Rev. Greg Walgenbach

Supply Priest

Greetings in our Lord Jesus Christ! My name is Fr. Gregory Walgenbach and I am grateful for the opportunity to assist at St. Bonaventure beginning in July 2025. For my full-time assignment, I serve as Director of both the Office of Life, Justice, and Peace and the Mission Office (serving The Pontifical Mission Societies) for the Diocese of Orange.

I was ordained in June of 2024 through what is known as the Pastoral Provision, having formerly been an Anglican priest, and I am married with four children (my family remain parishioners at St. Philip Benizi in Fullerton; we live in West Anaheim). I have a Ph.D. in theology and this past year was assisting priest at St. Anne Parish in Santa Ana. Beginning in July, I will be assisting here at St. Bonaventure, Huntington Beach, and at St. Joachim, Costa Mesa, while my full-time assignment remains my diocesan work.

My diocesan assignments fit my passion for evangelization and mission through the proclamation of the Gospel in word and deed and living out a consistent ethic of life. As Pope Francis asked early in his papacy in an homily for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, “How do I live the Eucharist?” I am inspired by our new Pope Leo XIV’s words: “Brothers and sisters, this is the hour for love! The heart of the Gospel is the love of God that makes us brothers and sisters.”

Please introduce yourself to me when you see me. I look forward to meeting you! I understand there will be questions about the Pastoral Provision, as a married, diocesan priest is a rare exception. I am the first one for the Diocese of Orange, although Bishop Vann has been the Ecclesiastical Delegate for the Pastoral Provision nationally for many years. Several rites in communion with the Catholic Church (Byzantine, Maronite, etc.) permit married men to become priests, whereas the Latin Rite (the most widely practiced) follows the discipline of celibacy. Pope St. John Paul II began the Pastoral Provision and you can learn more about it at rcbo.org/priesthood. I look forward to serving the community of St. Bonaventure.

Rev. Oliver Coughlin

Parochial Vicar

Greetings all! I am delighted to be assigned to St. Bonaventure beginning in July 2025 for my first assignment after priesthood ordination. Here’s a little bit about myself.

I was born and raised in Orange County into a large Catholic family. I have six siblings, 4 sisters and 2 brothers. I attended different parishes growing up, including La Purisima in Orange when Fr. Vincent Pham was pastor! Prior to entering the seminary, I studied Philosophy and Law and worked briefly in the legal profession. In 2018-19, I began discerning a vocation to the diocesan priesthood and entered St. John’s Seminary in the Fall of 2020. Eucharistic adoration and the daily rosary were crucial to my discernment of the priesthood.

I can’t wait to meet you all and I ask for your prayers. Please count on my prayers for you.

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The Most Reverend
 Thanh Thai Nguyen, D.D.

In Residence

Bishop Nguyen was born in Nha Trang, Vietnam in 1953 and is the second oldest of eight boys and three girls. He spent most of his elementary education in Catholic schools and in 1966 he entered St. Joseph Seminary, a small diocesan institute in Vietnam. His seminary formation was interrupted when the communist government took over the Country in 1975. Bishop-elect Nguyen and other seminarians were forced into hard labor in the rice fields to be allowed to continue their studies.

In 1979 after suffering religious persecution, Bishop Nguyen along with 26 members of his extended family boarded a small motorboat and slipped out of Cam Ranh Bay – headed for the Philippines and safety. The family was soon engulfed by a tropical storm and spent 18 days at sea, several with no food or water. The family prayed the Rosary together each morning and evening. All 26 of them, through the Grace of God, arrived safely in the Philippines. After 10 months in a refugee camp the family left Manila in June of 1980 for their new life in Beaumont, Texas.

Upon arriving in the United States, Bishop Nguyen’s vocational calling continued to draw him toward God. He worked at Catholic Charities in Hartford, Connecticut before returning to his academics at Merrimack College in N. Andover, where he earned a Bachelor’s of Arts degree. After two years of study he graduated Cum Laude and immediately began his novitiate year in Washington D.C. and took his first vows with the La Salette Order in 1987. Bishop Nguyen graduated from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology, Cambridge, Massachusetts in May 1990 and was ordained on May 11, 1991.

Bishop Nguyen was later incardinated into the Diocese of St. Augustine, Florida where he served at St. Joseph parish from 2013 until his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Orange. Bishop Nguyen is well known by parishioners for his love of music and skill in playing the guitar. He is also an avid tennis player. Click here to view Bishop Nguyen’s Coat of Arms.

To connect with Auxiliary Bishop Thanh, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sr. Carmel Lynch, PVBM

(formerly Sr. Raphael)

ROSARY VIGIL will take place at St. Bonaventure Church
on Friday, December 9, 2022 at 8:00 p.m.

View Livestream.

FUNERAL will take place at St. Bonaventure Church
on Saturday, December 10, 2022 at 12:00 p.m.

View Livestream.

BURIAL will take place at All  Souls Cemetery, Long Beach
on Saturday, December 10, 2022 at 3:00 p.m.

 

Livestream of services will be available at: youtube.com/stbonaventurehb

Download Memorial Worship Aide

View a Memorial Slideshow a lifetime of photos of Sr. Carmel Lynch

 

It is with deep sadness and with hope in the Risen Lord that the Presentation Sisters announce the death of Sister Carmel Lynch, PBVM, who died peacefully surrounded by her community on November 16, 2022 at Regina Residence, Orange, CA. We thank God for her 64 years of faithful dedicated service as a Presentation Sister. 

Sister Carmel Lynch, beloved founding principal of St. Bonaventure School, was born on September 23, 1931 to Michael and Mary Lynch in Kells, Co. Meath, Ireland. One of a family of eight, four brothers and three sisters, she grew up on a farm and loved the simple country lifestyle. 

After completing her education, she moved to Dublin where she got a comfortable government job and enjoyed her work.  But she wanted something more and she felt God calling her to be a Presentation Sister.

She answered the call to Religious Life by joining the Presentation Sisters. Her strong zeal and compassion for working with the poor led her to Pakistan where she worked for five years. She loved the missionary life as a Presentation Sister.  God next asked her to make a U-turn and come to California.  Sr. Carmel and three other Sisters started St. Irenaeus School in Cypress in 1963, thus beginning the presence of the Presentation Sisters in Orange County. 

Two years later she was assigned to St. Norbert School in Orange. In 1966, Sr. Raphael, as she was then known, was appointed the founding principal of St. Bonaventure School. She and Monsignor Michael Duffy, the founding pastor of St. Bonaventure Church, together set the direction that put the school on a path of academic excellence that continues to the present day. 

In 1968 she was assigned to St. Irenaeus School where she was principal for five years. In 1972 she returned as principal of St. Bonaventure School. In 1985 Sr. Carmel took a Sabbatical Year in Rome. When she returned to California, she taught at St. Robert School in San Bruno. 

From 1990 to 1994 Sister Carmel became Director of Religious Education at St. Norbert Parish, Orange.  

Sr. Carmel returned as principal to St. Bonaventure School in 1994. During that time an Endowment Fund for the school was initiated, a new administration building and the Duffy Center were added. The school also earned the 2006 National Blue Ribbon Award presented in Washington D.C. Sr. Carmel served as principal at St. Bonaventure for a total of twenty-nine years. In 2008 she retired after many years of faithful, dedicated service to Catholic education. She felt she had given her all to the school and was happy to hand over the school to lay administration who would faithfully carry on the vision and mission of the Presentation Sisters.

Sr. Carmel endeared herself to all who knew her and was revered as a gracious, caring, kind and compassionate person. She truly loved the students and wanted the very best for each of them. Her concern for the faculty was very evident. Many times, around 4:00 p.m. she would walk down the hallways and if any teacher was still working in her classroom, Sr. Carmel would say, “Go home to your family.” Staff always felt that they did not work for Sr. Carmel, rather they worked with Sr. Carmel and they called themselves the “Carmelites”!

Sr. Carmel had a California Teaching Credential, a Master’s Degree in Education and a Master’s Degree in School Administration from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Sr. Carmel is predeceased by her parents Michael and Mary Lynch, and by her brothers and sisters. She is survived and missed by her sister, Alacoque Lynch, Dublin, Ireland and by her nieces and nephews, and the Presentation Sisters. Sr. Carmel influenced so many lives and she will be forever remembered for her love, compassion, understanding, listening heart, kindness, faith, loyalty, charm and generosity.

 

In lieu of flowers, gifts in Sr. Carmel’s memory may be sent to:

Presentation Sisters Retirement Fund
16441 Bradbury Lane
Huntington Beach, CA 92647

Bill Beam

Deacon

 

Coming Soon!

John Davies

Deacon

John Davies was ordained a Deacon for the Diocese of Orange on October 17, 2015. John and his wife Raquel attended all formation classes and retreats together in preparation for ordination. John is a physical therapist working in Huntington Beach and Raquel is a second-grade elementary school teacher for Long Beach Unified School District. They live in Los Alamitos and have one daughter, Maryann, who began her second year of medical school in Arizona. John and Raquel are very happy to have St. Bonaventure as their new parish home.

Joe Sullivan

Deacon

I want to thank so many people at Saint Bonaventure who have encouraged me and helped me to get to this point. I have drawn a lot of strength and hope and inspiration from people I have worked alongside over the years in our parish.
One highlight has been working to promote Respect for Life in various ways, especially running the annual Life-a-thon through which our students raise money to benefit the Life Center, and seeing loving volunteers step up and support our local Crisis Pregnancy Centers.

Another has been meeting so many wonderful teachers, leaders and faithful families at our parish school and in our Religious Education and Confirmation programs. Still another has been the wonderful brotherhood I have experienced in the Knights of Columbus, as they work in fellowship to defend the faith, support seminarians and serve the disabled of Orange County.
I realize that a significant part of my formation for the Diaconate has been accomplished by friends in small faith-sharing groups, fellow lectors and Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharistic, and especially those who faithfully take Holy Communion to the sick and homebound.

Of course I will always be thankful for my friends in the Bereavement group and others who ministered to me and my family when our boy Jimmy passed away. I also owe special thanks to the Deacon couples who have encouraged, advised and mentored me for many years at Saint Bonaventure — Lou and Marian Merandi (RIP), Matt and Patti Calabrese, Jim and Sharon Andersen, and Scott and Julie Ford.

I look forward to being fully configured to Christ the Servant, and to bringing back the graces I receive in the Sacrament of Holy Orders to Saint Bonaventure. Please pray for me and my wife, Barbara, as we approach this wonderful day, and we will keep you in our prayers as well!

Rev. Vincent H. Pham

Pastor

Fr. Vincent Hung Pham was born in 1968 to a traditional Catholic family of 8 children, He is the third oldest of 6 boys and 2 girls. In 1984, his parents made a very difficult decision to send him away to seek freedom. The 7-day journey across the Pacific Ocean was life-and-death, and by God’s providence, he survived. He then spent the next 8 months in various refugee camps in Indonesia to get ready for a new life in the United States. Fr. Vincent got here in 1985 at only 17 years old, broke, and had no English. He managed to graduate from Santa Ana Valley High School in 1988. From there, he went to St. John’s Seminary College in Camarillo, CA, for 5 years and continued for another 4 years in theology. Fr. Vincent was ordained in 1997 by Bishop Norman McFarland.

For the past 26 years, he has served as parochial vicar at St. Polycarp, St. Barbara, and St. Norbert. In 2006, he was blessed in a special way to be appointed as pastor of the La Purisima Parish. After six years there, he then spent the next two years at the Graduate Theological Union of Berkeley and three more years at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He came back and served two years at St. Timothy Parish, and the last four years at the Vietnamese Catholic Center.

Fr. Vincent has moved a lot, and he says it is always his way of serving, “Not asking to go and not asking to stay.” He likes to leave it entirely up to the Bishop, and this time, the Bishop sent me to this wonderful community. Fr. Vincent says "As I begin my ministry here, I pray that I will be received as one of your members, and I will receive you as my family members. That is how we all respond to Jesus’ message in today’s Gospel, “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.""

For the past 26 years as a parish priest, Fr. Vincent has always enjoyed celebrating the sacraments, giving short homilies, meeting parishioners, visiting the school, and helping out different ministries in the parish. One of his ministerial strengths is to promote the stewardship way of life. In addition to all of these “churchy” ministries, Fr. Vincent also enjoys going to the gym daily. If you see him at Crunch Fitness, do not hesitate to come by and say “Hi.” He is looking forward to serving the spiritual needs at St. Bonaventure Parish under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. May God bless you all.