Nativity Parish

Age: 43
Hometown: Puebla, Mexico
Home parish: St. Dominic Savio Church, Bellflower
First parish assignment: Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Northridge

"If the Catholic Church is a “field hospital,” as Pope Francis said it should be, parishioners at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Northridge are getting a priest who has been to its intensive care unit. Filiberto Cortez was born in Puebla, Mexico, but moved with his family to the Downey area when he was 11. The “culture shock” of life in a new country made the adjustment a difficult one, and Cortez eventually drifted from his family’s traditional Catholic faith while trying to keep up the image of being a “tough guy.”..."

Age: 45
Hometown: Los Angeles
Home parish: St. Paul Church, Los Angeles
Parish assignment: Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, Downey

"That Daniel Garcia is becoming a priest — soon to call Downey’s Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church his home parish — is really no surprise to anyone who’s known him. As early as sixth grade at St. Paul Elementary School, people saw that he was called to something, one teacher telling him, “Danny, I see Jesus in you.”..."

Age: 35
Hometown: Salinas
Home parish: St. Mark’s UCSB Newman Center, Goleta
Parish assignment: St. Philip Neri Church, Lynwood

"There’s no need to tell Louie Reyes that one person, one priest, can change the course of someone’s life. He knows that. He’s lived it. It happened while Reyes was attending UC Santa Barbara, a university well-known, as he said, as “a party school.” And Reyes admitted he took part in what might be described as a somewhat Augustinian existence..."