Monsignor Stephen J. Berg has been chosen to lead the Fort Worth
Catholic Diocese while it awaits the naming of a new bishop, officials
said.Berg will serve as an interim administrator for the 28-county diocese until Pope Benedict XVI names a new bishop and the new bishop is installed, the diocese has announced.
Berg replaces Bishop Kevin Vann, who was installed as the new bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Orange in Southern California.
"I am very pleased to accept this interim position of service," Berg said in a news release. "I hope with God's grace to serve the people of the Diocese during this period of transition. ... I ask for the prayers and support of all of the priests, deacons, religious, and lay faithful during this time of transition."
Vann, 61, was picked as the leader of Orange, the 10th-largest Catholic diocese in the United States and one of the fastest growing, partly because of his record in Fort Worth.
Fort Worth is also one of the fastest-growing dioceses and mushroomed from 400,000 to 720,000 members during Vann's tenure. It is the home of the largest Vietnamese congregation in the United States, Vietnamese Martyr Church in Arlington.
With Vann gone, the attention is turning to who will be the next bishop of Fort Worth.
"No one knows when the pope will name a new bishop here," said Pat Svacina, spokesman for the Fort Worth diocese. "Most people say it will take six months to a year."
The Rev. Stephen Jasso, pastor of All Saints Catholic Church in Fort Worth, said the new bishop of Fort Worth will need to be a dynamic leader like Vann.
"We are hoping and praying we will get somebody who will keep doing the same good job that Bishop Vann did when he followed Bishop Delaney," he said.
A major focus of the new bishop should be on education, he said.
"It's going to be vital for our diocese, where so many Catholics have not received a solid formation in Catholic identity," Jasso said.
Also new schools are needed.
He noted that Vann pushed forward the renovation of All Saints School on Fort Worth's north side.
"Now it's an absolutely new school," Jasso said.
Many Fort Worth Catholics, including Jasso and Svacina, watched the installation of Vann through live streaming on the Internet this week in which Vann delivered a homily using English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean.
"The new bishop has to understand the diversity of our area," Svacina said. "There are also a lot of needs. He will need the skills to manage this growth."
The Rev. Tom Stabile, pastor of Fort Worth's St. Andrew's Church, said the new bishop needs to be not only a good administrator but also someone who has a feel for the needs of local parishes.
"He needs to be a people person," Stabile said. "Bishop Vann got to know people quickly. It would be a big change if we got someone who was distant."
Jasso said he realizes it will take time to name a new bishop, but he hopes it will be sooner than later.
Berg was selected as interim administrator by a group of local priests called the College of Consultors.
He was ordained as a priest for the Fort Worth diocese in 1999 and has served at a variety of parishes, including St. Michael Parish in Bedford and St. John the Apostle Parish in North Richland Hills.
In 2008 he was appointed diocesan vicar general and pastor of St. Peter the Apostle Parish in White Settlement, and in 2011, at the recommendation of Vann, Pope Benedict XVI granted Berg the title of monsignor.