For the Diocese of Orange Community, 2023 was another busy year marked by events large and small, milestones reached and, in one parish’s case, an achievement long overdue. It was a year of renewal and a sense of greater normalcy following the years-long disruptions of the pandemic.
It also marked the celebration of life for a bishop whose contributions to Orange were historic, courageous and invaluable.
Take some time to enjoy this recap of the past year, 2023, in the Diocese of Orange.
SWALLOWS DAY PARADE RETURNS
The Swallows Day Parade returned to the streets around Mission San Juan Capistrano on March 25. The 63rd parade was again in full form after pandemic delays. The event had several Catholic groups from Mission Basilica, Mission Basilica School and others participating.
The Swallows Day Parade started as an outgrowth of a school carnival in the 1930s that was held to celebrate the return of the swallows to Mission San Juan Capistrano. It later evolved into an equestrian parade.
The legend of the swallows is also tied to the Catholic Church, when, in the early 20th century, Fr. John O’Sullivan invited the swallows to shelter in the Mission. Ever since, the historic church has been the subject of popular legend and even pop culture.
THE SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH OF ORANGE GAVE A HARD HAT TOUR OF THE NEW AFFORDABLE HOUSING SITE ON JUNE 6. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH OF ORANGE
ST. JOSEPH SISTERS HELP O.C. WITH NEW AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Construction began in earnest this year on Villa St. Joseph, a $37-million affordable-housing community being built in the former Motherhouse on the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange campus in Orange. The sisters gave a hard hat tour of the site on June 6, explaining how the project next year will transform their former Batavia Street home into 50 new apartment-style homes with onsite supportive services. Eighteen of the apartments will be reserved for seniors impacted by homelessness.
“It’s just a wonderful day,” said Sr. Mary Beth, who used to live in the Motherhouse. “We’ve turned a corner from planning to action and things are moving ahead. The sisters are very excited to share their home, a place they love, with those who are most in need, those people who have no home, have no place to lay their head.”
CULMINATION CONCERT FOR THE YEAR OF HAZEL
The Diocese hosted a year of concerts to celebrate Christ Cathedral’s restored Hazel Wright Organ that demonstrated the sheer breadth and power of the 17,000-pipe organ, but the final concert on June 20 topped them all. More than 1,500 came to enjoy the Pacific Symphony, Pacific Chorale and Grammy Award-winning organist Paul Jacobs for a spectacular night of music. The evening included a new work, “Fiat Lux” by Scottish composer James MacMillan with text by California poet Dana Gioia, whose lyrics refer to Christ Cathedral.
ST. CALLISTUS CHAPEL AND CRYPTS BREAK GROUND
The OLLV Foundation and Christ Cathedral hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on July 5 for the St. Callistus Chapel and Crypts project. Bishop Kevin Vann presided over the blessing for the modern Byzantine-style chapel, which will contain about 12,500 square feet and is scheduled to be completed in summer 2024. The crypts will have burial spaces for the Bishops of Orange and niches for all the faithful.
The space in the cathedral undercroft is named after the St. Callistus parish in Garden Grove that closed in 2013 as part of the cathedral property sale to the Diocese of Orange the year prior.
MARIAN DAYS GROWS IN SECOND YEAR
The second annual Marian Days on July 14 and 15 grew this year, drawing an estimated 25,000 people to three outdoor Masses and a procession that went out onto the streets. The festival-like celebration brought together many Catholics from around the region, particularly from the Vietnamese community, for Adoration, prayer, guest speakers, processions, food, dancers and entertainment. This year’s theme was “With Mary, We Journey.”
“These past days have been a testament to the beauty and power of our shared faith,” said Bishop Kevin Vann. “Throughout Marian Days we have dealt deep into the core tenets of our beliefs, exploring the profound teachings that guide our lives and give us purpose … we are reminded that with Mary, the mother of our God, Our Lady of La Vang, we journey together, believing that she will lead us to her Son.”
NEW CATHOLIC SCHOOL OPENS IN SANTA ANA
Cristo Rey Orange County High School opened its doors for the first time on Aug. 14. The new Catholic high school campus in Santa Ana is part of the Cristo Rey Network of nearly 40 campuses nationwide. Cristo Rey exclusively serves students who would otherwise be unable to afford a Catholic, college preparatory high school.
The students’ work study earnings and family tuition payments cover about half the cost of their education, with generous donors bridging the gap.
Cristo Rey Orange County is starting with a founding freshman class, adding one more class each year as it grows. Unique for the school is its Corporate Work Study Program. Cristo Rey Orange County is a Diocese of Orange-recognized Catholic school with approval from Bishop Kevin Vann and with separate governance.
ANNIVERSARIES THROUGHOUT THE DIOCESE
Several parishes and other institutions in our Diocese celebrated milestone anniversaries this year, the greatest of which was the 100th anniversary of St. Anne Catholic Church, established in 1923 in Santa Ana. On Sept. 2 and 3, parishioners and clergy there celebrated with music from their school’s mariachi band, food, a solemn procession led by deacons, and Mass with Bishop Kevin Vann and Bishop Timothy Freyer.
Other sites also celebrated milestones in 2023: St. Pius V in Buena Park (75 years), Holy Family in Seal Beach (60 years), the St. John Paul II Polish Center in Yorba Linda (40 years) and JSerra Catholic High School (20 years). Congratulations to all!
ST. JOACHIM CATHOLIC PARISH HOSTED A BLESSING CEREMONY FOR ITS NEW RESTROOMS ON SEPT. 22. PHOTO BY DREW KELLEY/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
MOMENTOUS YEAR FOR ST. JOACHIM PARISH
St. Joachim Catholic Church and its parish school had a banner year in more ways than one. On Sept. 22, the community hosted a blessing ceremony for its new restrooms — a long-overdue facility for the Costa Mesa parish. The $1-million restroom project, which was years in the making and aided with funds from neighboring parishes, will help the busy church keep up with its parishioners’ needs. Before, its 1960s-era building only had two unisex, single-stall restrooms. The new facilities now have more than a dozen stalls.
In addition, on Oct. 20 Bishop Kevin Vann blessed and opened the Sister Kathleen Marie Learning Center. The center is named after Sr. Kathleen Marie Pughe, CSJ, a former principal who lived in a small house next to St. Joachim Catholic School until her tragic death in 2022. Her old house was repurposed into a library that will serve generations of students to come.
BISHOP EMERITUS TOD DAVID BROWN PASSED AWAY ON OCT. 15 AT THE AGE OF 86. PHOTO BY RENNE ENRIQUEZ/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
FORMER BISHOP OF ORANGE PASSES INTO ETERNAL LIFE
Bishop Emeritus Tod David Brown passed away on Oct. 15 at the age of 86. He led the Diocese of Orange from 1998 to 2012 — a momentous time in its history, namely for the purchase of the Crystal Cathedral campus in Garden Grove after its ministry fell into bankruptcy. The sprawling 34-acre property, home to the popular “Hour of Power” broadcast, later became Christ Cathedral following a years-long transformation that culminated with the cathedral’s solemn dedication on July 17, 2019.
Bishop Brown was regarded as a collaborative leader who hired women to key Diocesan leadership positions. Orange County parishes also saw boosted Mass attendance and an increasingly diverse Catholic population.
“Bishop Brown gave so much of himself to us,” Msgr. Wilbur Davis, a longtime friend of Bishop Brown, said during the Oct. 30 funeral. “He was an easy person to be with. He was gentle, kind, thoughtful. He was also clear-minded, objective and strategic. He knew how to be a really good human being… he also knew the ways of prayer. He was a devout man.”
THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE HOSTED THE I AM DIOCESAN EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS ON OCT. 20 AND 21. PHOTO BY RENNE ENRIQUEZ/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS BRINGS ENTIRE DIOCESE TOGETHER
The Diocese of Orange hosted the I AM Diocesan Eucharistic Congress on Oct. 20 and 21, an event that brought 6,000 parishioners from throughout our Diocese to the Christ Cathedral campus for fellowship, worship, prayer speakers and more. The congress that was part of the National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year grassroots revival of devotion and belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. I AM also included youth activities, live music, a procession from Holy Family parish in Orange, and processions around the campus. Events were presented in English, Spanish and Vietnamese, reflecting the diverse Catholic cultural communities of Orange County.
“There’s no greater gift that we could ever have been given than the gift of salvation that comes from the Eucharist,” said Bishop Timothy Freyer during Saturday’s opening Mass.
Various events built anticipation before I AM, such as a youth camp-out in March and a series of street processions. One of them, on Sept. 23 and 24, had routes beginning at St. Thomas More, Our Lady of Peace Korean Center, St. John Neumann and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. Participants from across Orange County came together to walk alongside Jesus and share God’s presence.