Following months of planning during the Jubilee Year, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles kicked off 2026 with a new look and a new headquarters.
Sister Anncarla Costello, chancellor for the archdiocese, told Angelus that both the new logo and the new chancery space, located less than two miles west of the building that housed the Archdiocesan Catholic Center (ACC) for the last 28 years, represented a look to the future after a Jubilee Year that began with the devastating January fires in Southern California.
“If ever we needed to see hope rising, I think the hope of this new start for us gave people something to look forward to,” said Costello.
A new logo that tells a story
The new branding, which includes an updated logo, uses a color palette that includes gold and crimson shades drawn from the mandorla of rays visible in the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico.
The new logo maintains key elements from past archdiocesan designs: a mission bell inspired by Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, angel wings symbolizing the archdiocese’s namesake, and a flower resembling the Castilian rose given by Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego.
Together, the design elements form what resembles a church window, a form of “a visual theology” that “exists not simply for aesthetics, but to tell our faith story,” said Sarah Yaklic, chief digital officer for the archdiocese. “We are a Church that remembers its roots, engages the present, and moves forward on mission.”
Yaklic, who led the creative process behind the refreshed design, told Angelus that the primary motivation behind the update was “not change for its own sake,” but an opportunity to express “where the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is today while remaining deeply anchored in our faith, history, and mission.”
The chancery goes west
Employees spent part of the 2025-26 holiday break transitioning from the old ACC building, located on Wilshire Blvd. and Mariposa Ave. in LA’s Koreatown area, to another building on Wilshire 1.5 miles to the west in Hancock Park. The ACC had occupied the Koreatown building since 1997. Following a 2007 settlement with victims of clergy sexual abuse, the archdiocese sold the building but remained there by leasing back several floors from the buyer.
Unlike the Koreatown building, the new six-floor leased location is occupied solely by the archdiocese. Employees officially began work on Wednesday, Jan. 14. Two other departments, the Metropolitan Marriage Tribunal and the Office of Vocations, relocated in early 2025 from Koreatown to the Annex of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Silver Lake.
While smaller in space than the previous ACC, the new space contains several features its predecessor did not: 22 meeting and conference rooms, phone and wellness rooms, and two employee meal lounge areas.
Costello and her team spent more than two years planning the transition, which involved numerous blueprint revisions and later, permitting delays. The ultimate goal, she said, was to create a space “worthy of the ministry and the ministers that work here.”
“We always talked in terms of ministry, not terms of work,” said Costello. “We wanted it to be a place where people could feel at home, feel comfortable, feel acknowledged, and feel proud of what they were doing.”
As part of the move, pews, a tabernacle, and artwork from the former ACC’s chapel were brought to the new building’s sixth floor and installed in a new chapel space with north-facing windows, offering stunning views of the Hollywood Hills. The chapel will host daily Mass on weekdays for ACC employees.
“It’s the heart of the building, it’s the heart of our people,” said Costello.
Before the move-in, a benefactor helped arrange the delicate transfer and installation of stained-glass windows designed and created by the late Isabel Piczek (1927-2016) that adorned the chapel on the seventh floor of the Koreatown building.
Costello noted with irony that the first agreement with the new building’s owner about the future move began the week before Christmas 2023. Two years later, the final permit for the move-in was granted that same week in 2025.
“It was almost like things came full circle,” said Costello. “This building is in a sense a kind of Christmas present to us.”
