Cathedral Chapel
of St. Vibiana

2002 marked the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of Cathedral Chapel Parish and the dedication of the Church of the Cathedral Chapel of St. Vibiana. It is a great joy me, as Auxiliary Bishop of Our Lady of the Angels Region and as a parishioner of Cathedral Chapel Parish, to celebrate these significant milestone with you.

When Bishop (later Archbishop) John J. Cantwell established the parish of Cathedral Chapel in 1927, his sights were set on the construction of a new cathedral for the Diocese of Los Angeles-San Diego and for the City of Our Lady of the Angels. Cathedral Chapel Parish was to hold the site of the grand edifice that the Bishop intended to build. Little could Bishop Cantwell have imagined the enduring significance of this parish which he canonically established that year.

In the intervening 75 years, the remote site of Cathedral Chapel Parish has become the very center of and ever-expanding metropolis. The pastors and parishioners of this parish have seen the expansion of the diocese froma msall Catholic community to the largest Catholic Archdiocese in the United States. And while the new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angles does not stand withink the boundaries of Cathedral Chapel Parish, as Bishop Cantwell had originally intended, this parish stands as a living testimony to the vision and the mission of the Catholic Community and its Shepherds.

In the years ahead, may this parish of Cathedral Chapel of St. Vibiana continue in its mission of worship, evangelization, and service, marking the site and holding the place from which the Kingdom of God continues to the very limits of human imagination and divine planning.

January 26, 2003 Letter of Dedication to the 75th Anniversary of Cathedral Chapel of St. Vibiana from the Most Reverend Edward Wm. Clark, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region