HISTORICAL FACTS ABOUT THE VIETNAMESE CATHOLIC CENTER

At the end of 1975 there were only about 3,000 Vietnamese Catholic refugees in Orange County, but their number shot up to 7,000 in 1982. Although they could take part in Vietnamese liturgy at nine different churches, they longed for a place of their own for cultural activities. Thus the idea of a Vietnamese Catholic Center in the Diocese of Orange gradually took shape ever since.

On November 25, 1983, the Diocese of Orange acceded to the request of the Vietnamese community by buying an office complex, which consisted of three buildings, to serve as the Vietnamese Catholic Center, right in the city of Santa Ana. The late Bishop William Johnson came and blessed this place on May 5, 1984, and some limited activities began to take place at this new location. In 1987, they acquired an adjacent piece of land west of Harbor Blvd., and in 1989 they added another lot to the center which now spreads over three acres of land

In the beginning of 1990, Msgr. Peter Tien Duc Nguyen, the new director of the Center, approached Bishop Norman F. McFarland, successor of Bishop Johnson, with a plan of building a new center and a fund-raising program. The Bishop graciously accepted the whole initiative and a building committee were set up to carry out the project.

After two years of dealing with architects and with the fund-raising program, Bishop McFarland and his Auxiliary Bishop Michael Driscoll came to officiate the ground-breaking ceremony of the Center in the presence of two thousand people on September 26, 1992.

On June 24, 1994, Bishop Driscoll blessed and inaugurated the right wing building which serves as the big hall of the Center. This hall can accommodate 600 people and is furnished with a modern kitchen to prepare food for social gatherings. The costs of building the hall, the surrounding fence, and the parking lot amounted to $1,500,000.00.

One week later, the contractor started the left wing building. This is a two-floor architecture: the upper floor houses a large library, a media studio, and living quarters for priests; the ground floor is equipped with offices and four sizable classrooms. In addition to the second construction phase, a magnificent gate with a bell tower on top of it was erected. This cost of this phase totaled $1,100,000.00 when it was completed in May 1995.

In July 1995, the third phase was initiated with the construction of a shrine in honor of the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs. This shrine can seat approximately 200 worshippers who come for prayer services and retreats. The sum of $700,000.00 was allocated for this last phase, which is to be finished in May 1996 and dedicated on September 14, 1996.

For ten years (from 1983 to 1993), over 30,000 Vietnamese Catholics in Orange County contributed more than five million dollars to purchase the land and to build this Center. The whole project has been realized through deep conviction of their faith in God and in their traditional values.

From now on, the Vietnamese Catholic Center will be a symbol of their presence in the Diocese of Orange. It is to stand forever as an expression of their Catholic faith and the multi-ethnic legacy of the United States of America.

Pictured from Left to Right:

Trinh Nguyen, Receptionist, Sr. Francesca Tran, Office Manager, Father Joseph Thai Nguyen,

Tina Hoang Pham, Accountant