The Religious Education Congress is sponsored by
The Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese
Office of Religious Education

Held at the Anaheim Convention Center, 800 West Katella Ave., Anaheim, Calif. (just across from Disneyland)

WHAT IS CONGRESS?

• Nation's Largest – The Religious Education Congress, sponsored by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Office of Religious Education, is the nation's largest annual gathering of Roman Catholics!

• With 40,000 in Attendance – Our last Religious Education Congress, held in March 2019, brought together over 36,000 for the four-day event! We had 33,452 registered from across the country and nearly 700 registered from as far away as the U.K. and Australia. Attendance at Youth Day 2019 was 12,837! (See Congress 2019 registration statistics)

• Variety of Topics – Over the three days, the adult days of Congress will offer over 300 workshops presented by 200 speakers. (See the list of Congress 2020 Speakers). Topics range from personal growth to music to spiritual topics – in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.

• Representing Many Cultures – Congress annually offers a number of liturgies of different character. Congress 2020 will offer 11 Eucharistic Liturgies of different character, including Celtic, Contemplative, Indonesian, Mass for the Evangelization of the Peoples, Mass of Charity in the African American Perspective, Mystery of the Holy Cross in the Vietnamese Perspective, Paz y Justicia (Spanish), Spanish, Young Adult, along with Morning Praise (one with the English Keynote and one with the Spanish Keynote), Evening Prayer and Taizé. (See a listing of Congress 2020 Liturgies.)

• Free Exhibits (open to Registrants only) – Congress 2019 showcased 531 booths housing 256 companies as exhibitors – ranging from religious art to music, and from publishing houses to educational institutions, in addition to our own represented Archdiocesan ministries. (See our 2020 Exhibitor Listing.)

• Free Entertainment for Registrants – Admission to Congress includes both free lunchtime and evening concerts – ranging from contemporary Christian music to the leading Latino composers and artists. Congress 2020 features entertainment by Tony Alonso, John Angotti, Meredith Augustin, Craig Colson, Lorraine Hess, Peter Kolar, Carey Landry & Carol Jean Kinghorn, the group WAL, and many others – along with our Art Exhibit, our evening Film Showcase, Sacred Illumination, Sacred Space, our annual Young Adult Dance, and much more!

ABOUT THE RECONGRESS: •  REVIEWS Index -- See what's been written about Congress! •  Milestones of the Religious Education Congress •  CCD / RECongress history in pictures •  Congress Themes (1956-present) •  RECongress 1970 (photos) •  The CCD: History in the Making (1972) • "A look back at 30 years of Congress" (2000) • "The past history of the Religious Ed Congress" (2001) • "The early days: 'A certain spirit' " (2001) • " 'Congress’ at 45" (2012) • "Still growing, a half century later" (2016)

WHO MAY ATTEND?
The three adult days of the Religious Education Congress is open to all who wish to learn more about the Catholic faith or seek personal growth.

DATES
Dates for RECongress 2020 are February 20, 2020 (Youth Day) & February 21-23, 2020 (Friday through Sundayas adult days)

COST
Youth Day has a separate registration and pricing from the adult days. The regular registration priciing for Youth Day 2019 was $40, with special discount pricing of $35 available.  Admission to the three aduts days includes all workshops (tickets are required), exhibits, concerts and liturgies. The regular registration fee for the adult days of RECongress 2019 was $85, with special discount pricing of $75 available.

REGISTRATION

If you would like information about RECongress, please contact us. Be sure to provide your name and complete mailing address:

Register:		Register Online
By e-mail:		congress@la-archdiocese.org
By phone:		Call (213) 637-7348
By mail:		Religious Education Congress Office of Religious Education 3424 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles CA 90010

VOLUNTEERING
Congress could not function without the hundreds of volunteers who give of their time. If you have attended Congress in the past and would like to find out more about becoming a volunteer for our next Religious Education Congress, please consider this your "personal invitation." See our Volunteer Information.

CONGRESS OVERVIEW
The Los Angeles Religious Education Congress continues to grow with each passing year. It remains the largest annual catechetical and liturgical gathering in the world; and it happens every year in Anaheim.
 
Within the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, liturgy is celebrated every Sunday in no fewer than 40 different languages. Living in the gift, promise and spirit of the Second Vatican Council, the L.A. Religious Education Congress liturgies have grown as they have embraced this wonderfully diverse church. Without exaggeration, complimentary reports and reviews come from six of the world’s seven continents. From Gregorian chant to gospel choirs; from Aztec dancers to Vietnamese and African drummers; we’ve worked diligently to inculturate the liturgy to accurately and authentically reflect the church of Los Angeles.
 
The combined talents of nearly 275 musicians comprise the group that provide the music for the final liturgies on Sunday at Congress. Over 16,000 people attend these liturgies. Prior to 1991, the "band" consisted of piano, one percussionist, one guitar, electric bass and a synthesizer. The choir was 16 voices. Over the years, both the choir and band have grown considerably in depth and membership. Today's Congress Band/Orchestra consists of approximately 40 instrumentalists and last year's choir was the largest with over 200 members from six dioceses. Last year, we had nearly 30 students from 6 different colleges and universities singing with us. We’re working hard to include as many talented people as possible in this experience.

John Flaherty
Congress Liturgy Committee
 

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WHAT IS YOUTH DAY?
Youth Day is held annually on the Thursday as an opening to our Religious Education Congress weekend. High school students from many different backgrounds from throughout the Archdiocese – and beyond – come together to participate in an Arena liturgy and keynote along with morning and afternoon workshops.

WHO CAN ATTEND?
Youth Day is designed for all students from public and Catholic schools, grades 9 through 12. NOTE: Students below the 9th grade are not allowed to participate in this event and will be refused admission.

COST
The regular registration priciing for Youth Day 2019 was $40, with special discount pricing of $35 available.

REGISTER
Register online here for both Youth Day individual attendance and group attendance.

MORE?
See the Youth Day page

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since Nov 21, 2002