ORANGE (CA)
The Orange County Register
By DOUG IRVING and DANIEL LANGHORNE / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
ORANGE – The incoming bishop of the Diocese of Orange, a North Texas priest with the Virgin of Guadalupe stitched into his boots, promised to “love you and do my best to serve you” as he was introduced Friday.
Fort Worth Bishop Kevin Vann will succeed Bishop Tod D. Brown, who turned 75 last year and, following tradition, offered his resignation to the Vatican. Pope Benedict XVI announced on Friday that Vann would become the fourth bishop of Orange County’s 36-year-old diocese.
Vann said he sees similarities between Orange County and his diocese in North Texas, especially the fast pace of its growth and its diversity. In introducing him as the new bishop, the Diocese of Orange highlighted his work to encourage immigration reform. He also oversaw the construction in Texas of one of the largest Catholic churches in the nation to serve a Vietnamese congregation.
Vann takes over the tenth-largest and fastest-growing diocese in the country and will oversee the development of the Crystal Cathedral into a Catholic cathedral. He also enters a diocese that has struggled for more than a decade with a clergy sex-abuse scandal.
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