US Bishop Changes: Orange, Fort Worth, Rochester

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This morning the Holy See announced the decision of Pope Benedict XVI to accept the retirement of Bishop Tod David Brown and to name Bishop Kevin William Vann as the new Bishop of Orange in California, USA.

Bishop Vann had been serving as Bishop of Fort Worth, Texas.

In addition, the retirement of Bishop Matthew Harvey Clark as Bishop of Rochester, New York was accepted, but no replacement was immediately named.
 
I hope the Rochester see doesn’t remain vacant long. Adding it to my prayers.
 
Corki said:
I hope the Rochester see doesn’t remain vacant long. Adding it to my prayers.
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Bishop Cunningham of Syracuse is going to be our administrator until a new Bishop is named. It is going to be a very interesting time in the Diocese of Rochester.
 
Oneofthewomen said:
Bishop Cunningham of Syracuse is going to be our administrator until a new Bishop is named. It is going to be a very interesting time in the Diocese of Rochester.
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Syracuse and Rochester are pretty close together. Do they really need two separate dioceses? I would think one Bishop could handle it.

Sometimes the various sizes of US dioceses doesn’t make sense to me.
 
Oneofthewomen said:
Bishop Cunningham of Syracuse is going to be our administrator until a new Bishop is named. It is going to be a very interesting time in the Diocese of Rochester.
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Oh, it’s going to be VERY interesting. Considering the two bishops are quite different in many ways. I go to college in DC at CUA but I’m from Rochester and when the new bishop gets installed, I am driving at 150 MPH to get home for that. No way would I miss that.
 
ringil said:
Syracuse and Rochester are pretty close together. Do they really need two separate dioceses? I would think one Bishop could handle it.

Sometimes the various sizes of US dioceses doesn’t make sense to me.
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That is a very good thought. Having Bishop Cunningham of Syracuse serving as administrator may offer him a chance to judge if a single bishop is practical.
 
AnotherVoice said:
That is a very good thought. Having Bishop Cunningham of Syracuse serving as administrator may offer him a chance to judge if a single bishop is practical.
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It wouldn’t make much sense though to have the seat in Syracuse. Rochester is twice the size of Syracuse and has a lot more people in the surrounding county.
 
fwdioc.org/Documents/bv-announcement/english_pr_9-21-12.pdf

I logged onto Facebook upon coming home from work today and saw that we are losing our Bishop to Orange California. To those of you who may be in his new diocese, the article above does not lie, Bishop Vann is universally loved here and I am sorry to lose him. Among his many achievements is his strong role in the Pastoral Provision of bringing formerly Anglican parishes into the Catholic Church as well as providing significant assistance with the new Ordinariate. In his time as Bishop, the diocese grew 80% and like Orange, CA, we have a large Hispanic population as well as a large Vietnamese population. Bishop Vann was very instrumental in getting the Vietnamese Dominican Sisters to come to the diocese just recently. I think he will be a very good fit for the make up of that area.

I quite literally am tearing up as I write this. You are getting a good man.

Bishop Vann’s letter announcing the change: fwdioc.org/Documents/bv-announcement/english_bishop_statement-9-21-12.pdf

Here is Bishop Vann’s blog: fwbishop.blogspot.com/

No word yet that I have seen on who our new Bishop will be.
 
ringil said:
Syracuse and Rochester are pretty close together. Do they really need two separate dioceses? I would think one Bishop could handle it.

Sometimes the various sizes of US dioceses doesn’t make sense to me.
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I don’t see how, on patristic principles, dioceses can reasonably be larger than an American county.

A bishop is supposed to be the pastor of a local, particular church. I get that from early times (maybe the very beginning) there have been several congregations–or in modern evangelical megachurch-speak, several “campuses”–under the care of a single bishop. But in the early Church bishops were associated with specific cities, as recognized today by the titles Catholic bishops use, and were genuinely able to function as the pastors of a single (if large and sprawling) congregation.

The idea that bishops are overseers of large areas seems to be a corruption.

Edwin
 
Farmer88 said:
It wouldn’t make much sense though to have the seat in Syracuse. Rochester is twice the size of Syracuse and has a lot more people in the surrounding county.
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Especially since the venerable (or is it Blessed now?) Fulton J. Sheen was a Bishop of Rochester, I would not like to see that title lost in a combination of Dioceses.

Maybe Bishop Daniel Jenky, whose see is Peoria, Illinois where Sheen was ordained, could follow his footsteps again - although maybe being moved to replace Vann in Ft. Worth would be even better.

Two high profile priests that I would like to see leading large Sees are Fr. Frank Pavone of “Priests for Life” and Fr. Robert Spitzer, former President of Gonzaga University. They are doing fine work where they are now, but men like these I would trust to be good “priest makers” - one of the biggest powers of a Bishop, yet one that seems (and perhaps its only that it SEEMS) to take a back seat to the business of “business”.

Building things CAN be good, but here is the proviso …

Matthew 24:1 Jesus left the temple area and was going away, when his disciples approached him to point out the temple buildings.

2 He said to them in reply, "You see all these things, do you not? Amen, I say to you, there will not be left here a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down."

THAT temple was built or refurbished by “Herod the Great” the very King that tried to kill Jesus when he was a baby. It was administered by Annas and Caiaphas who were plotting to kill the Messiah. Beautiful as it was - it was a “whited sepulchre” that within contained corruption.

When a Diocese with a beautiful Cathedral or a Catholic University with beautiful grounds and famous reputation begins to oppose Christ bit by bit or altogether - it can become a sham in need of a Good Shepherd to cleanse the temple, with attitude if necessary. (IMHO). 🙂

*Impressions are funny. Syracuse “seems” bigger to outsiders sometimes.

Rochester and Syracuse (at one time) had NBA teams. Syracuse kept its team (the Syracuse Nationals - now the Philadelphia 76ers) longer than Rochester kept theirs (the Royals, who moved to Cincinnati, then KC-Omaha, and finally Sacramento as the Kings). And Syracuse has the big University with the Carrier Dome and a college football team.

Each city has a minor league baseball team. So in Rochester’s favor is - there hasn’t been a famous actor named “Syracuse” has there? You had to love Eddie “Rochester” Anderson as the “funny one” to Jack Benny’s straight man. And he was GREAT in the all black Vincente Minelli directed movie musical classic “Cabin in the Sky” .*
 
Contarini said:
I don’t see how, on patristic principles, dioceses can reasonably be larger than an American county.

A bishop is supposed to be the pastor of a local, particular church. I get that from early times (maybe the very beginning) there have been several congregations–or in modern evangelical megachurch-speak, several “campuses”–under the care of a single bishop. But in the early Church bishops were associated with specific cities, as recognized today by the titles Catholic bishops use, and were genuinely able to function as the pastors of a single (if large and sprawling) congregation.

The idea that bishops are overseers of large areas seems to be a corruption.

Edwin
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I agree with you that some dioceses are just to big.

I grew in in the diocese of Richmond, VA and that is HUGE, and not just in space. Tons of Catholics line in the Greater Richmond area and even more in the VA Beach area.

Really pretty OT. I just was thinking that way as my wife and I recently took a trip into Rochester for a doctor’s appt. and I was surprised it wasn’t bigger. It’s a pretty small city.
 
Aw man! We’re gona miss Bishop Vann here, he is a really great guy. Any word on who will replace him?

As a side note, judging by the things I have read about the Diocese of Orange, Bishop Vann will really clean house like he did here in the Dio. of Ft. Worth
 
NorthTexan88 said:
Aw man! We’re gona miss Bishop Vann here, he is a really great guy. Any word on who will replace him?

As a side note, judging by the things I have read about the Diocese of Orange, Bishop Vann will really clean house like he did here in the Dio. of Ft. Worth
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Yes, Vann did a great job here. Several new seminarians and more support for pro-life apostolates are two things that come to my mind. I agree he will be missed here.

The Fort Worth Diocese has a larger geographical area than many people realize. Most people think the Fort Worth Diocese is only in the DFW Metroplex.

In reality, the Fort Worth Diocese extends out west to Wichita Falls, and south to Hillsboro. It borders the Diocese of Austin just north of Waco (Waco is in the Diocese of Austin). The east side of the metroplex is Tarrant County, which is the Fort Worth Diocese. There are Catholics who live near DFW Airport who attend parishes in Grapevine, Bedford, and Keller, are all in the Fort Worth Diocese.

I think Bishop Farrell in Dallas has done a good job here too. There are currently 61 seminarians for the Dallas Diocese - a 50% increase since 2007.
 
ringil said:
Syracuse and Rochester are pretty close together. Do they really need two separate dioceses? I would think one Bishop could handle it.

Sometimes the various sizes of US dioceses doesn’t make sense to me.
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Rochester is closer to Buffalo than to Syracuse.
 
I guess Texas’ loss is California’s gain. We in L.A. were blessed to get Bishop Jose Gomez from San Antonio last year, and now our southern neighbor is getting Bishop Vann. I hope you get another good and holy replacement.
 
CaptFun said:
Maybe Bishop Daniel Jenky, whose see is Peoria, Illinois where Sheen was ordained, could follow his footsteps again - although maybe being moved to replace Vann in Ft. Worth would be even better.
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Bishop Jenky was one of the names who popped into my head almost immediately as someone who would make an awesome replacement for Bishop Vann. I am sure there are many other good and holy men who would do a great job also.

One thing that is nice about these retirements is it gives the opportunity for some bishops who have been shepherding smaller diocese to move up to larger ones and then gives Pope Benedict the opportunity to appoint more bishops and perhaps more cardinals as well. His track record of bishop selections is outstanding in my view, and one of the many reasons I hope His Holiness stays healthy and of sound mind for many years to come.
 
NorthTexan88 said:
As a side note, judging by the things I have read about the Diocese of Orange, Bishop Vann will really clean house like he did here in the Dio. of Ft. Worth
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He may very well do so, but it will be a quiet and humble fashion.

I have only been Catholic for a short time and while I had seen a few bishops, when Bishop Vann came to install our new Pastor, it was the first time it really hit me that this man was a successor to the Apostles. I had obviously known that intellectually, but seeing him was the first time it really hit me in my heart.

I cannot imagine Bishop Vann being anything but very successful, and very much loved by his flock in CA.
 
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