ORANGE — Sometime in the next few weeks Orange County's 609,000 Roman Catholics likely will wake up to news from the Vatican that they have a new bishop.
Exactly when that news will come, and who the new bishop will be, remains a closely held secret.
"There always is [speculation]," said diocese spokesman Msgr. Lawrence J. Baird, reciting what has developed into a diocesan catch-phrase: "The people who talk don't know, and the people who know don't talk."
But they're all curious.
Following church policy, Diocese of Orange Bishop Norman F. McFarland submitted a letter of resignation to the Vatican in February, coinciding with his 75th birthday. That put into motion a chain of events that church-watchers say will likely mean the naming of a new bishop in the near future for California's second-largest diocese.
The new bishop would be only the third in the history of what is a relatively young diocese. Orange County was split off from the Los Angeles Archdiocese in 1976 and shepherded into existence by Bishop William R. Johnson, who died in 1986. McFarland, then bishop of Reno-Las Vegas, succeeded Johnson six months later.
McFarland established himself as a direct leader with a firm grasp on the diocesan budget and fund-raising while serving as a financial trouble-shooter for the church. Yet, he also has helped the Diocese of Orange begin dealing with demographic changes from the large influx of Latino Catholics.
"He has taken a young diocese and he has developed a strong financial base for the next bishop," said real estate developer Art Birtcher, whose longtime support for the Catholic Church included a $15-million donation in 1990.
"I think his biggest legacy is being a conservative teacher of the Catholic faith," Birtcher said. "He has always been clear as to right where he stands on issues. I think it did away with any confusion that could have developed between all the different varieties of cultures and economics and ethnic influence. He gave a great bit of stability by his strength and conservatism."
It's unclear how much of a role McFarland will play in naming his successor under a process that the church shrouds in secrecy.
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Select local Catholics are queried on the needs of the diocese, but the real weight lies with high-level church officials. Such choices ultimately are made by Pope John Paul II, usually acting on recommendations from what is, in essence, an internal executive search committee.
