Related coverage from Angelus News can be found at angelusnews.com/LAfires.
Speaking on the phone Jan. 10, Father Armenag Bedrossian, pastor of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Armenian Catholic Church in downtown Los Angeles, apologized for his husky voice.
“It’s because of the smoke” from the wildfires, he explained to OSV News. “And it’s also ‘snowing’ white ashes.”
The Los Angeles area is home to more than 200,000 Armenians, the largest community in the Armenian diaspora. Since 2013, the city of Glendale in Los Angeles County has been home to the Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg in the United States of America and Canada, which oversees Armenian Catholic Churches in those countries. It is led by Bishop Mikael Mouradian, a native of Beirut.