The Los Angeles Religious Education Congress will move to the Long Beach Convention Center in 2028 after being held in Anaheim for more than 50 years.
The change in venue for the annual four-day gathering was announced May 20 in an email from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ Office of Religious Education and comes weeks after RECongress celebrated its 70th anniversary in February.
“For 70 years, RECongress has drawn Catholics from around the globe seeking prayer, learning, and spiritual renewal,” said Sister Rosalia Meza, VDMF, senior director of the Office of Religious Education.
“We are delighted to open our next chapter by bringing our beloved gathering home to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in Long Beach in 2028. The heart of RECongress is the people who fill the space and we look forward to bringing that same spirit of encounter and community to Long Beach.”
The agreement with the Long Beach Convention Center is for five years, through 2032. RECongress’s new home is no stranger to Catholic events: The Long Beach Convention Center hosted the National Catholic Youth Conference in 2022, and 2024, and will return again later this year on Nov. 20-21.
Next year’s RECongress, the final one held at the Anaheim Convention Center, will take place April 22-25, 2027, organizers said.
“Over the years, Anaheim has been the setting for countless memories, friendships, and moments of grace,” the email said. “We are deeply grateful for all that has been shared there and for the many people who have helped make RECongress such a meaningful experience for generations of Catholics.
“As we begin this new chapter, we look forward to bringing the same spirit of encounter, worship, learning, and community to Long Beach. Together, we will continue to witness to the joy of the Gospel and carry the spirit of RECongress into the future.”
The move to Long Beach brings the event back into the archdiocese’s footprint.
“This is a huge win for Long Beach,” said Mayor Rex Richardson. “RECongress is one of the largest gatherings of Catholics in California, drawing attendees from around the country and the world. We’re excited to welcome them to our city in 2028 and beyond.”
The first RECongress was held in 1956, at the time named the “Confraternity of Christian Doctrine Institute” and held at Mount Carmel High School in South LA. It was organized by Msgr. Leland Boyer and Msgr. John Clarke, with about 500 teachers and catechists attending the two-day conference.
Over the next decade, the “Institute” bumped around from location to location, with stops at Bishop Conaty Catholic Girls High School, Loyola University, and Immaculate Heart College. In 1966, more than 4,000 attended, leading to calls for a bigger venue.
In 1967, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles — in conjunction with the then-Diocese of Monterey-Fresno and the Diocese of San Diego — hosted the modern incarnation of what RECongress would become, introducing the “Southern California Confraternity Congress” held at the International Hotel near LAX.
In 1970, the Congress moved to the Anaheim Convention Center since Orange County was still a part of the LA Archdiocese at the time. It was also the first year to have a theme. Youth Day was added in 1971.
In 1973, the event was renamed the “Religious Education Congress.”
Much of the growth of what RECongress is now as an international Catholic destination event is largely attributed to Msgr. Lloyd Torgerson, who became the director of the Office of Religious Education in 1983, and Sister Edith Prendergast, who took over in 1987 until she retired in 2015.
Prendergast died on April 1 at the age of 85.
The current RECongress annually hosts about 20,000 attendees to its more than 140 workshops in several languages, plus an Exhibit Hall, Sacred Space, daily liturgies, cultural diversity, and more.
