Plans for a Cathedral in Los Angeles began as early as 1859.  In 1876 a Cathedral was built and dedicated to St. Vibiana.  But in 1996 when St. Vibiana's was condemned after an earthquake, Los Angeles was left without a Cathedral.

Originally a new Cathedral was to be built on the site of the old St. Vibiana.  But preservationists demanded that the old Cathedral be saved.  The cost to save the old building was out of sight, so it was announced that the new Cathedral would re-locate.  The chosen site was located between the Civic Center and the Cultural Center of the city, sitting on an elevated section of downtown Los Angeles, where it is seen by millions of people as they travel the busy freeway below.

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angeles was finally completed in 2002.  It  is the first Cathedral to be built in the United States in over a quarter of a century, and is the 3rd largest church in the world.  The 65,000 square foot Cathedral will seat 3,000 people.  In addition, there's a 24,000 square-foot Rectory, a 46,000 square-foot conference center, a 100,000 square foot plaza, a Cloister Garden, a 150 foot tall bell tower, and a 600 car underground parking garage. 

The Cathedral was designed by Spanish architect Jose Rafael Moneo who says he was inspired by the themes of "light and journey".  For the building material he chose architectural concrete in a color reminiscent of the sun-baked adobe walls of the earlier California Missions.  There are virtually no right angles in the building which does make it a challenging geometric structure.

Critical reviews have not been totally positive with some referring to the Cathedral as a "monstrous edifice" and others as a "gigantic factory".