Pope Names Panel for Investigation of Fresno Diocese

The financially troubled Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno will be investigated next week by a three-member commission appointed by Pope John Paul II.

In a letter sent last week to the diocese’s 1,715 priests, Bishop Joseph J. Madera asked that they give “full cooperation” to the commission.

Madera declined to comment, but his letter said the investigation will concern all aspects of the diocese’s operations. Bishop Norman McFarland of Orange, a member of the commission, said investigators have not been told to examine a particular aspect of the diocese, such as finances.

Madera, who has been bishop since 1980, has been criticized for his management style. The Fresno Bee newspaper reported in 1988 that priests had demanded an investigation of the management of $6 million in donations for new buildings. After an audit that year, diocese officials denied that the money had been spent on operating expenses of KNXT, the diocese’s television station. One year later, diocese officials laid off 20 employees and stopped publication of its newspaper.