Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange

This article is about the present-day Diocese of Orange in California. For the defunct Diocese of Orange in France, see Ancient Diocese of Orange.

Diocese of Orange in California Dioecesis Arausicanae in California
The diocesan coats of arms of the Diocese of Orange
Location
Country	United States
Territory	Orange County
Ecclesiastical province	Los Angeles
Metropolitan	Orange, California
Population - Catholics	1,170,480
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	March 24, 1976
Cathedral	Cathedral of the Holy Family
Patron saint	Our Lady of Guadalupe
Current leadership
Pope	Benedict XVI
Bishop	Tod David Brown Bishop of Orange
Metropolitan Archbishop	José Gómez Archbishop of Los Angeles
Auxiliary Bishop	Dominic Mai Luong
Emeritus Bishops	Norman Francis McFarland
Map
Website
rcbo.org

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange is a particular church of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church whose territory comprises the whole of Orange County, California, in the United States. It may also be referred to as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange in California to avoid confusion with the historical Diocese of Orange, France, which was dissolved in 1801.

Orange is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, from whose territory it was erected in 1976. It is led by the prelature of the Bishop of Orange, whose seat is at the Cathedral of the Holy Family in the City of Orange. Diocesan offices are situated at Marywood Pastoral Center in Orange.

In addition to its 56 parish churches, the diocese oversees 44 schools, three general hospitals, plus one disabled and five ethnic ministry centers. It also sponsors a variety of programs and activities in conjunction with other local organizations.

The diocesan patroness is Our Lady of Guadalupe.

History

The Catholic Church presence in present-day Orange County dates to the 1776 establishment of Mission San Juan Capistrano, a Spanish mission founded by Father Junipero Serra and the Franciscan order. At the time the region was part of the Las Californias province of New Spain. In 1804 present-day Orange County became part of Alta California when Las Californias was split in two; Alta California then became part of Mexico when the latter gained independence from Spain in 1821. From the mission the missionary priests set out to convert the native population to Catholicism; over 4,000 people were converted between 1776 and 1847.

In 1840, the Holy See erected the Diocese of the Two Californias to recognize the growth of the provinces of Alta California and Baja California. This diocese – with its episcopal see located in Monterey – included all Mexican territory west of the Colorado River and the Gulf of California (the modern U.S. states of California and Nevada, and parts of Utah, Arizona, and Colorado, and the Mexican states of Baja California and Baja California Sur).

In 1848 Alta California was ceded to the United States after the Mexican-American War, and the Mexican government objected to an American bishop having jurisdiction over parishes in Mexican Baja California. The Holy See split the diocese into American and Mexican sections, and the American section was renamed the Diocese of Monterey. In 1859 the diocese became known as the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles to recognize the growth of the city of Los Angeles; the see was transferred to Los Angeles in 1876. In 1922 the diocese split again, and Orange County became part of the newly-erected Diocese of Los Angeles-San Diego, which became the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 1936.

Orange County remained part of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles until March 24, 1976, when Pope Paul VI established the Diocese of Orange. Los Angeles auxiliary bishop William Johnson was appointed as the first Bishop of Orange, and the existing Holy Family Church in Orange was designated as the cathedral for the new diocese. The diocese has grown rapidly as the local population has swelled with Catholic immigrants from Vietnam, the Philippines, and Latin America, and in 2010 claimed a Catholic population of over 1.2 million.

The diocese's current bishop is Tod Brown, who was named bishop on June 30, 1998.

Sex abuse settlement

Main article: Sexual abuse scandal in Orange diocese

On January 3, 2005, Bishop Tod Brown apologized to 87 alleged victims of sexual abuse and announced a settlement of $100-million following two years of mediation.

Cathedral

In 2001, Bishop Tod Brown first announced plans to build a new cathedral to succeed Holy Family Cathedral. However, soon after, the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal broke out in the diocese, and Brown deemed it "inappropriate" to raise funds for a new cathedral in light of the scandal. In 2005, the diocese purchased land in south Santa Ana and established Christ Our Savior Cathedral Parish, with the intention of someday building a cathedral on the property. The cost of building a cathedral on the Santa Ana site was estimated to be as high as $200 million, which prompted comparisons to the cost of building the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles.

In October 2010, Crystal Cathedral Ministries, the Protestant congregation that owned and worshiped in the eponymous Crystal Cathedral building in Garden Grove, filed for bankruptcy protection. Several months later, the diocese announced that it was "potentially interested" in buying the building and converting it into a diocesan cathedral as a potential cost and time saving alternative over building a new cathedral on the Santa Ana site.

On November 17, 2011, a U.S. bankruptcy court judge in Santa Ana approved the sale of the Crystal Cathedral building and adjacent camput to the diocese for $57.5 million; the sale was finalized on February 3, 2012. Under the terms of the sale Crystal Cathedral Ministries will lease most of the campus including the church and continue to use it for three years; the diocese has offered Crystal Cathedral Ministries a longer-term lease at nearby St. Callistus Church, whose parish the diocese anticipates "will eventually transfer" to the Crystal Cathedral campus. The diocese announced that the transfer of the cemetery located on the campus would be "immediate", and that it would soon be establishing offices on the campus. The building's new name as a Roman Catholic cathedral will be designated by the Holy See while also taking suggestions from the diocese and its members. Bishop Brown has stated that the diocese intends to hire an architect to renovate the facility "so it will be suitable for a Catholic place of worship", but has "no intention to change the exterior of the building."

Bishops

Diocesan bishops

• William Robert Johnson (1976–1986)
• Norman McFarland (1986–1998)
• Tod David Brown (1998–present)

Auxiliary bishops

Current

• Dominic Mai Luong (2003–present)

Former

• Michael Patrick Driscoll (1989–1999)
• Cirilo Flores (2009–2012)
• Jaime Soto (2000–2007)
• John Thomas Steinbock (1984–1987)

Education

The diocese oversees 32 parochial elementary schools and 3 high schools; additionally, 3 independent Catholic elementary schools and 4 independent Catholic high schools (i.e., run by a religious order) are located in the diocese.

High schools

Diocesan

• Mater Dei High School, Santa Ana
• Rosary High School, Fullerton
• Santa Margarita Catholic High School, Rancho Santa Margarita

Independent

• Cornelia Connelly High School, Anaheim
• JSerra Catholic High School, San Juan Capistrano
• Servite High School, Anaheim
• St. Michael's Preparatory School, Silverado

External links

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, official site
• Orange Catholic Foundation, endowment fund