Bishop to Find Many Differences in Dioceses

With a flock estimated at more than 600,000 Catholics, the burgeoning Diocese of Orange will be a major change of scenery for the Most. Rev. Norman F. McFarland, who for a dozen years has ministered to a far-flung and sparsely populated diocese that encompasses Nevada.

The Diocese of Orange carries 417,000 church members on its rolls, in 52 parishes (up from 44 a decade ago). But officials here say they also serve an estimated 200,000 Latinos, most of whom are illegal residents and not listed in parish rolls.

In Mexico and in other Latin American countries, registration on Catholic Church rolls is not customary.

“By tradition, many of these people attend church here but are not registered,” said Thomas A. Fuentes, the diocese’s director of communications.

In one of his first remarks after he was appointed, McFarland said he wanted the church to help qualified illegal residents attain legal citizenship.

The statement was welcomed by Dorothy Brylski, director of immigration services for Catholic Charities, a public service arm of the Diocese of Orange. Catholic Charities already has begun educational programs to help as many as 60,000 illegal immigrants attain legal residency, but Brylski said Monday that much more help is needed for the project.

She said that her staff is speaking at many of the diocese’s 52 parishes to seek support for the effort. But she said that Catholic Charities at this point is able to help only about 20% of the undocumented immigrants expected to file for residency.

“At one point, we’re going to have to sit down and start interviewing with these people. We just don’t have the available staff to handle it. We need many more volunteers,” Brylski said. “But I’m glad he (McFarland) sees this as one of his top priorities.”

McFarland succeeds the late Bishop William R. Johnson, the diocese’s first bishop who spoke fluent Spanish and enjoyed a close relationship with the church’s lay leaders. The newly appointed bishop does not speak the language fluently, but an associate in Nevada said that McFarland has been studying Spanish for the past two years and recently celebrated his first Mass in that language.

SOME COMPARISONS Msgr. Norman F. McFarland, who on Monday was named the new bishop of the Diocese of Orange, will inherit a more populous diocese than the one he presided over in Nevada. Some comparisons:

Orange County Nevada Catholic population 417,659* 144,000 Parishes 52 47 Priests 243 93 Nuns 441 132 Brothers 15 6

* Plus an estimated 200,000 Latino immigrants who are not listed on parish rolls Source: Diocese of Orange