Bishop Will Be Missed in Nevada; New Flock Awaits Joyfully

RENO, Nev. —  Parishioners at Our Lady of the Snows reacted with sadness and pride Tuesday to the announcement that their bishop, the Most Rev. Norman F. McFarland, will be leaving the Reno-Las Vegas Diocese to head the Diocese of Orange.

Although priests began discussing the appointment at midday Masses on Monday, and the change had been reported by the local news media, Msgr. Leo McFadden’s remarks after the 8 a.m. Mass on Tuesday were the first that some regular worshipers heard of the move.

“I’m shocked and unhappy,” said Neal Howell, who didn’t want to see McFarland leave. At the same time, she added, “we’re so proud of him.”

Howell called McFarland a “lovely man” and said she had no doubt that he is up to the challenge of moving from a diocese with a Catholic population of 144,000 to one with more than half a million.

“He’ll handle it,” she said.

Another parishioner, Enid Upson, added: “You couldn’t say enough nice things about him. He’s a very, very fine gentleman. Everyone in Reno who knows him loves him.”

Al Hiester agreed.

“I don’t like to see him go, but it’s a good move for him,” he said.

Hiester described McFarland as a “very learned” priest who “puts across the church’s teachings very well.” He also characterized the bishop as “a very orthodox church leader in line with the Pope.”

Well-Known in State Parishes

McFadden, who is vicar general of the Reno-Las Vegas Diocese, said he believes that the feelings expressed by the parishioners in Reno “would be fairly true throughout the state,” since McFarland has visited many of Nevada’s parishes in the 10 years he has headed the statewide diocese.

“He is a very familiar figure outside any Catholic church in Nevada,” McFadden said.

Several parishioners referred to McFarland’s role, beginning in 1974 as an apostolic administrator, in straightening out the finances of the Reno-Las Vegas Diocese and erasing a $3.5-million debt.

McFarland “did a very good job” in the fiscal area, Hiester said.

“This diocese was in bad financial shape when he came,” Howell added. “He got us out of a tight spot.”

Some commented on McFarland’s imposing physical presence. He is 6 feet, 5 inches tall and weighs 240 pounds.

“He’s a giant,” said Howell, quickly adding that he is also a gentle “marshmallow.”

Whenever the bishop marches into a service behind a line of priests, including some tall ones, Howell said, McFarland “makes them all look so little,” especially when he wears the tall, white bishop’s hat, called a miter.

When McFarland became the Reno-Las Vegas Diocese’s fourth bishop in 1976, McFadden said, “the spirit and morale of the priests were really, really low.”

When the time came for the annual mid-January financial appeal in parish churches, McFadden said, the priests were “mad, angry, frustrated and dispirited.” The new bishop worked “subtly” to make changes, McFadden said.

McFarland is a “firm disciplinarian, McFadden added, but “he’ll debate the point with you” in a disagreement, and in that sense he is a bishop of the modern era and not an absolutist in decision making.

Opposing Viewpoints

For example, McFadden said, the bishop would permit opponents of Catholic doctrine, even those opposed to abortion, to speak at Catholic student centers on university campuses as long as there also was a speaker on the program to present the church’s view.

While the bishop believes in freedom of speech, McFadden said, “he won’t let anti-Catholic doctrine go unchallenged.”

McFadden went on to describe the 64-year-old bishop as a physically vigorous man.

Each year in July, McFarland vacations with a number of other priests in Coronado, where the priests play morning golf “31 days in a row” and swim each afternoon.

He also has a good sense of humor, McFadden said.

Last winter, McFarland slipped on ice in a church parking lot and broke his hip after leaving a Methodist charity affair that included a raffle. Later, he jokingly implied that the fall may not have been an accident.

“I think the Methodists were mad because I won the television set,” McFadden quoted the bishop as saying.

Al Hiester agreed.

“I don’t like to see him go, but it’s a good move for him,” he said.

Hiester described McFarland as a “very learned” priest who “puts across the church’s teachings very well.” He also characterized the bishop as “a very orthodox church leader in line with the Pope.”