Archbishop Gomez presides at Mass to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Archbishop José H. Gomez was the principal celebrant at a special Mass to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

Retired Bishop Terry Steib,rnof the Diocese of Memphis, Tennessee was the homilist.

“We celebrate the memory of Reverend King and also we commitrnourselves to his dream — his beautiful vision of the ‘beloved community’ andrnhis witness to nonviolence as a way of life,” said Archbishop Gomez. 

“In theserndays, when we are often confronted with the violence in our world, we willrngather to pray for peace and reconciliation, and in his spirit renew our workrnfor peace and justice and human dignity — rnto make this world more like God intended it to be.”

The Mass included the installation of the officers of the Knights of Peter Claver, the largest African American lay Catholic organization named after St. Peter Claver, the Spanish Jesuit priest who ministered to African slaves in the 17th Century. 

Bishop Steib was honored with the Drum Major Award in recognition for his dedication to promote education for underserved communities.

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