Longford cathedral welcomes visiting congregation from St Mel's, Woodhills, California

Fr Steve Davoren, brought a contingent of his congregation all the way from from St Mel's Parish, Woodhills, California on a trip and pilgrimage to Ireland.
While in this country, they attended the celebration of Mass in Longford's St Mel's Cathedral.

Father Steve was previously a police officer in LA, for eight years.
He saw his fair share of violence, even having been shot at during the LA riots. His grandparents are both from Ireland, grandfather from Dublin and grandmother from County Cork.
They both settled in San Francisco, having six children of which Father Steve was one.

Fr Steve, seeing all the troubles and questioning life, the futility of materiality, there had to be more to life, thought of marriage but found his calling in the priesthood. St Mel's in California first opened its doors on May 18, 1958, and like St Mel's Cathedral it suffered its own challenges when an earthquake did severe damage on January 17, 1996.

They raised over 5 million dollars for repairs and was rededicated on March 10, 1996.