:45 p.m. Thursday at Pasadena First Church of the Nazarene. General Supt. James Diehl of the denomination will preach at the opening rally, with business sessions to follow Friday and Saturday. Jim Bond, president of Point Loma Nazarene College, will speak 7 p.m. Friday.

DATES

* The 175-voice choir at Pasadena’s Lake Avenue Congregational Church will present its annual spring concert 6 p.m. Sunday under the direction of Daniel Bird. The free concert at the church, 393 N. Lake Ave., will feature music that the choir will perform on its upcoming European tour.

* An open forum for ministers among urban youths will be led next Saturday by the Rev. Nelson Copeland of Philadelphia. A doctoral candidate at Brandeis University, Copeland founded the Christian Coalition for African American Leadership in Philadelphia. The forum will begin at 9:30 a.m. at First Baptist Church of Westchester, 8540 La Tijera Blvd. Preregistration is $8. Call the Rev. Doug Hubbard at (213) 482-8671 to make reservations.

* The Unity and Diversity World Council will convene its world festival June 10-11 at the Los Angeles Airport Hyatt Hotel. Topics such as world peace, the environment, health, human rights, multiethnic television programming and cross-cultural dispute resolution will be discussed. Speakers include the Venerable Geshe Tsultim Tyeltsen, representing the Dalai Lama; Marilyn Solomon, executive director of UNICEF; Assemblyman John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara); Peter Skelskey, president of Eckankar Spiritual Center, and the Rev. Michael Beckwith, minister of the Agape International Center of Truth. For registration, call (213) 436-0233.

* The Jewish Historical Society of Southern California will offer a new bus tour--which it believes to be the first tour of Jewish historical sites in South Los Angeles--beginning June 11. For information, (213) 653-7740.

* An International Storytelling Festival will be held from 1:30 to 3 p.m. June 11 at the Jewish Federation Library. Stories in the Jewish, Native American and Japanese traditions will be featured. Storytellers are Rachel Malkin, Geri Kerns and Sandra Mizumoto Posey. There also will be a performance of Israeli dances by Jennifer Yacawych and James Zimmer. Admission is $2; reservations are required. Audience members will receive a library card to the Jewish Federation Library. (213) 852-3272.