Tom Hoffarth

Tom Hoffarth is a Los Angeles-based journalist covering news and sports professionally since 1980. He also is employed by Catholic Charities of Los Angeles to assist with homeless outreach in Southern California.

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Ann McElaney-Johnson, president of Mount St. Mary's University, Los Angeles is seen speaking at the Skirball Cultural Center for the release of the 13th edition of "The Report on the Status of Women and Girls in California." (Courtesy of Mount St. Mary's University, Los Angeles)

LA Catholic university studies how women are being left behind in the economy

A new report from Mount St. Mary's University in Los Angeles zeroes in on findings about economic gender inequalities, including that women in the U.S. save annually less than 50% of what men save annually.

A guest receives lunch from the Feed My Poor food truck in MacArthur Park, just west of downtown Los Angeles.

In LA, Catholic-run 'Feed My Poor' food truck serves meals, hope

A food truck run by the nonprofit Feed My Poor distributes meals at locations across LA each day at noontime. It distributes some 300 hot meals over a three-hour period to those experiencing homelessness. 

Participants in a protest display signs outside the grounds of La Reina, a high school and middle school run by the Sisters of Notre Dame in Thousand Oaks, California. The protest was organized by the group Save La Reina to prevent the closure of La Reina. (Tom Hoffarth)

Closure of sister-run La Reina Catholic school near LA sparks organized pushback

A Jan. 24 announcement that the Sisters of Notre Dame plan to close a high-performing all-girls Catholic school in Thousand Oaks, California, has generated an impassioned pushback by students, parents and alumnae.

Kerri Murray, president of ShelterBox USA, interacts with townspeople in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco in November.

Disaster relief organization leader leans on Catholic faith

Kerri Murray, president of the disaster relief organization ShelterBox USA, told NCR her Catholic upbringing taught her empathy, a value that imbues her work to provide shelter for people displaced by war and disaster.

St. Charles Borromeo Holy Family Service Center in North Hollywood, California (Tom Hoffarth)

Holy Family Service Center reaches out to homeless of the Hollywood Split

A triad of freeways intermingle at the Hollywood Split, and its network of underpasses has been a gathering spot for those experiencing homelessness. St. Charles Borromeo Holy Family Service Center is trying to help.

Jeff Dietrich, at center, speaks at a recent Loyola Marymount University reception to mark the release of the 40th-anniversary update of his 1983 book, Reluctant Resister. To the right is Charlotte Radler, a professor of theological studies at Loyola Marymount; to the left is Theresia de Vroom, a professor of English at Loyola Marymount. (Courtesy of Los Angeles Catholic Worker)

LA Catholic Worker reflects on 50 years of journalism and resistance

Jeff Dietrich has persisted on a soulful journey of more than 50 years of journalism, hospitality and civil disobedience at the Los Angeles Catholic Worker. In an NCR Q&A, he speaks about his life of service and resistance.

Archbishop Jose Gomez holds a red book over a casket draped in white. Many lay people and priests stand behind him.

Thousands gather at funeral Mass for LA's Bishop O'Connell, recalled as 'soul friend' to all

Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David G. O'Connell was remembered as a man "gripped by grace" and "at ease with movers and shakers and also with the moved and shaken" as nearly 5,000 attended a funeral Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels March 3.

A bald man in a black cassock and a pectoral cross gestures energetically on a dark stage

Speakers bring LA Congress attendees to their feet; crowd mourns Bishop O'Connell

The dark clouds of a weather system of historic proportions added to the heaviness already felt by the thousands at the 2023 LA Religious Education Congress Feb. 23-26 in Anaheim, a week after the death of beloved Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David G. O'Connell.

An image of Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O'Connell is seen on the post of a street sign near his home in Hacienda Heights, California, Feb. 19. (AP/Damian Dovarganes)

As LA Catholics mourn Bishop O'Connell, they look to carry on his legacy

Those grieving the murder of Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O'Connell often speak through tears recounting his advocacy for immigrants, resourcefulness for those on the margins, and leadership in Catholic education.

A group of people stand outside greenhouses around a table with a white cloth, many candles, and flowers

Memorial liturgy, prayer service honor victims of two mass shootings in California

The memories of Valentino Marcos Alvero brought a wide, warm smile to the face of Fr. Joseph Magdaong.

L.A.'s virtual congress offers participants 'hope, vision' for the future

For Jesus' parents, "answering God's call meant their whole lives were turned upside down," not unlike the events of the past year, Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez said Feb. 21 at the close of the all-virtual 2021 Religious Education Congress.

Redemption, beauty of the family emphasized at Los Angeles march for life

Organized by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles' Office of Life, Justice and Peace, OneLife LA was once again held the same day as — and just blocks away from — the Women's March, a demonstration in favor of a so-called "right" to abortion, which, like OneLife LA, is timed to coincide with the anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

California school shooting hits home for Santa Clarita Catholics

It was the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time at St. Kateri Tekakwitha Church in Santa Clarita.

 

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