JARRYD GONZALES
BRADLEY ZINT

OFFICE
(714) 282-3075
(714) 282-6052

EMAIL
[email protected]
[email protected]

Download conceptual photos of the St. Callistus Chapel and Crypts.

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (Nov. 18, 2022) — The OLLV Foundation is pleased to announce that it has raised $1 million in its first month of operations. The funds will go toward the $12-million St. Callistus Chapel and Crypts project, to be located in the Christ Cathedral undercroft.

The OLLV Foundation, an independent nonprofit that started in October to help manage major Christ Cathedral construction projects for the Diocese of Orange, has secured about 25 donors so far. Its first donation was $350,000 from a parishioner family from St. Callistus Catholic Church in Garden Grove, a parish that closed in 2013 as part of the Crystal Cathedral sale to the Diocese of Orange. St. Callistus families moved to form the initial congregation of Christ Cathedral, and the chapel was named after the parish in their honor.

Three other large donors — two giving $100,000 each and another pledging $150,000 — gave their pledges during a special media day on Nov. 9 hosted by the OLLV Foundation. The presentation discussed the vision for the St. Callistus Chapel and Crypts and the second construction phase for the cathedral campus' Our Lady of La Vang Shrine, another project under the foundation's management purview.

“These amazing donations are a show of confidence in the future of the St. Callistus Chapel project and demonstrate the enthusiasm that our Orange County community has for another beautiful worship space at Christ Cathedral,” said Elysabeth Nguyen, OLLV Foundation chief executive and board chairwoman.

“This is a very encouraging update,” added Fr. Angelos Sebastian, an OLLV Foundation board member, vicar general of the Diocese of Orange and pastor of St. Kilian parish in Mission Viejo. “We are grateful for Elysabeth's leadership and commitment to this beautiful cause. God bless the OLLV Foundation team, our board and our generous donors in this initial fundraising phase.”

The St. Callistus Chapel will have space for about 250 people, new sacred artwork and a new organ by Rosales Organ Builders. It will be designed to host small weddings and baptisms.

The chapel will also contain crypts for generations of bishops. 

The project is being co-designed in a modern Byzantine style by the architectural firm Johnson Fain and the Diocese’s Sacred Arts Committee.