More than 10,000 people attended Easter Masses at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Downtown Los Angeles, welcoming a record number of new Catholics who were baptized during the Easter Vigil.
“Easter gives meaning to our lives and it also gives us a mission. Jesus is sending each of us into the world to continue his mission of mercy and love,” said Archbishop José H. Gomez, during his homily.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles welcomed the largest number of adults and children to the Catholic Church when it baptized 1,828 adults and children this Easter. They were baptized at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels or at their individual parishes in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, the three counties that comprise the archdiocese.
The number of new Catholics in 2015 is up 18 percent from 1,546 Catholics in 2014; and has increased 51 percent from 1,213 in 2010 and 34 percent from 1,363 in 2005.
