A re-elected president, a continuing war, a passionate movie. These were among the events that stood out in the year 2004, a year when voters (and some bishops) argued about who was really Catholic and who wasn't; when fatalities and brutalities mounted at an alarming rate in Iraq; when Catholic moviegoers were challenged to experience the defining moment of their faith in an extraordinarily powerful (and, yes, graphic) way on the big screen.

The institutional church in general found 2004 another sobering year. Dioceses struggled to reach settlements with victims of clergy sex abuse, and some struggled even more to remain financially viable, in a few cases declaring bankruptcy or closing parishes. The church struggled as well to make its voice heard as society debated whether same-sex marriage should be allowed, and whether embryonic stem-cell research should be sponsored by the state of California. As the year ended, Los Angeles County was preparing to remove a symbol of its history --- the mission cross --- from its official seal, a move that appeared to run counter to the religious fervor stirred up in many citizens by the aforementioned movie and presidential election.

Locally, it was also a year when the Archdiocese of Los Angeles lost a beloved sister and gained two auxiliary bishops; when the Synod process that had begun four years earlier began taking more concrete shape with the formation of regional councils; and when parishioners --- in spite of their own struggles --- sought to build the kingdom of God on earth in their service to and support of one another. In this spirit, the work of the church continues.

---Mike Nelson