Rancho Santa Margarita : New Catholic Parish Will Open in July
A new Catholic parish, San Francisco Solano, will open July 3 in Rancho Santa Margarita, according to an announcement Monday by Norman F. McFarland, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange.
Until the church building is completed next year, the congregation will meet at Santa Margarita High School, which is next to the 4-acre site. Both properties were donated to the church by the Moiso and O’Neill families, which have owned the land for generations.
The families named the parish after the first Christian name bestowed on the Trabuco Mesa during the Portola expedition of 1769.
The church will be funded by potential parishioners who now attend three neighboring parishes: St. Cecilia in Tustin, St. Kilian in Mission Viejo and Santiago de Compostella in El Toro.
McFarland named Father Michael Pecharich founding pastor.
Pecharich, currently director of the Ministry to Priests Office for the Diocese of Orange, graduated from St. Anthony High School in Long Beach and St. John Seminary. He also holds a master’s degree in counseling from Cal State Fullerton.
Pecharich, ordained in 1973, has served as an associate pastor at St. Bridget of Sweden in Van Nuys, St. Edwards in Dana Point and San Antonio de Padua del Canon in Anaheim Hills.
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