Norman Francis McFarland

Norman Francis McFarland (February 21, 1922 – April 16, 2010) was an American Catholic prelate who served as bishop of Orange in California from 1987 until 1998. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco in California from 1970 to 1976 and the first bishop of Reno-Las Vegas in Nevada from 1976 to 1987.

McFarland's reputation as bishop of Orange has been tainted by documentation proving that he covered up allegations of sexual abuse against minors in the diocese.

Biography

Early life Norman McFarland was born on February 21, 1922, in Martinez, California, the third oldest son of Francis and Agnes (Kotchevar) McFarland. He attended public schools in Martinez. After deciding to become a priest, McFarland enrolled at Saint Joseph Seminary, the minor seminary in Mountain View, California. He continued his education at Saint Patrick Major Seminary in Menlo Park, California, earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1943.He then remained there to study theology and sacred scriptures. After his ordination, the archdiocese assigned McFarland as an associate pastor at St. Andrew's Parish in Oakland, California. Mitty in 1948 sent him to attend the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he earned a Doctor of Canon Law degree.

McFarland in February 1998 underwent successful surgery at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, California, to repair an aortic aneurysm in his abdomen. In 2003, McFarland was inducted to the Ring of Honor of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California.

In 2005, the Orange County Register reported that McFarland and other diocesan officials had covered up the sexual abuse of minors by Reverend John E. Ruhl and Thomas Hodgman, choir director at Mater Dei High School.

In 1992, a man accused Ruhl, the pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Placentia, California, of sexually abusing him as a boy in 1976 as St. Vincent de Paul Seminary in Montebello, California. McFarland immediately removed him from the parish. Ruhl confirmed to McFarland that he had wrapped duct tape around the boy's genitals to prevent him from masterbating. McFarland did not inform the parish about this crime. He is buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Orange.

Episcopal succession

McFarland's direct apostolic succession is delineated from Cardinal Scipione Rebiba. Over 91% of the world's more than 4,000 Catholic bishops alive today trace their episcopal lineage back to Rebiba.