From the very first days of 2025, this year seemed determined to keep Angelus’ editors — and its readers — on our toes.
Immediately came the devastating January wildfires. Then there was the hospitalization of Pope Francis, his death in April, and the conclave that elected the first American pope a few weeks later.
There were mass raids targeting Latino immigrants across Southern California, and the resulting unrest that roiled LA’s streets — and Catholic parishes — for weeks.
In June, the National Eucharistic Revival’s grand finale came to LA in the form of a national pilgrimage, calling a hurting city to its feet.
Meanwhile, Pope Leo XIV stayed busy, too, continuing the Jubilee Year that Francis had opened, drawing more than a million young people to Rome for an overnight vigil, and canonizing two new saints whose lives reached Los Angeles in very personal, but different, ways.
And apart from all the news that happened in between, there were also plenty of bad movies to pick apart, social trends that were either disturbing or encouraging, and spiritual lessons to remember.
For Angelus’ final act in 2025, here’s a look at our most-read online stories, plus a few of our editors’ favorite pieces that deserve another look.
Top stories on AngelusNews.com
LA Fire captain finds tabernacle inside burned Catholic church — Our exclusive reporting of a Los Angeles Fire Department captain’s remarkable discovery in the ruins of Corpus Christ Church following the Palisades Fire drew international headlines. The captain’s own personal story was equally remarkable.
LA priest receives Carlo Acutis’ relic to take to his parish — After months of phone calls, emails, and prayers, Father Miguel Angel Ruiz’s efforts were rewarded during a September pilgrimage to Italy. Angelus was there when a precious relic of St. Carlo Acutis was granted to the young East LA pastor.
Immigration shadows National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in LA — The story of how a parish community shaken by June’s immigration sweeps found the courage to bring the Blessed Sacrament to the streets as part of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage.
How ‘close’ was Charlie Kirk to becoming Catholic? — Columnist Robert Brennan revealed a surprising comment made by the conservative influencer about his relationship with Catholicism days before his assassination.
What LA’s Frassati miracle priest told Pope Leo XIV — The inside story of how Father Juan Manuel Gutierrez got an audience with Pope Leo XIV during a fateful trip to Rome for St. Pier Giorgio Frassati’s canonization.
Archbishop Gomez: What I’m hearing from our new Pope Leo XIV — Archbishop José H. Gomez’s first reaction to the election of U.S.-born Robert Prevost as the Catholic Church’s new pope.
An unlikely Palisades Fire survivor: A Mary statue — Ann Rodgers spoke to the Pacific Palisades family who lost everything in the Palisades Fire but whose Virgin Mary statue inexplicably survived (and made the cover of Angelus).
Archbishop Gomez: Time for immigration reform (again) — Drawing on words he wrote more than a decade ago, Archbishop José H. Gomez offered a sobering assessment of America’s broken immigration debate — and a powerful defense of the Catholic Church’s mission to help those affected.
Catholic deacon, parishioners save Altadena church from fire — Angelus was the first to tell the story of Deacon José Luis Díaz’s heroics to save his parish from burning in the Eaton Fire.
The generational struggle of ‘Toy Story’ 30 years later — Joseph Joyce makes a refreshingly unsentimental — and funny — case for why “Toy Story” is still our story.
Editor’s picks
Jonathan Roumie & Ross Douthat: Can these two Catholics make America believe again? — Contributing Editor Elise Ureneck compares two influential American Catholic men offering “a shot in the arm to Catholics who might not have big platforms, but who surely have people in their lives who would like to believe.”
Leo XIV and the failed plan that led to an American pope — Like Robert Prevost, Msgr. Richard Antall is a Midwestern priest with a few decades of missionary experience in Latin America. He detailed a little-known and largely failed operation that still managed to give us an American pope.
The hollow worldview of ‘Wicked: For Good’ — Don’t read this if you’re an easily offended fan of the “Wicked” movies. If you’re not, feel free to enjoy Joseph Joyce’s hilarious review of a movie that reveals a deeper problem with Hollywood revisionism in 2025.
Confessions of a new empty-nester — Columnist Dr. Grazie Christie, a mother of five, reflects on what it’s like to begin the chapter of life she was dreading the most: living in a home without children.
