Our Story
How a 28-year-old priest from the Banat, a handful of Hungarian and German families, and a lot on Woodlawn Avenue became one of the most remarkable parishes in Los Angeles.
A parish is born
The St. Stephen Society forms under president Béla Sarkady, aided by the Hungarian Sisters of Social Service. At Bishop John J. Cantwell’s invitation, Fr. Mathias Lani — a 28-year-old priest of German-Hungarian family from the Banat — arrives on April 19, 1928 and offers the first parish Mass three days later.
Four languages under one roof
Lots are purchased on Woodlawn Avenue and the first chapel is dedicated in 1930. German-Hungarian families from the Banat, Batschka and Srem ask to join, and Fr. Lani makes the parish bilingual. A Mexican community follows in 1933, then an English-speaking group — making St. Stephen’s the only four-language parish west of the Mississippi, with up to six Sunday Masses.
Culture on parade
The parish carries its heritage into the life of the city — folk costume, music, scouting and pageantry that continue in the Hungarian and German communities to this day.
The “Ellis Island of Los Angeles”
Through American-Hungarian Relief, the parish becomes a national hub for postwar aid — over $250,000 sent to Hungary and a children’s home rebuilt there — while resettling displaced persons of seventeen nationalities in Los Angeles. In 1948, Cardinal József Mindszenty sends Fr. Lani a testimonial letter; the imprisoned cardinal would visit the parish in person in 1974.
Silver Jubilee
The parish marks 25 years with a Solemn High Mass and an evening program at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre. Among the well-wishers in the Jubilee album: Caltech’s Theodore von Kármán. Fr. Lani dies the following year, his motto remembered ever since: “Do not worry. God will provide.”
A golden age
Under Fr. Benedict Horvath, O.Praem., the parish is renewed: earthquake retrofit, travertine facing, a new pipe organ, a Hungarian school that grows past 100 students — and the commissioning of master carver Béla Ferencz, who from 1981 to 1986 transforms the entire sanctuary into Hungarian folk art.
Perseverance and partnership
After difficult years, the parish returns to its bilingual roots and is twinned with nearby St. Patrick parish. Finances stabilize thanks to the properties acquired decades earlier — the foresight of one generation carrying the next. In 2018 the parish celebrated its 90th anniversary; its centennial approaches in 2028.
“Being in this church is like being already in Paradise.”Fr. Benedict Horvath, O.Praem. · Pastor 1967–1990