Since the Palisades Fire burned down their beloved church, parishioners from Corpus Christi Church in Pacific Palisades have been “roaming Catholics,” traveling each Sunday to celebrate Mass at whichever parish would host them.
But at Mount Saint Mary's University in Brentwood, they have found a “permanent temporary” home. A home away from home.
And at a special June 1 Mass at the campus’ Carondelet Center to mark Corpus Christi’s 75th anniversary, hopes were high they would be able to return to their parish’s original site.
“You are living through a very trying moment in the life of this great parish, and you are close to my heart,” Archbishop José H. Gomez said during his homily. “We know that a parish is more than a church building. A parish is a spiritual family, a community of grace, a place of the Spirit. A parish is the body of Christ.
“And we pray that in his grace, God will bring new life from out of these ashes and that together, as one family, as brothers and sisters, we will carry on the mission of bringing Christ’s love and hope to the world.”
Andrea del Rosario was one of those “roaming” parishioners who came to the anniversary Mass with her 5-year-old daughter.
“We’ve been roaming for the past three-[four] months, borrowing churches from churches,” she said.
“Mommy, where is Father Kidney?” her daughter asked as they entered Mount Saint Mary’s chapel. Spotting him among the gathering crowd, the little girl ran ahead. Msgr. Liam Kidney, the pastor at Corpus Christi, greeted her warmly, smiling as he watched the community gather inside the church.
Rosario is glad “they found a home where they [Corpus Christi] do their service every Sunday,” and says they “love coming to church and seeing Father Kidney and the community.”
The devastation wrought by the Palisades Fire is still being felt by many in the parish.
For Lorraine Hartman, a receptionist at Corpus Christi, one of the biggest losses in the fire was all of the historical records, including baptism and marriage certificates.
“I had called the fire department,” Hartman said. “A firefighter walked through the parish while I was on FaceTime with him. I directed him to where my office was, and he saw the file cabinets on the floor.”
Everything was gone.
“All I could think about were the records of all our parishioners since the 1950s, kept in those cabinets,” she said. “I was usually the one who entered the information. And now, that’s all gone — including records of my two daughters who were baptized there, and my grandson.”
Still, Hartman tried to stay in good spirits and find strength in the generosity that had followed in donations from many Catholics, like the Knights of Columbus.
“It’s been a privilege to be in that [receptionist] position,” she said. “It certainly keeps up my faith in humankind.”
One piece of good news came out of the anniversary Mass: Kidney shared that a rebuilt Corpus Christi School would reopen in the fall of 2026
“We’re hoping that the [Pacific Palisades] Catholic people will end up in our school,” Kidney said. “We don’t want our Catholic school to disappear; we want it to last.”
During the Mass, there was camaraderie. Men shared fist bumps with Sam Laganà, the stadium announcer for the Los Angeles Rams, as they passed his aisle during Communion, while families exchanged smiles and hugs with longtime community members, one of whom was 91-year-old Sister Patricia McGahan, who served Corpus Christi as both principal and teacher for many years.
“The people in Corpus Christi have been extremely kind to us and extremely generous, and especially to Sister Patricia; she has been like a backbone of the parish,” said Sister Judith, who thought it would be meaningful for McGahan to be at the celebratory Mass.
During announcements, Kidney offered a warm “thank you” to McGahan for joining their service. She received a standing ovation and gently stood up — petite and smiling — she acknowledged the crowd.
After Mass ended, families gathered around McGahan and greeted her.
She’s a “sign of hope,” said Andrea Heindel, one of the longtime parishioners who said seeing McGahan brought back a lot of memories.
“Just seeing the familiar faces that have been part of this parish for so long shows how strong our parish is,” Heindel said.
Heindel’s family, including her parents, lost their homes in the fire. Heindel grew up at Corpus Christi and completed all her sacraments there. She wanted the same for her children.
Heindel emphasized the importance of community in times of hardship.
“It’s very important for us to come together as a community, to know that we can rebuild and that we are here for each other,” she said.
As the community waits for rebuilding to begin, the Corpus Christi faithful continue to gather at Mount St. Mary’s every Sunday.
“The dream is now that we're going to be here until the church is ready,” Kidney said, “Whether it happens or not — who knows? But we’ll wait and see.”
While not everyone has returned due to people living in different cities, Kidney is “delighted” to see the ones showing up.
He left parishioners with a simple message: “The church is the people, not the building,” Kidney said.
“We really need to get that into people's thinking — that the people are the Church and the building is the house of the Church,” he said. “Or in Latin, domus ecclesiae.”
