The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

As the first cathedral in the world dedicated in the new millennium, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, offers a spiritual anchor for the archdiocese of Los Angeles, the largest and most diverse Roman Catholic archdiocese in the United States, a reality reflected in the cathedral's mission as well as its design. Situated along the Hollywood Freeway and located between Los Angeles's civic and cultural centers, Our Lady of the Angels is a gateway to the area's religious community and to its civic and cultural life. The construction of the cathedral began in May 1999 and was completed in spring 2002. The sale price of the property was $10,850,000, and the estimated construction cost, some $200 million. Since opening in September 2002, this contemporary, 11-story cathedral, which was designed by the Spanish-born architect and professor Jose Rafael Moneo, has drawn millions of visitors. 

Our Lady of the Angels serves its members and the surrounding community. The archdiocese of Los Angeles alone comprises three southern California counties--Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Ventura. According to statistics from the archdiocesan office, the total Catholic population for the archdiocese as of January 2005 was over 4.3 million.

The community of Our Lady of the Angels is not only large, it is also diverse, representing many backgrounds and cultures. Founded in 1781 by a small group of Hispanic people, Los Angeles has come to be the home of African Americans, Armenians, Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese, Koreans, Mexicans, and Poles, among many others. According to a 2003 government estimate, Los Angeles has a population of more than 3.8 million. It was this diversity that the architect Jose Rafael Moneo bore in mind when he designed the cathedral. Moneo's own diverse teaching experience at the Spanish schools of architecture in Barcelona and Madrid, at Princeton and Harvard universities in the United States, and later at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, figured into the mix.

Moneo approached the design of Our Lady of the Angels using two key theological truths. The first was the light of God as revealed in salvation history, especially through Jesus Christ. The second was the pilgrimage toward redemption and the kingdom of God in heaven. Inspired by the twin themes of light and journey, Moneo chose Spanish alabaster for the windows and a slightly inclined ambulatory at the entrance to the cathedral that encircles its interior and leads to the nave.

From these foundational principles, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels came to comprise 11 devotional chapels. The main cathedral includes a set of bronze doors designed by the Mexican-born Los Angeles sculptor Robert Graham, who also created the "Olympic Gateway" at the Los Angeles coliseum. The tapestries in the nave were created by the renowned California figurative painter John Nava, and the bronze tabernacle and 12 bronze candleholders are by the sculptor Max DeMoss, known for his bronze work and for his sculpture for sacred spaces. The altar was designed by the fourth archbishop of Los Angeles, Roger Cardinal Mahony, with artisan Louie Carnevale; the life-size bronze crucifix by the master binder and sculptor Simon Toparovsky; and the ambry, or holy-oil cabinet, for the cathedral's baptistery was designed by Jeff Tortorelli, a liturgical artist whose work focuses exclusively on pieces used in community worship spaces.

It was, however, the vision of the architect, whose work includes the Barcelona Concert Hall (1990) and the museums of Modern Art and Architecture in Stockholm, Sweden (1994), that was fundamental. Muneo has said that his biggest challenge in creating the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels was determining the meaning of a sacred space for today. Answering that question meant that he had to address the emblem of Christ--the cross, a 50-foot (15-meter) concrete lantern-style version of which adorns the front of the cathedral. At night its glass-protected alabaster windows are illuminated and can be seen from afar. In a 2002 interview Moneo said, "I like to see the cathedral reduced and oversimplified to the image of the cross ... The cross connects with the city. It is the symbolic element that is so important and so determinant in this faith."