Overview
- Archbishop José H. Gomez celebrated a Christmas Day service inside the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood with Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert G. Luna attending.
- ABC7 reported it was the facility’s first Christmas Day Mass, and the Daily News reported nearly 200 incarcerated women took part.
- The liturgy included prayer, song and Communion as Gomez emphasized love, forgiveness and the women’s dignity as children of God.
- Luna said the focus was giving people hope through rehabilitation, and inmates described feelings of peace, renewal and resolve to change, with support from the Sheriff’s Religious and Volunteer Services Office.
- Elsewhere in the region, longstanding holiday efforts provided meals and essentials, including the Laugh Factory’s 45th free dinner, Hollywood United Methodist Church’s 39th annual dinner and The Midnight Mission’s giveaway.