Appointments: Vann to diocese of Orange, California

(Vatican Radio) – On Friday Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Kevin W. Vann to the diocese of Orange, California (U.S.A.). Formerly the Bishop of Fort Worth, he succeeds Bishop Tod D. Brown.

The diocese of Orange dates back to 1776. It has a total Catholic population of 1,280,159 with 177 active priests, diocesan and religious, in 57 parishes spread out over 900 square kilometres along the south California coastline.

Bishop Vann was born on May 10, 1951 in Springfield, Illinois. The oldest of six children, he is a graduate of Springfield’s St. Agnes Grade and Griffin High Schools. He attended Springfield College and earned a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology from Millikin University, Illinois. After working three years as a medical technologist, he entered the seminary in l976, spending a year at the Immaculate Conception Diocesan Seminary in Springfield and four years at Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, majoring in theology.
After his ordination on May 30, l981, he was assigned to graduate studies in Canon Law at the Angelicum in Rome. Upon returning to the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, Bishop Vann was involved in the work of the Diocesan Tribunal and the Tribunal of Second Instance in Chicago. He served as pastor of parishes ranging in size from 35 to 1,300 families, two of which had large schools. He taught Canon Law at Kenrick Seminary. Before he was named bishop, he was pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Springfield, Vicar for Priests, and the Diocesan contact for Hispanic Ministry. He celebrated the 25th anniversary of his ordination in 2006.
Bishop Vann formerly led the Texas Conference of Bishops and provided leadership for various initiatives at the national level, including service on ad hoc committee which is assisting the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) to guide the incorporation of Anglican groups into the Catholic Church of the United States, as USSCB Episcopal Liaison to the Catholic Health Association, as a member of the USCCB Committee on Migration. Bishop Vann is the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith’s Ecclesiastical Delegate for the Pastoral Provision in the United States. Bishop Vann collaborates with Catholic Diocese of Dallas Bishop Kevin Farrell on the annual University of Dallas Ministry Conference, one of the major ministry conferences in the United States.