Early next month, the Catholic Diocese of Orange will officially pass the baton from current bishop Tod D. Brown to the incoming guy, Kevin W. Vann. Once Brownie leaves, expect the MSM to paint hosannas of the guy--mentioning the sex-abuse scandal, sure, but His Excellency bought the Crystal Cathedral, so that makes his legacy peachy-keen, right?
Of course not.
Those of us who actually pay attention to the Orange diocese knows that Brown's legacy will be as hollow as his skull.
On the outside, OC's Catholic community seems strong--bigger numbers, capital campaigns to build new buildings, a new bishop.
But in reality, the diocese's poorer parishes are scraping for cashing, which has led to this: St. Anne Church in SanTana has been reduced to hanging a banner outside its parish begging for a new air-conditioning system.
St. Anne is one of the poorer parishes in the Orange diocese -though located in the middle-class Wilshire Square neighborhood, almost all of it congregants are immigrant Mexicans.
The banner went up about two weeks ago, to coincide with the parish's annual festival to raise funds.
Meanwhile, Bishop Vann will be privy to two multimillion-dollar homes in which he can live, in addition to all the other nice houses the Orange diocese owns.
And?
Parishioners will be asked next year by Orange diocese officials to contribute to a fund that would remodel the Crystal Cathedral.
Think some rich Catholic, or the Orange diocese itself, might step in and save the poor parish?
Is Tod Brown an honest man?
Heckuva job, Brownie!