Monuments, Diversity, and Democracy: 17 St. Vibiana’s Cathedral
Modeled after a church in Barcelona, Spain, the Cathedral of St. Vibiana was the first cathedral for the Roman Catholic Archdioceses of Monterey and Los Angeles. It was constructed between 1871 and 1876, when 3,000 of Los Angeles’s 5,500 residents were Catholic. Cardinal Roger Mahony proposed that the Cathedral be torn down after it was heavily damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake and a new one be built in its place. Preservationists and historians protested, and the new cathedral was built on another site downtown overlooking the Hollywood Freeway. A developer has transformed the building into a site for special events.
The new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels opened in 2002.
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Diversity, and Democracy campaign.
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