St. John’s Seminary opened its doors to about 70 students on September 12, 1939 on 100 acres of what had been farmland donated to the Archdiocese by Juan Camarillo.

The seminary celebrated its 80th anniversary with a gala event on the plaza of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels which was attended by alumni, priests, and bishops from across the archdiocese, and the Seminary’s numerous supporters.

“This was a night of joy and thanking God for his many blessings over these past 80 years,” said Archbishop José H. Gomez. “As we celebrate what we have accomplished with God’s grace, we also want to thank our many benefactors who continue to help us in this beautiful mission of forming men for the priesthood.”

Presently, St. John’s serves 104 seminarians and is overseen by former St. John seminarian and professor, Father Marco Durazo, rector of the seminary.

Four seminary alumni were honored at the seminary’s gala celebrating the anniversary: Bishop Trudeau, former St. John’s rector; Bishop Joseph Brennan of Fresno, former auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Los Angeles and former archdiocese’s moderator of the curia for the archdiocese; Monsignor Gregory A. Cox, executive director of Catholic Charities of Los Angeles; and Father James Anguiano, associate vicar for clergy for the archdiocese of Los Angeles and former director of the Queen of Angels Center for Priestly Formation.

Lay Catholic leaders and philanthropists, John and Dorothy Shea, were presented the Evangelii Gaudium award at the gala for their dedication to the Church.

The above comes from an October release from the L.a. archdiocese.