At Los Angeles’ downtown Cathedral of the Angels, an interreligious memorial was held Saturday, Dec. 21, for the homeless who have lost their lives.
“On the first day of winter and longest night of the year, the memorial will acknowledge and honor the lives of our brothers and sisters who have died experiencing homelessness this past year in Los Angeles,” read a statement from the Archdiocese of LA prior to the event.
Archbishop José H. Gomez presided over the services joined by community, civic and religious leaders, including LA Mayor Karen Bass and LA City Councilmember Imelda Padilla.
It was two years ago when Mayor Bass declared a state of emergency on homelessness on the first day she took office in December 2022. Bass has said that anyone who had to spend five nights on the street would realize the toll it takes.
Without shelter, people die.
By the latest counts, the city of LA has more than 45,000 people who are currently homeless, two-thirds of whom are living on the streets unsheltered. The county of LA has more than 75,000 homeless people.
It’s estimated that this year alone, at least 1,137 people died while living on the streets of LA County.
During the service, Gomez and other religious leaders spoke about the “importance of solidarity as communities come together to live out their calling to works of mercy.”
The homeless who have died this year were honored with a candle inscribed with their name. Catholic school students walked in a procession into the cathedral holding the candles.
Those in attendance were asked to take one of the candles as they left the cathedral and to “pray for the soul of that person.”
Since 1990, the National Coalition for the Homeless has sponsored the National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. On winter solstice, the first day of winter and the longest night of the year, religious services and community events are held to bring attention to those who have died while living in outside encampments.
“It’s not normal to have tents on the street. It took 30 years to get here. It’s not going to take just two years [to solve],” Bass has said in previous interviews. She is the chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ task force on homelessness and has pointed out that beyond LA, “housing is a national crisis.”
The memorial was sponsored by the Archdiocese of LA Office of Life, Justice and Peace, Sofesa and St. Vincent de Paul of LA.
For more information, visit: lifejusticeandpeace.lacatholics.org/homeless-persons-memorial or call (213) 637-7477.
I know people who has baked to be house in near hotels only to be told no even when there are empty rooms and they been expressed by the motelangers allyou need is a voucher .yet they have been turn down why I would guesstheir not what miss bass deems as the ,”special people : though when asked who theses people are she had no answer .I really don’t understand from first hand experience what make one homeless qualify another doesn’t. Specially when people are begging to be taken off the streets only to be told no
Also what’s the deal with being g thrown back out on to the streets .if these people who are inside don’t cut the standards of homeless where’s the help they need not to be thrown out .I dont understand the whole setup
People don’t wish to be outside as the public thinks they don’t, ” qualify ,”to be put inside for reason nobody who’s homeless understands