WASHINGTON -- The Getty Fire that began whipping through mountain communities west of Los Angeles during the early hours of Oct. 28 caused the closure of several local Catholic schools, the evacuation of students and staff at Mount St. Mary's University and a call for the retired sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet to shelter in place.

SANTA ROSA, Calif. -- Bishop Robert F. Vasa informed the Santa Rosa Diocese July 22 that a local pastor was recovering well from surgery for injuries he sustained in a car accident, but he also had to announce the incident had uncovered the priest's "prolonged history of theft."

OAKLAND, Calif. – The Diocese of Oakland, which serves two California counties in the East Bay area, published Feb. 18 a list of priests, deacons and religious brothers who have worked in the diocese and been credibly accused of abuse, dating back to the diocese's founding in 1962.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Cal Fire officials reported that the death toll had reached 77 in the Camp Fire north of Sacramento, one of the deadliest blazes in the state. The number of people who are missing has reached almost 1,000.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – By midday Nov. 16 firefighters had gained more ground in trying to contain the Camp Fire in Northern California, which is north of Sacramento and one of the deadliest blazes in the state.

LOS ANGELES – After a shooting spree late Nov. 7 at a country-music bar in Thousand Oaks, about 40 miles from the heart of Los Angeles, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles asked people to "pray hard" for the victims and their families.

WASHINGTON – To be a voice for victims of clerical sexual abuse, Fr. Brendan McGuire realized he had to come to terms with the abuse he suffered at the hands of a priest when he was 18. It was a secret he had held for 35 years.

San Anselmo, Calif.– Parents are concerned after a California Catholic school has removed several religious statues from its campus in an effort to be more inclusive of other faiths.

SACRAMENTO, Calif – A lawsuit has been filed against a Catholic hospital in California for refusing an elective hysterectomy to a female who identifies as a man and who sought the procedure as part of their sex reassignment.

FRESNO, Calif. – After three men were killed April 18 in a shooting rampage in Fresno by a gunman who was captured and admitted to the shootings, the Diocese of Fresno urged the local Catholic community to "seize this moment as an opportunity to live as people of light not darkness by rejecting the temptation to hate the hater."

SAN JOSE, Calif – A priest in California has been found guilty of diverting $19,000 in donations to his personal account.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – A California Catholic high school did away with future car washes and pizza kit sales March 2 when the $15,000 USD ($20,000) investment it made with Snap Inc., the company that developed the messaging app Snapchat, sold shares to the public and the school stepped into a windfall of at least $24 million USD ($32 million).

LOS ANGELES – The California Catholic bishops are urging voters to support a November ballot initiative that would outlaw the death penalty.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A California judge ruled Aug. 26 that he will not put the state's new assisted-suicide law on hold while a group of doctors are challenging it, but he also ruled that their challenge could continue.

WASHINGTON – A small independent Catholic college in Escondido, California, has joined the opponents of a state law aimed at banning discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students by depriving colleges of state and federal student-aid funds.