The 2025 Los Angeles Religious Education Congress opened 21 February with a focus on compassion, which “will be our challenge in the months ahead,” Archbishop José H Gomez of Los Angeles said, highlighting the need for compassion after January’s wildfires, which have left many in the community suffering.
The opening session of the 21-23 February congress featured emotional testimonies from survivors of the Palisades Fire, including Msgr. Liam Kidney, pastor of Corpus Christi Church, and parish secretary Lorraine Hartman.
Their reflections on faith and resilience in the face of tragedy underscored the event’s theme, “Called to Compassion.”
The ceremony also included performances by local groups, and Sister Rosalia Meza, the event organiser, spoke about the power of compassion in difficult times.
She encouraged participants to embody God’s love through tangible acts of kindness, drawing inspiration from figures such as St Oscar Romero, the martyred archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador, and Maryknoll Sister Maura Clarke, one of four American female missionaries murdered in 1980 during El Salvador’s civil war.
