Bishop Vann Leaving Fort Worth to Take over Fastest Growing Diocese in Nation

By Bill Hanna
The Star-Telegram
September 22, 2012

http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/09/22/4279146/bishop-vann-leaving-fort-worth.html

Bishop Kevin W. Vann, who led the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth through a difficult period of settling sex abuse cases and oversaw massive growth of the 28-county diocese during his seven-year tenure, is leaving to become the bishop in Orange, Calif.

Pope Benedict XVI named Vann to the new position, which he will take over in December.

Vann, 61, was installed as the third bishop in Fort Worth in July 2005, just one day after the death of Bishop Joseph P. Delaney. He will become the fourth bishop of the Orange Diocese, which, with an estimated 1.3 million Catholics, is the 10th-largest and fastest-growing Catholic diocese in the country.

One of his tasks will be overseeing the transformation of the Crystal Cathedral, the former home of evangelist Rev. Robert Schuller, into the spiritual and administrative headquarters of the Orange Diocese.

His replacement in Fort Worth has not yet been named.

At a news conference in California on Friday, Vann said he was excited about the opportunity and would try to build on what he learned in Fort Worth.

"I have so much to be grateful to God for the people of the Diocese of Fort Worth, and North Texas and beyond," Vann said. "I will miss them very much. But I promise that as we grow together in this exciting and dynamic time of the Diocese of Orange, I will love you and do my best to serve you with the Lord's help. That is one thing I learned in Fort Worth, and what I will live here."

When he was ordained as bishop in Fort Worth, Vann faced a diocese that had been rocked by allegations of sexual abuse by priests. Under his leadership, at least 27 people settled abuse claims, including three women. Most of the settlements were confidential.

Vann acted quickly to get in front of the sexual abuse accusations and told the Star-Telegram in 2006 that the handling of the abuse cases by his predecessor had been "a huge, moral failure" and that he would have handled things differently if he had been leading the diocese at the time.

"The challenging thing for me is, all my life, I have always tried to respect my predecessor wherever I've been," Vann said at the time. "But I can't defend the indefensible."

Fort Worth City Councilman Dennis Shingleton, who is a member of St. John the Apostle Catholic Church in North Richland Hills, said Vann faced many difficult challenges when he assumed leadership of the diocese.

"He took over in a difficult time with the allegations and aura of child abuse by very few priests, even some here in North Texas," Shingleton said. "He handled it very, very well."

But Shingleton said Vann will be remembered mostly by North Texas Catholics as a visible and accessible bishop.

"I think his legacy is his availability to neighborhood parishioners," Shingleton said. "He can be firm but he's very attuned to the membership. I liked his predecessor but he was not nearly as affable and collegial."

Growth in diocese

During Vann's tenure in Fort Worth, the population of Catholics in the diocese grew from 400,000 to 710,000.

The population of the diocese, which stretches across 24,000 square miles, is expected to increase to 1.2 million by 2030, making it one of the fastest-growing dioceses in the nation.

In November 2011, the diocese announced that it planned to invest $50 million over the next decade to add parishes and schools and renovate existing facilities.

The diocese also announced plans to relocate its administrative offices from west Fort Worth to downtown but has since backed off on those plans.

Fort Worth Councilman Sal Espino, a member of All Saints Catholic Church on the city's north side, praised Vann for leading capital campaigns to help rebuild and revitalize many of the inner-city churches and schools.

"The Catholic diocese was one of the biggest investors in the inner-city of Fort Worth under his leadership," Espino said. "I would say his stay in Fort Worth was exemplary. My experience with him was with All Saints and Cassata [High School] were very positive. He was everywhere, not just in the inner-city parishes or suburban parishes but in the rural parishes as well."

Newell Williams, dean of Brite Divinity School at TCU, said Vann did an outstanding job of reaching out to other faith groups.

"I first met Bishop Vann the night he was installed as bishop right here on our campus," Williams said. "The memory I will carry with me most is the way he welcomed Catholic and Disciples of Christ leaders from around the world last summer when we hosted the Disciples of Christ/Roman Catholic Bi-Lateral Dialogue."

Vann also spoke to other congregations, including the Jewish synagogue Congregation Ahavath Sholom in Fort Worth.

The Rev. Stephen Jasso, pastor of All Saints Catholic Church, said Vann used a warm, personal style of leadership.

"The one thing about Bishop Vann is he goes out to the priests and the people," Jasso said. "He's the only bishop I've seen so many times, but never in his office. He came out here to lunch. We would talk. It's a wonderful quality he has."

In a letter posted on the Fort Worth Diocese website Friday, Vann thanked parishioners for their support.

"I have been very proud to say these last seven years that 'I am the Catholic Bishop of Fort Worth,'" Vann wrote. "The growth and expansion of the Diocese, its missionary spirit, and the involvement of so many people - priests, religious, and lay faithful - in every way in the life of the local Church and beyond is well known all over the United States, and in the mission outreach of Diocese to so many parts of the world. For that and more, I humbly thank you and ask for your prayers now."

Immigration advocate

The Fort Worth Diocese became more diverse under Vann and last year opened one of the largest Vietnamese Catholic churches in the nation -- the Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church -- in Arlington.

An advocate of immigration reform, Vann -- who regularly addresses congregations in Spanish -- also spoke in Spanish during Friday's news conference, noting that the Spanish speakers in his North Texas parishes describe the church as " la familia de Dios" -- the family of God. He closed his remarks by speaking in Vietnamese, according to the Orange County Register.

Like Vann, his predecessor in Orange, Bishop Tod D. Brown, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 75, faced the challenge of cleaning up abuse allegations when he was installed in 1998.

In 2005, he agreed to a $100 million settlement with 90 alleged abuse victims, then the largest payout of its kind at that time, the Register reported .

While he won praise for those efforts, he also had his share of critics.

Brown "was part of the culture of secrecy," Irvine, Calif., attorney John Manly, who represented victims of clergy abuse, told the Register.

"He continued policies that put kids in danger, and he didn't remove problem priests until a legal shotgun was put to his head. ... A victim of sexual abuse shouldn't have to hire a lawyer to get a faith-based institution to do the right thing."

Vann will take over a diocese that purchased the famed Crystal Cathedral in bankruptcy court. The transformation of the huge cathedral, which has been renamed Christ Cathedral, is expected to be finished by June.

Catholic leaders from around the world toured the church in August and Catholic officials told the Register that the Catholic Church "can create here the most significant Catholic cultural center in the world outside of the Vatican."

Jasso, the All Saints pastor, said he is not surprised that Vann has been assigned to such a large diocese.

"Everybody will miss him, no doubt, and we are hoping and praying we will get somebody that will keep doing the same good job Bishop Vann did," Jasso said. "We will see what the Lord gives. Maybe we will even get a Hispanic bishop.''

Staff writer Darren Barbee and correspondent Jim Jones contributed to this report, which includes material from Star-Telegram archives and the Orange County Register.

Bill Hanna, 817-390-7698 billhanna@star-telegram.com