Name of Church Holy Innocents
Address 425 E. 20th Street, Long Beach CA 90806
Phone number (562) 591-6924
Website www.lbcatholic.com
Mass times Saturday vigil, 5 p.m. Sunday, 7 a.m. (Spanish), 9 a.m. (on the 4th Sunday this Mass is offered in the Extraordinary form), 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. (Spanish), 2 p.m. (Spanish). Tuesdays & Thursdays at 6:30 a.m. in English; Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays at 6:30 p.m. in Spanish.
Confessions Fridays, 7:30 p.m. Sundays, 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and after the 2 p.m. Mass.
Names of priests Father Peter Irving, pastor. Father Irving, age 61, is a faithful pastor, strongly pro-life and traditional. He has a history of working in rougher, inner city parishes and reviving them. He is assisted on weekends by a Norbertine priest, and Claretian Father Robert Bishop comes monthly to celebrate the parish’s Tridentine Mass.
School Yes, K-8, administered by the traditional Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart whose motherhouse is in Alhambra. Former parishioners at Holy Innocents include Venerable Mother Luisita (1866-1937), who fled anti-Catholic persecution in Mexico and founded the Carmelite community whose
sisters today serve at the school. Teachers are both nuns and lay people; the school is located a few blocks from the parish.
Devotional activities Holy Hour Fridays 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. (with confession)
Liturgy Father Irving has renovated the church interior, returning it to a more traditional style. The altar is against the wall, and Masses are ad orientem (facing East, away from the people). There are altar rails, so Holy Communion can be received kneeling and on the tongue.
Fellow parishioners The parish is part of the archdiocese of Los Angeles, in a poor neighborhood in the north end of Long Beach. It has a significant Hispanic community and many blacks in the area.
Parking There is a small parish lot. On weekends, park a block away at nearby at Stricklin-Snively Mortuary and walk over.
Acoustics Fine.
Additional observations Holy Innocents is a historic church, founded in 1923. It is very traditional, and small. Former parishioners include one cardinal, William Levada, who attended as a boy. The parish wages spiritual war against the local Family Planning Associates (an abortion clinic), sending sidewalk counselors to pray and encourage women to choose life; as of this writing (January) three babies have been saved from abortion in 2015 and a total 878 since 2008. In the late 1980s and 90s, Father Irving served jail time for Operation Rescue, which used civil disobedience to close abortion clinics. Today, he preaches about defending life and inspires many of his parishioners to the pro-life cause. He can still be found praying and counseling women outside the nearby abortion clinic.
Every week CCD finds a Church Worth Driving To.
Why do so many of the people who post here constantly bad mouth the Church?
Thanks CCD for finding so many good parishes.
Are they ads?
Church worth driving to…are very helpful especially when traveling. All one has to do is go in this website and look up the area one is in and if there is a church they listed as worth driving too…then its helpful. This Catholic website is charitable to supply this for its readers. thanks CCD.
I find it very positive and encouraging to see so many vibrant parishes. I love seeing so many parishes like this one and all the devotions they have. I don’t think it’s an ad but I do think places like this should be held up as good examples when there is so much evil and discouragement in the world.
I agree Carol. God bless you.
“Father Peter Irving, pastor. Father Irving, age 61, is a faithful pastor, strongly pro-life and traditional.” = All very true! God Bless you Father Peter Irving!
Ohhhh — one TLM a month; wow, such commitment!
Some kudos, though, for partially returning the Church to its proper arrangement, and for providing an altar rail (the use of which should be mandatory). Very good about saying all masses Ad Orientum.
But why so wishy-washy, Father? Remember that Jesus does not like a weak commitment (something about “vomiting” this person away). A TLM every SUN at a convenient time; every SUN, Father.
You are on the right track but don’t go all wobbly, Father. Teach your people about the Church and what is right and true.
St. Christopher – do you have firsthand experience of Fr. Irving’s ministry and apostolate? Perhaps you do, but I’d guess that you do not. What this profile does not mention was the sad state this church was in when Fr. Irving arrived. His prior assignment was the same story – dilapidated church, tough neighborhood, dwindling Mass attendance. In both cases he’s managed to turn these parishes around with catechesis from the pulpit, a proper understanding of the importance of the Mass, and rallying his parish around the idea that their parish matters.
If you’ve ever heard him preach, you’d realize that calling him wishy-washy is just inaccurate. He makes extensive use of the Catechism in his preaching – and not the vague sections.
With respect to the TLM, it was not offered at Holy Innocents prior to Fr. Irving’s arrival.
Amen Adam. May God bless Fr. Irving and all his hard work for all the people of this parish.
As usual, St. Christopher, no good deed goes unpunished! If the people want the TLM in their parish, they will demand it and a way will be found to make it happen. But, really, you need to get off this idea that every parish has to have one every Sunday or they aren’t real Catholics. If they wanted it, they could have it. I know one parish where the people wanted it and the Priest went off and learned how to say it. People come from all over to attend each Sunday at 5pm, all fifty of them. The other 3,000 families in the parish stick to the vernacular. Works for them. There are so many important issues for you to pay attention to.
Adam and Bob good comments
Ahhh, “Bob One” and “Adam Nichols”: Of course, first you kill all the middle class and then raise the next two generations in ignorance. And then, you wonder why they do not immediately clamor for what they do not know.
The point of Summorum Pontificum was two-fold: (1) to protect those that want the TLM; and (2) to provide a basis for each bishop to begin the long exercise of educating their people about the glories of Church Tradition. The point was never to rely on the demands of the ignorant for Tradition.
Fr. Irving appears to have done some good things, and this was noted in the blog. But, let’s be frank: nothing works in half-measures. To truly inspire Tradition, a pastor needs to go “all in”. This Fr. Irving has not done, not at all. And, it is likely (someone please ask the good padre) that Fr. Irving (1) does not provide any other sacraments in the “extraordinary form”; and (2) does not educate the people about Catholic Tradition.
So what? Well, the “what” is that by keeping the people in the dark, you wind up with intolerant Protestant-Catholics, like the parents and students in San Francisco. No one really learns the Faith, so all object the difficulties of “being Catholic” and demand change. Is this what you want? You sound like New Church Masters that say: “well, the people come to the kind of Church that we built, and they seem happy”.
Nope, what Fr. Irving is doing is Catholic Lite, a better version of it, but Catholic Lite nonetheless.
It gets a little tiring, to say the least, to see people trash talk catholic churches here. People here don’t seem to go all in on catholicism, they go all in on viciousness.
St. Christipher, pastors are not obligated or even requested to “inspire Tradition”, a phrase I am puzzling over. It seems that you mean “inspire people to want the TLM.” Even bishops aren’t requested to do that.
I think you have misunderstood the purpose of Summorum Pontificum.
You appear to be rather prejudiced against the Mass and the Church.
Wrong again, Bob One.
No Priest is required to learn the Extraordinary Form of the Mass.
They should be taught both the OF and EF forms in all Seminaries – to serve all the people.
Un St Christopher, I would have to agree with Adam. Wishy washy are not words that can ever be used to accurately describe Fr. Peter. He has a charism and solid foundation in preaching the truth. You should try it sometime. You sound like a schismatic, but only God & you confessor know for sure.
Ah, more insanity, eh “Anonymous”? Fr. Irving may give a good sermon, but his actions are important too. Having a “monthly” TLM is not much of anything. He needs to at least have one weekly (SUN) regularly schedule (convenient time) TLM, and he must teach the extraordinary sacraments to all Catholic students and to those in his Church.
Have you ever wonderfed why the Catholic Church needs to re-write every one of the sacraments? And many prayers? All this in addition to doing its historic hatchet job on the Mass of All Time? There is no answer, except to attempt to destroy the Church.
The notion of a “shared” existence among the sacraments will not work for long. People will either say, “why did we change” and then “let’s return to the truth”, OR, they will say “destroy Tradition” and “it stops us from doing what we want”.
Just think of two things: (1) hundreds of corporations have very recently filed amici briefs with the US Supreme Court demanding that the Court recognize homosexual marriage; and (2) ISIS is busy destroying the history of Iraq and other areas it conquered. Both say the same thing: destroy the past, because it lessens our power.
Those in the Church need to chose where to go now. Soon the power of the State will set about to destroy the institutional Church as we know it. Good luck to those that seek the door to the “Rainbow Cathedral”; it leads to Hell.
“Having a “monthly” TLM is not much of anything. He needs to at least have one weekly (SUN) regularly schedule (convenient time) TLM, and he must teach the extraordinary sacraments to all Catholic students and to those in his Church.”
Says who?
This parish is what it is because of Fr Irving. You will find salvation here if you seek it. You will find mature manly judgment and quality sermons if you need it.
It is worth a 2 or 3 hour drive.
Yes that is true Eddie. I appreciate what this website has to offer….on this.
Amen Bob One. I grant there may be a two prong issue here. Make the Latin Mass accessible and also educate those potentially interested that it is available. But eventually the attendance will stabilize at some relatively constant number.
As to the 3000 families in the parish, I have a general doubt about parish registration numbers. A lot of pastors love to cite a membership of X. In fact a good percent haven’t been heard from [via a Sunday contribution] in at least a year. Take those numbers with more than a grain of salt; try the whole salt shaker.
Hey kudos to Father Irving, just by looking at the new sancutary you would think it is pre-Vatican II before “WRECKOVATION”. Having said that, Father is wearing a Novus Ordo style stole I hope he will discard that soon and wear a traditional Roman stole and in time have ALL his Masses in the Extrodinary form as it should be, and kick out the man made Novus Ordo for the sake of saving souls. But a 100% support for his addition of the communion rail and ad-orientem Masses. The return of the TRUE MASS OF ALL TIMES will not happen overnite, it will take decades to return Christ to our churches. In the meantime folks give Father Irving the support he needs and buy him Roman and Baroque vestments they are not free and his heart seems to be in the right place for the restoration of the TLM in his parish, it takes us to also help restore the Mass of All Times a priest can only do so much on his own without his flock giving all they can do to achieve this endevor!!!!
And as always pray for the Franciscans of The Immaculate as they were destroyed by Rome and Bergoglio for one reason and one reason only, they celebrated the Traditional Latin Mass the THE TRUE MASS OF ALL TIME!!! Folks Rome has lost the Faith and may not find it for many years to come, so pray and pray hard for the Holy Ghost to send a Pope to restore the Faith to Rome!!
Your witness on these issues is very important, “Janek”; much thanks.
The Vatican-directed destruction of the Franciscan Friars/Sisters of the Immaculate is unspeakably vile and evil. And, crazy old Fr. Volpi has had to dish out big dollars and a public apology (if he made it) for his calumny.
But the Pope sure loves what Volpi is doing to the FFI. And, all for the threat that Catholic Tradition gives to the New Church folks. You can scream all you want about “gifts” of the sodomites, Cardinal Baldisseri, but that does not make it right with God. These efforts are no different than lining up the “captured” and putting a bullet through their brains. Kill the opposition, so they cannot threaten your power — that’s the Vatican spirit.
Wrong. They were called out because they used divisive means to force the TLM on others in their community. At least that is my read. Some folks forced the TLM on other community members, uncharitably, and demanded adherence to a false tradition. See the pattern?
Sorry, “Your Fellow Catholic,” this story of “justification” has been refuted a good number of times in current literature. At most one or two FFI felt that they were being pressured. So, the response of Francis/Volpi was to nuke the entire order. Simply crazy.
Of course, we were treated to multiple craziness on behalf of Francis, given the 50th “Anniversary” of Paul VI saying the Mass (in part) in Italian. Francis is completely wrong that “we can never go back” and that the vernacular mass “was courageous”. That mass was a mass of subjugation to the world, to modernity, and to the Protestant heresy.
It is only a matter of time before Francis does at least two things, likely in conjunction with the Synod, which will be heavily criticized: (1) suppress the TLM, except in very limited circumstance (now that he understands how powerful it is and the draw that it has around the world), and (2) grant extraordinary powers to “local” nut-factories, such as the Germans and Dutch, to “set their own agendas”.
Soon sodomy will be seen as a sacrament, and women will be prancing around the altar. Now long now . . . soon.
I must say I love the ceiling. In a church I frequently find myself looking up and this looks very nice. Also you can’t go wrong with the Carmelite nuns. I wish I was closer to this parish. The priest sounds like a wonderful and holy man.
It was a tiny minority in the FFI who hated the TLM the vast majority loved it get your facts straight!
Pope Francis, on the 50th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s first Mass in the vernacular had this to say on March 7th, 2015: “You cannot turn back, we have to always go forward, always forward and who goes back is making a mistake,” he told parishioners after commemorating the 50th anniversary of the first time a pope celebrated Mass in the vernacular following the Second Vatican Council.
“Let us give thanks to the Lord for what he has done in his Church in these 50 years of liturgical reform. It was really a courageous move by the Church to get closer to the people of God so that they could understand well what it does, and this is important for us: to follow Mass like this,” he said as he left Rome’s Church of All Saints March 7.
Another swipe at traditionalist by Bergoglio… newsflash Frankie the only orders that are gaining vocations are the traditionalist ones…I guess he will attempt to suppress them as well….Pope St Pius X pray for us
Canisius, wouldn’t you agree with me that you are being very disrespectful of our Pope. I think that Pope Francis is a lot more civil that “Frankie”, wouldn’t you agree.
No I would not agree. he loves attacking the most faithful and loyal are of the Church…the ones who obey everything the Church teaches..and how are we treated we are verbally attacked by Begoglio. We are called neo-pelagians, restrictionist, he crushes the the growing and young order Friars of the Immaculate. Let’s just have that coming schism and get it over with, your side can have all those sins you want like gay marriage, divorce, abortion.
The F.S.S.P. S.S.P.X. Institute of Christ the King are flooded with young men with waiting lists because they don’t have the room for them, on the other hand the Novus Ordo seminaries are empty and closed or closing because who would want to be a “presider” and sit in a chair while women run around the altar doing priestly duties??????????????