New Auxiliary Bishop for Diocese : Religion: Pope elevates Msgr. Michael Driscoll as aide to Bishop McFarland. Some church critics say that a Latino should have been chosen instead.

Monsignor Michael P. Driscoll, known for his work in Catholic charities, has been appointed auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Orange, Bishop Norman F. McFarland announced Tuesday.

Driscoll, who has been with the diocese since it was created in 1976, will be ordained March 6 and will assist McFarland in managing its affairs.

Driscoll succeeds John T. Steinbock, the first to hold the post, who left in 1987 to head the Diocese of Santa Rosa in Northern California.

“I am happy to be able to continue my work here in Orange County, which is now my home . . . where I have had so many wonderful opportunities to grow as a priest and co-worker,” said Driscoll, 50, at a press conference at Marywood Center in Orange.

Driscoll’s first duty as auxiliary bishop will be to play Santa Claus at a Vietnamese Christmas Party Friday, an event sponsored by Catholic charities.

The new auxiliary bishop said he intends to continue the work of the diocese in reaching out to the poor, the homeless, disabled children and troubled youth in Orange County.

“I’m a people person. My only ambition when I was growing up was to be a parish priest,” Driscoll said.

McFarland, in announcing the appointment by Pope John Paul II, said he is confident that Driscoll will serve the needs of the diocese in representing McFarland.

Driscoll, who worked in parishes in Los Angeles before becoming chancellor and most recently vicar general of the Diocese of Orange, said he does not speak Spanish fluently. The Diocese of Orange has 453,937 members, and almost half are Latino.

“I intend to hone up my skills in Spanish,” Driscoll said. “I feel it is very important to relate to all the people that I can. I would like to learn Vietnamese, too.”

Driscoll’s selection was praised by several Catholics, including Father Jaime Soto, vicar for the Hispanic community in Orange County.

“Michael Driscoll has a long history with this diocese. I am very pleased about the appointment because Michael knows well the concerns of this diocese, and particularly the concerns of the Hispanic community,” Soto said.

“I cannot stress enough the value of having someone with his experience.”

Asked about the decision not to select a Latino for the post, McFarland said, “You have to have people in leadership positions who can address the needs of the church. Therefore, a person who is not sympathetic to Hispanic ministries would not be a good choice for Orange County.”

The selection of a non-Latino was criticized by Amin David, president of Los Amigos of Orange County, a Latino rights advocacy group.

“(The appointment) caught us by surprise,” David said. “We would wish at least an individual who can be viewed as bilingual and bicultural, the reason being that half of the county’s Catholics are Latino.”

David said the selection involved no consultation. “There is absolutely no input (from Los Amigos) into the process. We can only speak after the fact. We can’t say that the bishop (McFarland) was thinking of the Latino presence or if he was not thinking of the Latino presence.”

Author Roberto Martinez of San Diego, director of an immigrant rights office who is known for his writing about the Catholic Church, attacked the selection of a non-Latino.

“Chicanos are being passed over in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church,” he said in a telephone interview.

Martinez said only one of the 12 bishops and five auxiliary bishops in California is Hispanic.

“The inference is that Latinos are not qualified to administer a diocese, even though they are receiving the same training and education as the other bishops,” Marinez.

“I can’t call that anything short than institutionalized racism. The Diocese of Orange, where the population of Latinos is very high, should have a Latino auxiliary bishop. The bishop has to be sensitive to the Hispanic population, and by not pushing for a Latino auxiliary bishop, (that) tells me that they’re not,” Martinez said.

Father Thomas Reese, a noted church scholar with a theological group affiliated with Georgetown University, noted that the Pope’s representative in the United States, Archbishop Pio Laghi, last year repeatedly encouraged bishops to nominate more Latino and black bishops.

Reese said that McFarland suggested three or more names to Laghi last year. McFarland ranked the nominees and provided background information. Laghi conducted an investigation of his own, then recommended a candidate. A group of bishops then looked at the recommendations and a committee of cardinals picked one auxiliary bishop. The Pope ultimately appointed Driscoll.

Driscoll is a graduate of St. John’s College and Seminary, Camarillo and of USC, where he earned a master’s degree in social work in 1975.

Ordained as a priest in 1965, he served as associate pastor at St. Anselm’s, St. Finbar’s and St. Brendan’s parishes in Los Angeles.

With the establishment of the Diocese of Orange in June, 1976, he was appointed chancellor and secretary to Bishop William R. Johnson, the founding bishop of the diocese.

During 1980-84, he served as pastor of Our Lady, Queen of Angels Parish in Newport Beach.

In 1987, Driscoll was appointed vicar general and vicar for charities, positions he will continue to hold in the Diocese of Orange.

Bishop-elect Driscoll will be ordained bishop March 6 at Holy Family Cathedral in Orange.