Cathedral Also Serves as a Parish Church

Thank you for your coverage of Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral as a spiritual gathering place for the Greater L.A. community (Sept. 14). It is certainly that, and many other things as well: a contributor to the revitalization of downtown, an architectural masterwork, a corporate meeting site, and so forth.

But viewed through my eyes, as a downtown Catholic resident, it is also a parish church. The cathedral is where I go to pray, to seek guidance, to find peace, to volunteer my time in service to others.

My mother passed away shortly after the cathedral opened two years ago. The staff must have been overwhelmed with demands on their time, especially with the numerous special events taking place to celebrate the opening. My mother wasn’t a dignitary. She didn’t make headlines. She was a parishioner, but her life and death meant everything to the cathedral’s lay and religious staff as they responded to every need and detail. My mother was the first parishioner whose funeral took place at the cathedral. And although it was a non-news event, it demonstrated the cathedral’s significance to those blessed to be its parish family.

Estela Lopez

Los Angeles