Priests & Deacons

Father Viet Peter Ho – the fourth child in a family of eight children – was born in Qui Nhon, Vietnam. In 1984, he and thirty-one others escaped Vietnam by boat; and after six days on the ocean, they were saved by a British petroleum ship, which was on its way to Japan. He began his life as a refugee in Nagasaki, Oita, and Tokyo. He came to Orange County at the end of June 1986. He attended Huntington Beach High School. In the fall of 1991, he entered Saint John Seminary College and was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Orange on June 10, 2000. 
 
Father Viet Peter began his first priestly assignment as a parochial vicar at Saint Callistus in Garden Grove (2000-2004), which was merged into Christ Cathedral in 2012. His second assignment as parochial vicar was at Holy Family Cathedral in Orange (2004-2005). From 2005 to 2008, Bishop Brown sent him to Rome to study canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University (Gregoriana). After obtaining his canon law license in June 2008, he was assigned to be parochial vicar at San Antonio del Cañon in Anaheim; at the same time, he was appointed Defender of the Bond and Adjutant Judicial Vicar for the Office of Canonical Services. In 2010, he was appointed Judge, and subsequently Director of the same Office in 2014. During his full-time work at the Office of Canonical Services, he resided at Christ Our Savior parish in Santa Ana (2010-2013) and at Saint Mary Parish in Fullerton (2013-2017). From October 2016 to June 2017, he was appointed Administrator Pro-Temp for the parish of Saint John Neumann in Irvine. In the fall of 2017, Bishop Vann permitted him to pursue his postgraduate study; he returned to Rome and attended the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas (Angelicum) for his doctoral study in canon law. The Coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) interrupted his studies. On March 24, 2020, he and other priest-students evacuated from Rome and returned to the US, because Italy was the pandemic hot spot at the time. 
 
During this period of uncertainty, while he was waiting to return to Rome to complete his studies, Bishop Vann nominated him to be the next pastor of Saint Polycarp and a part-time Judge/Adjutant Judicial Vicar at the Tribunal and Office of Canonical Services. Shortly after receiving the news of his nomination, he successfully defended his doctoral dissertation on June 22, 2020. He arrived at and began his pastoral ministry of St. Polycarp on July 01, 2020. Bishop Kevin Vann installed him as Pastor on November 29, 2020. 

Fr. Francis Macapagal Ang was born and raised in Anaheim. His first experience of God calling him to the priesthood occurred after his first year of college. Initially on a pre-med track, he realized he did not want to remain in school for such an extended period. This led him to pursue nursing, a path inspired by his mother, a nurse herself, where he could combine his love for science, medicine, and mathematics with a deep desire to help people.

After graduating from nursing school in Las Vegas with his Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), Fr. Francis moved back home and began working at St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach. It was there, while confronting the profound realities of pain, suffering, and death, that he began to experience a deeper calling to the priesthood.

Still hesitant to leave his life and career behind to enter the seminary, he chose to further his education instead, returning to graduate school to earn a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) in Nursing Administration.

Ultimately, realizing he could no longer run away from God’s call, Fr. Francis entered the seminary to formally discern the priesthood. Sustained by the prayers of his family, friends, and the love of God’s holy people, he attended St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo from 2019 to 2026, where he earned a Master of Arts in Theology and was ordained to the priesthood. Fr. Francis has one younger brother who is also in the seminary discerning God’s call to the priesthood. 

Watch his Vocation Story below.

Fr. Francis Vocation Story

Hello! My name is Eddie Huber, and I am a Seminarian with the Diocese of Orange assigned to St. Polycarp for the next 6 months as my pastoral internship. The pastoral internship is an opportunity for a seminarian to take some time in a Parish to learn the rhythm of life for a Diocesan Priest, and it is a gift to be able to spend this special time here with you all. 

Before my time in seminary, I worked as a teacher, campus minister, and soccer coach at Servite High School. After working there for 6 years, I responded to the Lord’s persistent invitation to discern the priesthood and have now completed 4 years of seminary formation. My time in seminary has been filled with countless blessings that have deepened my relationship with God and helped me understand the Christian life.

I have been greatly looking forward to this time of internship at a parish, and I cannot wait to jump into the life here at St. Polycarp and learn frm you all. Thank you to everyone for already welcoming me into your community, and I cannot wait to see the ways the Lord is going to move this semester. A life with Christ is a wonderful adventure, and I am so happy that God has brought me here to you.

Deacon Ramiro has been in the parish since 1969. Prior to becoming a deacon he participated in choir, lectored at Mass, and was a catechist for the teen Confirmation program. He was an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, sacristan, and Knights of Columbus Grand Knight. He was ordained in 2003 to the permanent diaconate. As an ordained deacon, he assists with Funerals and Quinceañeras, officiates weddings, and performs infant baptisms. He is also involved in Bereavement ministry.

My wife June and I joined St. Polycarp Parish in the early 1990s and we brought with us four children, three boys, and one girl.  We became active parishioners when a desperate DRE allowed June to register our children late to SRE if June would agree to teach the 4th graders.  I came home from work that evening and June informed me that I would be teaching the 4th grade SRE.  I never imagined I would be hearing those words that day, but after saying “yes” there was no turning back.  About ten years later, June and I joined the Diaconate formation class of 2009 and I was ordained a permanent deacon on May 16, 2009.  June and I have been serving St. Polycarp Church and the outlying community in many capacities ever since.

Deacon Tri Kim Do was ordained on October 17th, 2017. At the beginning, he did not pursue to be a deacon, but he believed in God’s plan. He may not know or understand God’s wisdom, but he believed and trusted in His will. It is also how he pursued God and followed Him.

His parents had three girls and three boys. As the youngest, his parents, sisters, and brothers pampered and loved him. His faith and spirituality were changed drastically after he escaped his country and left his loved ones in Saigon, Vietnam. He was sponsored by Lutheran Church in Garden Grove, California. Everything was new to him in America. He never stopped praying every morning and night or stopped going to Sunday Mass although his life was a struggle. He came to confide in Mary, Mother of God because he believed Mary would intercede for him, and he believed that God would provide for him whatever he asked. God’s gift for him is that he has a happy family with a loving wife, Yen Ngoc Nguyen, and four wonderful children, Joseph, Mary, Noel, and Matthew. He finished 5 years of college, studying for Computer Science and Mathematics at Golden West College and California State Long Beach University.

A deacon is a wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit to help our Church evangelize about Jesus Christ. Usually, deacons are most visible in the parish, exercising what we call their ‘alb ministry’, as they assist the priest at Mass. Most deacons are married. God wants to provide a witness to the spirituality of a married person who works in the world. He wants them to serve as a model to the local church through the character of his life as well as through his involvement in different ministries. The desire and willingness to live the life of a servant is God’s will. He tries to demonstrate to others that a servant of God is inherently humble and works with a spirit of simple and effective service. “Do small things with great love” – St. Teresa Calcutta

My name is Juan Ochoa, born in the state of Michoacán, Mexico. I came to the USA in 1980 along with my older brother Jose and my younger sister Ana. We joined my parents Lionel and Irma Ochoa, whom were already here in San José, California. Years later, God blessed our family with two younger brothers Lionel and Tony. I lived in San José until I was 19 years of age. I then met who is now my soul partner in life, my wife Esmeralda Ochoa. Thanks to God she has accompanied me through tough and good, through happiness and sorrow and we have received the blessings of four wonderful gifts from God, my sons Lionel, Juan, Jonathan and a beautiful daughter Erika. My wife and I lived our encounter with God through a Spiritual retreat through Jóvenes Para Cristo in 1997. At that time we were only married through civil law – two years afterward we were married at St. Polycarp. Since then we have been serving in this parish, with JPC for eight years. After those years of service, we felt the calling to work with the youth through the DMA Spanish youth group whom I had the blessing of coordinating for like eight years and I continue serving with them. In 2018, Father Michael Saint Paul invited my wife and I to discern and join the Diaconate program. After a period of discernment, we decided to join in 2019. Going through the process, learning and preparing for what was to come, I learned to love God in a more deeper way realizing that what I was doing is practically what I’m doing now, and that is serving my Lord through all those people that I encounter. I am so grateful for so many people that have helped with their prayers, and for their accompaniment with me and my wife to be where we’re at now. I know that if I start mentioning people by name, I will forget some and I do not want that to happen, just know that all of you who have embraced this and were a part for this to be possible – with all your help and prayers, know that you are deeply Loved, that we will forever keep you in our hearts, minds and in our prayers. I have always found joy in helping and serving and I guess God saw this in me. All those gifts and talents that he has given me, I do want to multiply them, so I continue to ask for your help for this mission to be fulfilled. “Please help me to serve you.”