Statement of Bishop Tod D. Brown
The Appointment of Bishop-Elect Dominic Luong
25 April, 2003

It is with immense gratitude to God that I announce today the appointment by our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, of Monsignor Dominic Mai Luong as an Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Orange.

By appointment of Bishop-Elect Luong serves as a Collegial Recognition by our Holy Father of the need for another Assistant Bishop to serve, together with me and Auxiliary Bishop Jaime Soto and Bishop Norman McFarland who continues to assist in his retirement, the Diocese of Orange with more than one million Roman Catholics residing in Orange County.

I am particularly cognizant of this historic moment since our new Auxiliary if the first Native Vietnamese Priest to be called to the Episcopacy in the United States.

Orange County's Population of 2,846,289 includes 135,548 Vietnamese, of whom 32,500 are baptized Catholics. (CF. 2000 census)

While recognizing the unique gifts inherited and possessed by Bishop-Elect Luong as a native of Vietnam, he joins me and Bishop Soto as brother Bishops called by God to serve all our brothers and sisters in this local Church.

I also wish to take this opportunity to publicly express my fraternal gratitude to Archbishop Alfred Hughes of the Archdiocese of New Orleans who has gifted our Diocese with one of his finest priests.

The Catholic Church of Orange, its priests, deacons, religious men and women and laity, anticipates formally welcoming Bishop-Elect Luong into our midst on June 11 when he will be ordained Bishop at St. Columban Church, Garden Grove.

It is my joy now to introduce Bishop-Elect Dominic Luong.