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Hollywood’s Monastery of the Angels might shutter after 100 years
Place above Hollywood Boulevard residence for five Dominican Order nuns who would be moved elsewhere
A monastery in the hills above Hollywood Boulevard might soon shut down and see its resident nuns of the Dominican Order moved elsewhere while its ultimate fate remains up in the air.
The religious order, which is part of the Roman Catholic Church, oversees Hollywood’s Monastery of the Angels. A spokesperson for the order said that property no longer complies with canon law and has to be closed, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The county assessed the 4.6-acre property at 1977 Carmen Avenue at around $2.7 million. The Dominican Order said it has not yet decided whether the property would be sold.
Gerard Timoner, a Dominican Order official, said conflicts among five nuns who reside there also played a role in the decision to close the monastery.
The was a “lack of a communal and efficacious resolve on the part of the sisters to truly live according to the Rule of St. Augustine: ‘to be of one heart and one mind, on the way to God,’” Timoner said in a letter to Theresa Baker, a resident of the area who is trying to get the order to reverse the decision.
It remains unclear if the apparent discord accounted for the violation of canon law, which is the legal code for the Roman Catholic Church, or if there are other factors in the determination.
The monastery was founded in 1924, and the nuns bought the Hollywood property a decade later. They’ve become well known in the area for the pumpkin bread and candy they sell at their gift shop.
The order said in a statement it hopes “to maintain the chapel for worship and prayer,” and that “the gift shop, pumpkin bread bakery and candy making will continue to operate with the expertise of our current lay personnel.”
If the property does close, the nuns will be sent by the Dominican order to other convents, monasteries or assisted-living facilities of their choice.
Some people are trying to stop the closure of the monastery. More than 2,000 people have signed a petition directed at L.A. Roman Catholic Archbishop José Gómez and Dominican Order officials to reverse course.
The Dominican Order operates the monastery separately from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
[LAT] — Dennis Lynch