VATICAN CITY — "I am praying for all of you," Pope Francis said, using his televised Sunday Angelus address to speak directly to the people impacted by the wildfires in Southern California.
"I am close to the residents of Los Angeles County, California, where devastating fires have broken out in recent days," the pope told thousands of people gathered in St. Peter's Square Jan. 12 to pray the Angelus with him.
In a telegram released by the Vatican the previous day, Pope Francis also assured the people of Los Angeles of his prayers as the fires continued to cause death and destruction.
"Entrusting the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of almighty God, His Holiness sends heartfelt condolences to those who mourn their loss," said a telegram sent by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, to Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles.
The fires, fueled by dry conditions and warm winds, began Jan. 7. As of 6 p.m. local time Jan. 11, the Los Angeles County medical examiner's office said 16 people had been confirmed dead. More than 150,000 people were ordered to evacuate their homes and thousands of structures, including houses and churches, have been destroyed.
The telegram to Archbishop Gomez, said, "Saddened by the loss of life and the widespread destruction caused by the fires near Los Angeles, His Holiness Pope Francis assures you and the communities affected by this tragedy of his spiritual closeness."
"He likewise prays for the relief efforts of the emergency services personnel and imparts his blessing to all as a pledge of consolation and strength in the Lord," it said.
— Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
Los Angeles fire victims grieve lost homes, church: 'It's too much'
Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez concelebrates Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels Jan. 9, 2025, to pray for those affected by the fires raging through parts of Los Angeles County. (OSV News photo/Isabel Cacho, courtesy Archdiocese of Los Angeles)
LOS ANGELES — Pacific Palisades is the only place Sam Laganà has ever called home.
The man known today as the official stadium voice of the Los Angeles Rams grew up playing in the closely knit community's streets. He was educated in its public schools, and received his faith at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, where he went to catechism class as a child.
On the night of Jan. 7, he watched all of it -- the streets, the homes, the schools and his beloved church -- burn to ashes.
"It's too much," said Laganà. "Overwhelming."
While the last residents were evacuating the picturesque enclave in LA's Westside that night, Laganà was using water from garden hoses and his backyard jacuzzi to put out the flames encircling his home of 28 years.
"Next door everything was all burned already, all of the sides," recalled Laganà. "The next-door neighbor's house was blowing all of its embers straight at me."
Thanks to friends who soon arrived to help with the firefight, Laganà's house was saved. Corpus Christi's church building, located directly downhill from his house, was not. Laganà saw the church in flames as he finally drove out of the neighborhood around 11 p.m. Tuesday night.
"As I was leaving, I was trying to defend my home and hoping to keep the [Corpus Christi] school from catching on fire by watering down the hillsides," said Laganà.
Laganà's efforts may be one reason the parish school was mostly spared, apart from its gym. And so, on Jan. 9, Laganà and his wife were among the dozens of Corpus Christi parishioners at a special Mass celebrated by Archbishop José H. Gomez at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels to pray for those affected by the fires raging through parts of Los Angeles County.
Many, if not most, of them, had become both physically and spiritually homeless in the last 36 hours.
Longtime parishioner Rick McGeagh serves on Corpus Christi's pastoral advisory council. His worst fears came true Wednesday morning, when his son hiked up through Will Rogers State Park and confirmed that their home was gone.
But looking through pictures of the rubble sent by his son, McGeagh was amazed when he saw the sole part of his home left standing: a statue of the Virgin Mary installed outside in 1998 when they moved in.
"That statue belonged to my grandmother, who died in 1997," explained McGeagh. "The fact that she survived, when everything, even our Viking stove, burned down, I think is miraculous. There's no way to explain that."
McGeagh describes Corpus Christi as "a strong family" that's grown thanks to ties fostered by the parish school and the steady leadership of Msgr. Liam Kidney, who has been the parish's pastor since 1999.
"It's actually an easy choice to be here," McGeagh told Angelus, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles' media outlet, after the cathedral Mass, held the day after he learned his home was lost.
"I need God's strength, as we all do," he said. "We're all going to have a tough road ahead to rebuild our homes, and Monsignor's got to rebuild the church, and he's not alone. We'll be there to help."
In his homily at the Mass, Archbishop Gomez acknowledged "we can be tempted to question God's love for us, to wonder where he is when good people are suffering."
While there are no "easy answers" after such a tragedy, the archbishop said that God calls each person "to be instruments that show his compassion and care to those who are suffering."
"Love is what is asked from us in this challenging moment," said the archbishop, who celebrated another Mass for fire victims later that day at Mission San Gabriel, and was scheduled for another one late afternoon Friday at Incarnation Church in Glendale.
As the Mass ended with the popular Catholic hymn "Be Not Afraid," its lyrics left a row of Corpus Christi parishioners in tears. Among them were Ed and Chris Amos, who after evacuating on Tuesday watched aghast as an orange glow in the distance grew closer in the live feed from their home security camera.
"You could see the flames approaching the house, and then (the feed) went dead," said Ed, who with his wife was staying at the West LA home of a fellow doctor at Providence St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica.
After losing the home they built 20 years ago, the couple said hearing encouraging words from Archbishop Gomez and Msgr. Kidney at the Mass while seeing parishioners' faces again was a necessary "part of the healing process."
"I think that what comes out of something like this is it teaches you the value of life, it makes you appreciate each day more," said Ed.
Likewise, McGeagh predicted the calamity would give his family and parish community "a greater appreciation for the smaller things in our relationships, and not stuff."
"I think we're all humbler today than we were before," said McGeagh, visibly close to tears after the Mass.
After greeting each of his parishioners, Msgr. Kidney admitted it will take time to grieve and absorb the scope of the catastrophe.
"It still hasn't sunk in yet," said Msgr. Kidney, who reluctantly evacuated the parish rectory Tuesday afternoon with only his passport and a few legal papers, never to see his home of 25 years again.
The priest believes the destruction will bring about a necessary "rebuilding of a community" that hasn't been the same since the Covid-19 pandemic kept some parishioners away from church for months, and others for years.
"Covid kind of ripped us apart," he said. "This is going to bring us together."
Msgr. Kidney has already gotten calls from parishioners promising support, even offering to provide temporary classrooms offsite for the parish school.
"I had somebody immediately contact me and say, 'if you're going to rebuild (the church), you let us know, we're right there with you."
At 80 years old, Msgr. Kidney understands that kind of rebuilding is only secondary.
"I've always preached that the church is the people, not the building," he said in remarks at the end of the Mass, unable to hide the pain in his Irish brogue. "So now we're going to get a chance to prove that."
— Pablo Kay, OSV News
Catholics rally to aid LA wildfire victims
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Catholics rally to aid LA wildfire victims
A signal light goes green on the Pacific Coast Highway during a weather-driven windstorm in Los Angeles Jan. 7, 2025, that fueled ferocious wildfires. The fires tore across the Los Angeles area with devastating force Jan. 8 after setting off a desperate escape for residents from burning homes through flames, ferocious winds and towering clouds of smoke. (OSV News photo/Daniel Cole, Reuters)XLOS ANGELES — As deadly wildfires ravage Los Angeles, Catholics are mobilizing to help those impacted.Catholic Charities USA -- the official domestic relief agency of the Catholic Church in the U.S. and a member of Caritas Internationalis, the church's global network of humanitarian organizations -- is now accepting donations to its Los Angeles Wildfire Relief initiative, which can be accessed through the agency's website at catholiccharitiesusa.org.
"As usual, 100% of the funds raised go directly to our local agencies in the affected areas who are offering emergency and long-term relief to those who have been displaced or are suffering as a result of the wildfires," Kevin Brennan, CCUSA's vice president for media relations and executive communications, told OSV News in a Jan. 9 email.
At least five people have died and more than 137,000 people have been evacuated amid at least five named wildfires. The two largest files, the Palisades and Eaton fires, together encompass more than 27,000 acres and remained uncontained as of midday Jan. 9.
Thousands of homes and other structures -- including a number of churches, synagogues and other houses of worship -- have been destroyed. At least 300,000 properties remain without power.
The blazes, which broke out Jan. 7, have been fueled by powerful Santa Ana winds reaching more than 60 mph, as well as extremely dry conditions that have rendered vegetation quick to burn.
"Our local agency staff are focusing on the safety of their communities and cooperating with emergency management guidance," Brennan told OSV News. "As soon as it's safe to do so, they'll start assessing the damage. Of course, CCUSA stands ready and is preparing to assist with teams of people and financial support."
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has also created a dedicated relief fund in response to the fires, which the archdiocese said have "deeply affected our schools, parishes, and beloved community members.
"In times of trial, our faith calls us to come together in solidarity to provide hope and healing for those who are struggling," said the archdiocese on the fund's website, which can be accessed at https://lacatholics.org/california-fires.
"Our schools and parishes have always been cornerstones of education, faith, and togetherness. Now, they and countless families in our community need your help to recover and rebuild," said the archdiocese. "Our community is resilient, but together, we can make the road to recovery shorter and brighter. Let us come together to restore hope and offer a helping hand to our neighbors in their time of need."
Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles has urged prayers for all those affected, saying, "My heart goes out to our neighbors who have lost their homes and livelihoods. Let's pray for them and let's pray for our firefighters and first responders."
The archbishop will preside at three Masses this week for first responders and wildfire victims, with two liturgies taking place Jan. 9, one at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles and one at Mission San Gabriel; a third is to be celebrated Jan. 10 at Incarnation Church in Glendale, California. A media advisory issued by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles noted that "locations are subject to change due to the movement of the fires and possible evacuation orders."
Parishes in the archdiocese have opened their doors to those displaced by the wildfires.
According to Angelus, the archdiocesan media outlet, St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica welcomed evacuees, providing snacks, rest facilities and device charging.
"We have dozens and dozens of parishioners and school families who have lost everything," said St. Monica parish life director Merrick Siebenaler.
However, by the morning of Jan. 8, the parish campus closed after fire officials designated it as part of a fire "warning zone."
Pastor Msgr. Lloyd Torgerson hosted one older couple at the parish rectory, and prayed with another family who had lost their home to the wildfires.
Los Angeles city officials opened a shelter at Sacred Heart Church in Los Angeles, with members of the local St. Vincent de Paul Society handing out supplies, among them children's clothing and diapers, to displaced persons.
"We're here to help out," Sacred Heart pastor Father Tesfaldet Asghedom told Angelus.
— Gina Christian, OSV News
You can help
Multiple fast-moving wildfires, fueled by high winds, are engulfing whole neighborhoods in Los Angeles County and have killed at least five people. More than 130,000 people have evacuated. Your donation today will help their recovery tomorrow. Donate to Catholic Charities USA here.
LA deacon, parishioners save church from Eaton Fire with a hose
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LA deacon, parishioners save church from Eaton Fire with a hose
LOS ANGELES — As he drove frantically past charred buildings along the smoky streets of Altadena in his SUV early on the morning of Jan. 8, Deacon José Luis Díaz had one prayer on his mind: God, please spare my church.
A few hours earlier, Deacon Díaz and his family had been roused from their beds by a cellphone alert ordering them to evacuate as fierce, dry Santa Ana winds pushed the Eaton Fire into their Altadena neighborhood. They packed up a few belongings and went to the Pasadena Convention Center nearby, one of several public shelters set up for local evacuees.
Shortly after falling asleep in a cot, he was awakened again -- this time by his wife.
"José Luis, they're saying the church is on fire!" his wife, Maria Esther, told him.
If it weren't for those two fateful wake-up calls -- and quick thinking by Deacon Díaz a few moments later -- Sacred Heart Church in Altadena would not have survived.
By the time Deacon Díaz pulled up to Sacred Heart with his son-in-law around 7:30 a.m., he found two other parishioners trying to put out a patch of flames burning the wooden roof near the church's boiler room.
"There were houses next door, in front, and behind the church that were already on fire," said Deacon Díaz, who has served at Sacred Heart since he was ordained a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2015.
Deacon Díaz quickly unlocked a maintenance room and pulled out a ladder and an iron pipe. Then the team got to work: Two of them propped up the ladder so that the deacon could use the pipe to break shingle tiles on a side roof of the church, while another poured water from a garden hose on the flames.
"We almost didn't have water pressure in the hose," said Deacon Díaz. "So, we had to do everything we could to put it out."
Their efforts kept the roof fire, which had been sparked by embers flying from burning homes down the street, from spreading to the rest of the church. The four men stayed on the scene for most of the morning, breaking tiles and finally extinguishing the last of the stubborn flames. When Deacon Diaz opened the church to look for any damage inside, he was relieved to find the sanctuary in good condition, besides some heat damage to a church door, and likely smoke damage throughout.
“We have a lot of debris but no real damage,” Sacred Heart pastor Father Gilbert Guzman told Angelus hours after surveying the grounds on Wednesday. “All of the buildings are fine, the rectory is fine. We will just have quite a bit of cleanup afterwards.”
When "afterwards" will be, of course, is anyone's guess, as the bone-dry Santa Ana winds continued to fan multiple large fires in Los Angeles County on Thursday and Friday, spreading ashy air across the area and turning thousands of local residents into refugees in their own cities.
Driving around Sacred Heart's neighborhood afterward, Deacon Díaz described an apocalyptic scene.
"It looks like we're in the middle of a battlefield. Everything is wiped out," he said. "There are so many burned homes gone, with only the chimney left."
By Wednesday, Father Guzman had heard from nearly a dozen parish families who had lost their homes.
The deacon's house, just eight blocks from the parish, has so far remained unscathed by the Eaton Fire. But as he waits at the Pasadena shelter with his family for the fires to subside and recovery efforts to begin, Deacon Díaz said he has kept his Bible close by, turning to praying certain psalms of agony, supplication and pleading as he looks to make sense of the sudden destruction.
"Your foes have roared in the midst of your holy place … they set your sanctuary on fire," reads Psalm 74, one of the psalms cited by the deacon in his prayers. "Why do you hold back your hand, why do you keep your right hand in your bosom?"
Prayer, Deacon Díaz believes, can also bring about an interior "improvement" in those who suffer. Another one accompanying the deacon this week has been Psalm 85.
"Passing through the valley of weeping, he turns it into a spring," the psalm reads. "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness."
— Pablo Kay, OSV News
Catholic parishes offer shelter, relief to evacuated families near LA fires
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Catholic parishes offer shelter, relief to evacuated families near LA fires
LOS ANGELES — Several Catholic parishes opened their doors to families evacuated from their homes as wind-driven fires continued to burn through parts of Los Angeles County Jan. 8.
St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica was open until almost midnight Tuesday night, offering evacuees from the nearby Palisades Fire a place to freshen up, get snacks, and charge their devices, said Merrick Siebenaler, director of parish life at St. Monica.
"We have dozens and dozens of parishioners and school families who have lost everything," said Siebenaler.
The parish campus was again open to evacuees the following morning, but by Wednesday afternoon had to close after fire officials designated it part of a "warning zone."
One older couple from St. Monica spent the night at the parish rectory, after pastor Msgr. Lloyd Torgerson learned they'd been evacuated from the Palisades Fire burn area.
Another family whose Pacific Palisades home was threatened by the fire stopped by St. Monica Tuesday night to pray. Hours later, they learned the house had been destroyed. The next morning, Siebenaler told Angelus, the family was back to drop off their bicycles and pray with Msgr. Torgerson.
Meanwhile on Wednesday afternoon, Sacred Heart Church in the Lincoln Heights area of Los Angeles opened its auditorium to make water, food and masks available to evacuees and victims of fires in the area.
The shelter was being operated by the City of Los Angeles, but representatives of the local St. Vincent de Paul Society council were also on site with supplies, including children's clothes and diapers, Sacred Heart pastor Father Tesfaldet Asghedom told Angelus.
"We're here to help out," Asghedom said.
After classes were cancelled at St. Andrew's School in Pasadena, principal Jae Kim opened the school gym to families who needed a break from the hazardous air quality caused by the growing Eaton Fire just to the north. Coffee, donuts and snacks were brought to the gym Wednesday. On Thursday, Kim planned to screen a movie for children on a large screen and have a "lot of board games" available.
"You can't be outside here in Pasadena, the air is really bad. It's hazardous and toxic," said Kim.
Many of the families who came by Wednesday had been evacuated from the Eaton Fire evacuation area around Altadena and Pasadena. Several, said Kim, were waiting to be allowed back into their neighborhoods to see if their homes were still standing.
"Every hour, I'm getting a phone call from another family who's lost everything," Kim told Angelus over the phone Wednesday afternoon.
"You can hug them, pray with them, listen to them as best you can," said Kim of the several school families who stopped by. "What else is there to do?"
On Wednesday, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles announced a special dedicated fund "to support parishes and schools impacted by the fires."
Resources and updates from around the Archdiocese of Los Angeles can be found at https://lacatholics.org/california-fires.
— Pablo Kay, OSV News
LA Palisades Fire destroys Corpus Christi Catholic Church, damages school
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LA Palisades Fire destroys Corpus Christi Catholic Church, damages school
LOS ANGELES — A church in Pacific Palisades appeared to be destroyed and more than 60 Catholic schools were closed as several major fires in the Los Angeles area burned overnight into Jan.8.
Images shared with Angelus, the news outlet of the LA Archdiocese, showed only the frame of the Corpus Christi Catholic Church structure remaining as of the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 8. There were also unverified reports of damage to Corpus Christi's parish school.
In addition, at least 65 Catholic schools were closed that morning as a result of several fires burning in the LA area, including the Eaton Fire near Altadena and the Hurst Fire in the northern San Fernando Valley.
Catholic school superintendent Paul Escala told Angelus that his department was weighing several factors when deciding which schools should close due to the fires, including proximity to fire, poor air quality and wind damage, staffing challenges and nearby power outages.
"We did not call for a systemwide closure because the area of our district is enormous," encompassing three counties, Escala said.
In some communities where the impact of the fires was less, "the safest place for kids to be during this kind of emergency is school," explained Escala.
"School provides the kind of routine and consistency in care that children need during moments of crisis and trauma," he said.
Escala's department has asked schools that remained in session Wednesday to avoid outdoor activities in areas with poor air quality and to consider canceling after-school programs.
The church that was destroyed, Corpus Christi, is located in the heart of Pacific Palisades, an affluent neighborhood between Santa Monica and Malibu on the west side of Los Angeles. It was built in the 1950s and has long been home to several Hollywood celebrities, sports stars and other famous Angelenos.
As the fire spread westward toward Malibu, at least 11,000 acres had burned and an estimated 1,000 structures -- most of them homes -- had been destroyed in the Palisades Fire, according to a morning news conference Jan. 8 with LA city and county officials.
While no deaths from the Palisades Fire have been reported, there were "a high number of significant injuries to residents who did not evacuate" the fire zone.
It was reported that two people had been killed and an estimated 100 structures destroyed by the Eaton Fire, which had burned more than 2,200 acres. One parish and school, St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Altadena, was in the Eaton Fire's mandatory evacuation zone and under close watch by fire officials.
The Hurst Fire, burning around Sylmar in the northern San Fernando Valley, burned more than 500 acres since starting late the night of Jan. 7.
The fires in the area spread quickly due to Southern California's extremely dry "Santa Ana winds," which led to increased fire danger after several months of virtually no rain in the LA area.
"Please keep praying for all those suffering in the wildfires sweeping through Southern California," Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez posted on social media. "My heart goes out to our neighbors who have lost their homes and livelihoods. Let's pray for them and let's pray for our firefighters and first responders. May God keep all of our brothers and sisters safe and bring an end to these fires."
By mid-afternoon Jan. 8, LA County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone said at a news conference that all the fires remained at zero percent containment. He said 29 separate fire departments in LA County are battling the fires. He expressed gratitude "for our first responders, our boots on the ground," who "will remain on the frontline until we reach full containment, and we ask that you keep all of Los Angeles County in your thoughts and prayers."
— Pablo Kay, OSV News
You can help
Multiple fast-moving wildfires, fueled by high winds, are engulfing whole neighborhoods in Los Angeles County and have killed at least five people. More than 130,000 people have evacuated. Your donation today will help their recovery tomorrow. Donate to Catholic Charities USA here.
