St. Patrick Catholic Church (Los Angeles, California)

Saint Patrick Catholic Church is a Catholic church in Los Angeles, California. It is located just east of Downtown Los Angeles and is one of the oldest parishes in Los Angeles.

History

St. Patrick's was established in 1903. The parish has served a variety of communities over its more than hundred years. St. Patrick's has always been a parish for welcoming immigrants - starting with Irish and Germans in the 1900s, African Americans in the 1920s and 1930s, Mexicans in the 1950s and now Central Americans since the 1980s.

Destruction & re-construction of the building

The original church building was damaged and reconstructed after an earthquake in 1933 destroyed the famous towers. A second earthquake in 1971 completely destroyed the church; the parish, unable to afford the cost of rebuilding, has been worshipping in the converted parish hall for the last thirty-five years. With an average attendance of over 600 but a maximum capacity of only 402, many parishioners are forced to stand outside the door to the parish hall in order to attend Mass.

Through the inspiration of Bishop Stephen Blaire and Monsignor Lloyd Torgerson, the idea was born of building a church for St. Patrick's Parish with the help of all the parishes and Catholic donors within Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region. Under the leadership of Bishop Edward William Clark, the construction of the church commenced in April 2005. Dedication of the new St. Patrick's Church was held March 17, 2007 (St. Patrick's Day 2007).

Parish at a Glance

• Number of known households: 1,500
• Number of regular parishioners: 5,000
• Average income for a family of six: $31,634
• Annual baptisms: 475
• Number of students in weekly religious education classes: 700
• Present building seating capacity: 402
• Average attendance per Mass: 600
• Projected seating capacity in new church: 1,000
• Percentage increase in the projected five year local Catholic population: 9.6%

Church building

It has been a long time since the St. Patrick Parish has had a permanent church. In 1971 the church, constructed of un-reinforced masonry, was completely destroyed by the Sylmar earthquake. Re-building is not new to the parishioners of St. Patrick's. In 1933 the church was very heavily damaged by an earthquake and rebuilt. Construction on the new church building was begun in April 2005. The opening of St. Patrick's was celebrated in March of 2007. One thousand worshipers are now able to celebrate Mass in the new St. Patrick's - more than doubling the present capacity of the current worship space in the parish hall. The unique capital campaign involved donations from the 77 parishes within the Our Lady of the Angels regions as well as contributions from individual donors and foundations.