DIOCESE OF FRESNO Structure and Brief History of the Diocese1 The Diocese of Fresno consists of 36,072 square miles with a Catholic population of (1,667,428 (as of 2013) comprised of eight counties formed into nine vicariates:

. Fresno Metropolitan Vicariate . Fresno Rural Vicariate . Merced/Mariposa Vicariate . Madera Vicariate . Kern Rural Vicariate . Bakersfield Metropolitan Vicariate . High Desert Vicariate . Tulare Vicariate . Kings Vicariate

The Diocese was established December 15, 1967. The Diocese of Monterey-Fresno ceased to exist as of that date. The Patroness of the Diocese is St. Therese of the Child Jesus. The Secondary Patron of the Diocese is St. Columba. There are 89 parishes and 43 mission churches. In 1834, the Diocese of the Californias (Upper and Lower California) was established with Francisco Diego y Moreno as the first and only bishop. In 1850, the Diocese of Monterey was created which embraced the entire State of California. The first bishop was . In 1853, the Archdiocese of San Francisco was erected. The first bishop was Thaddeus Amat. Bishop Amat renamed his jurisdiction in 1859 as the Diocese of Monterey and and established his Episcopal See in Los Angeles. In 1922, erected the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno. Bishop John J. Cantwell, Bishop of Los Angeles-San Diego, administered the affairs of the diocese. The first bishop, John MacGinley, was installed in 1924. In 1933, Bishop Philip Scher became the second bishop of the Monterey-Fresno Diocese. In 1946, Bishop Aloysius Willinger was named Coadjutor Bishop of Monterey-Fresno with the ill health of Bishop Scher. On October 25, 1967, Bishop Willinger resigned and the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno was divided into two Sees. Bishop Harry Clinch, auxiliary to Bishop Willinger since 1957 became the first bishop of the Diocese of Monterey. Bishop , Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, became the first bishop of the Diocese of Fresno. In 1969, Bishop Manning returned to Los Angeles as the Coadjutor , and Bishop Donohoe became the second bishop of the Diocese of Fresno (1969-1980). Bishop Joseph Madera became the third bishop in 1980 until 1991. For a few months in 1991, Bishop Norman McFarland was appointed the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese. Bishop John T. Steinbock was appointed as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Fresno (1991-2010) .

1 Issued May 1998 Myron J. Cotta was elected as Diocesan Administrator by the College of Consultors on December 7, 2010 and served in this capacity until the naming of Bishop as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Fresno on December 1, 2011. Bishop Armando Xavier Ochoa was installed as the fifth Bishop of the Diocese of Fresno on February 2, 2012.

Historical Parishes

1857 - St. Joseph’s Church in Mariposa established (the original church) 1861 - St. Mary’s (Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary) Parish in Visalia established 1867 - Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Merced established 1881 - St. Joachim’s Parish in Madera established 1881 - St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Bakersfield established 1882 - St. John the Baptist Church in Fresno established 1902 - The present St. John the Baptist was constructed and dedicated 1919 - The Shrine of St. Therese was established in Fresno and is the first parish in the world dedicated to St. Therese of Lisieux

The Bishop of the Diocese2 Bishop Armando Xavier Ochoa was born in Oxnard, California, in 1943, the second child to Angel and Mary Ochoa. He received his education at Santa Clara Elementary and Santa Clara High School, Oxnard, California, and graduated in 1961. In 1962 he entered St. John’s Seminary College and having graduated, continued his studies at St. John’s Seminary School of Theology. Bishop Ochoa was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles on May 23, 1970 by Cardinal Timothy Manning. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Alphonsus Church in East Los Angeles; St. John the Baptist Church in Baldwin Park; and St. Teresa of Avila Church in Los Angeles. Bishop Ochoa was appointed Pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Los Angeles in December 1984. While an Associate Pastor at St. Teresa of Avila, he was named a Monsignor, Chaplain to His Holiness in 1982. Prior to his Ordination to the Episcopacy in February 1987, as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Regional Bishop of the San Fernando Pastoral Region, he served as a board member and later as co-director of the Permanent Diaconate Program for the Archdiocese. He also headed the Secretariat for Ethnic Ministry Services. Bishop Ochoa also served as a board member for both Don Bosco Technical High School and St. John’s Seminary. On June 26, 1996, Bishop Ochoa was installed as the fifth Bishop of the Diocese of El Paso, Texas. Throughout Bishop Ochoa’s Episcopacy, he has held the following USCCB positions:

2 Issued February 2012 Member of the Sub-Committee on Lay Ministry, Committee on Migration, Sub-Committee on Hispanic Affairs, Committee on Laity, Committee on Vocations, Committee on the Diaconate, Committee on the Millennium/Jubilee Yea, Sub-Committee on Lay Ecclesial Ministry, CLINIC Board of Directors and Region XIII Administrative Committee. Bishop Ochoa has also been a Consultant on the Committee on Migration and Sub-Committee on Hispanic Affairs. Other nation and international responsibilities have included a member of the Alta/Baja California Border Council, Delegate to the Eucharistic Congress in Guadalajara, , and member of the Texas Mexico Border Bishops’ Council. The first duty of the bishop of the diocese, described in canon law, is to fulfill the offices of sanctifying, teaching and ruling in hierarchical communion with the head of the College, the Holy Father, and its members. The decree of the Second Vatican Council, Christus Dominus, states the following concerning diocesan bishops: In exercising his office of father and pastor, the bishop should be with his people as one who serves, as a good shepherd who knows his sheep and whose sheep know him, as a true father who excels in his love and solicitude for all, to whose divinely conferred authority all readily submit. He should so unite and mold his flock into one family that all, conscious of their duties, may live and act in the communion of charity… His priests, who assume a part of his duties and concerns, and who are ceaselessly devoted to their work, should be the objects of his particular affection. He should regard them as sons and friends. He should always be ready to listen to them, and cultivate an atmosphere of easy familiarity with them, thus facilitating the pastoral work of the entire Diocese. Pray for the bishop that he may live and act as described above. In the Eucharistic prayer, the name “Armando” may be used. The bishop encourages priests to refer to the bishop as “the Bishop of the Diocese of Fresno,” and never simply as “the Bishop of Fresno.” He is not the bishop of a particular city but of all the People of God throughout the whole Diocese.