About Us

In 1941 Archbishop John Cantwell asked the Society of St. Columban, also known as the Columban Fathers to administer to the spiritual needs of the growing Filipino population in Los Angeles. Finally in 1945, the first Filipino parish in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles was established concurent the leased of a building at 1035 S. Fedora St., where Sunday Masses were celebrated in 1945-46. (This building is now a Korean kindergarten in Koreatown).

Due to a growing congregation, Father Francis Hoza and the Filipino Community purchased an old 1982 fireshouse at 125 Loma Drive and transformed it into a serviceable church, where the first Mass was celebrated on January 1, 1947. Soon a larger church was needed and the present church was built on the existing site and the first Mass was celebrated on September 10, 1967. On June 30, 1968, the new church was dedicated by His Eminence, James Cardinal McIntyre.

A notable feature of St. Columban Church is its fine mosaics:

• the Holy Spirit, above the main entrance front porch
• the Lamb of God, over the main door under front porch
• Sto. Niño, over the main entrance inside the church
• the Baptism of Jesus by St. John the Baptist
• the Eucharist, on the front of the main altar

The bells of the church are historic, having come from Antipolo in Rizal Province, Philippines.  The present statue of Our Lady in front of the church came from the now closed Columban House on 2600 N. Vermont Ave.  This statue was originally donated to the Columban house by a parishioner, Mrs. Phil Viloria.  It was moved to St. Columban Church with the help of Antonio Buffa, sculptor, was blessed and rededicated on the Solemnity of the Assumption, August 15, 2015 with Fr. John Marley as preacher. On the opposite side of the entrance to the church stands a very fine statue of St. Columban; this was damaged many years ago but Tony Buffa skillfully made a new left hand to repair the statue.  Inside the church entrance are statues of San Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino saint and of San Pedro Calungsod.

The church sits on one of the five hills that circled the old Los Angeles; this hill is called Crown Hill.  In the 1890s Crown Hill was the epicenter of a massive oil boom when Edward L. Doheny and Charles A. Canfield bought a lot at Colton Street and Glendale Boulevard; on November 1892 they struck oil and the boom was on. Belmont High School, opposite the church, opened in 1923 on the site of the old Belmont Hotel from which the school got its name; at one time it was the largest public school in America.

The area where the church is situated is part of Historic Filipinotown established on August 2, 2002 in a resolution proposed by then city council member, now Mayor, Eric Garcetti.