SoCal bishops reflect on Kobe Bryant’s Catholic faith
Following Tuesday morning Mass, the bishops of Los Angeles and Orange County gathered in a circle inside the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome for one more set of prayers.
With an Our Father, Hail Mary, and a Glory Be, they prayed with the tragedy that has captured the world’s attention heavy on their minds: The Jan. 26 helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, that claimed the lives of nine people, including LA Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna.
“Had we been in Los Angeles or Orange, we would’ve probably been at some prayer services,” explained Auxiliary Bishop Timothy Freyer of Orange, who this week is in Rome for the customary “ad limina” visit to the Holy See along with the bishops of the rest of California, Nevada, and Hawaii.