Message from our Pastor, Fr. Louis Piran, c.s.
Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Peter’s.
I hope that this past summer you had a chance to take some quality time off with your family and friends.
Sadly, we also witnessed the violent storm in the Church regarding the revelation of sexual abuse by priests and the cover-up by church authorities. Commissioned to foster love, many Church’s members have done just the opposite! This “bad news” has left some parishioners wondering whether they can continue to trust the Church’s structure, ministers and authorities.
In our “confusion”, let us not forget that the Church is not the pope, bishops and priests but “the people of God”: all of us! These sad events challenge us all to be part of the healing process by rediscovering Jesus’s path of holiness.
Throughout the centuries hatred and cruelty have desecrated the memory of Jesus, and - at the same time - love and goodness have been at work throughout the world producing many Saints and Martyrs, many of whom our contemporaries, like S. Padre Pio, S. Mother Theresa and Bishop Romero. Thousands of women and men, nuns and priests continue to give their lives to accompany and serve the most vulnerable children, women and men on almost every continent as missionaries on our behalf. They are the Church’s best representatives, and Jesus is the "presence" that animates their love and care for the poor and the suffering.
There are times of sadness like this when staying silent and in prayer is the most mature thing to do in order to read the signs of the time: what is God telling us through these sad events? What should be our response? We are accustomed to get from the media a quick answer to every problem, and someone to blame in every situation. Jesus instead began His ministry by calling all to conversion. Judgement and contempt are easy, but conversion, penance and compassion a lot harder. Yet they are the sure path indicated by the founder of our Church!
As your pastor, nothing is more important to me than to know that you feel safe in your church and at home with God. I ask Him to bring his peace into our pain.
Finally, I take this opportunity to say I'm sorry, and to be close to you who have been affected by this scandal.
With all my love,
Fr. Louis Piran
The Parish of St. Peter was founded in the year 1904 to care for the spiritual and social needs of Italian immigrants who came to America in search of religious, social, and economic freedom.
Today, through liturgical, educational and social programs, St. Peter’s Italian Church in Los Angeles continues the mandate given to the Missionaries of St. Charles by their founder Blessed John Baptist Scalabrini to care for all migrants as they journey toward the Kingdom of God. Find out more information on our history: