Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

About

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (Spanish: Catedral de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles), informally known as the COLA or the Los Angeles Cathedral (Spanish: Catedral de Los Ángeles), is the metropolitan cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church in Los Angeles, California, in the United States. It serves as the mother church for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, as well as the seat of Archbishop José Horacio Gómez.

The structure replaced the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana, which was severely damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Under Cardinal Roger Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles, Our Lady of the Angels was begun in 1998 and dedicated on September 2, 2002. There was considerable controversy over both its deconstructivist and modern design, costs incurred in its construction and furnishing, and the archdiocese's decision to build a crypt under the cathedral.