Hollywood Beloved: A Catholic Procession on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Hollywood Beloved is a Catholic Eucharistic procession that brings together multiple parishes and Catholic organizations from around Southern California for public worship in the heart of Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.
At the 2016 procession, hundreds of Catholics sung or carried candles in silence while following priests carrying the Eucharist in a monstrance. The procession started from Blessed Sacrament Church on Sunset Boulevard, proceeded up to Hollywood Boulevard, passed sites like Ripley’s Believe It Or Not and the Chinese Theater. It brought participants into contact with tourists, artists in costume, other religious groups and people living on the streets. The procession returned to Blessed Sacrament, a Jesuit parish with a strong homelessness ministry.
The event ended with a praise and worship concert, led in part by El Sembrador Nueva Evanglizacion (The Sower New Evangelization), a charismatic lay Catholic group with a large media presence in Southern California.
Organizers say that in processing through Hollywood, they aim to bring Jesus’ message to a place where people often bring their hopes and dreams, only to see them unfulfilled–the “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”
