Pope names bishops for Memphis, Fresno and auxiliary for Los Angeles

March 14, 2019
Catholic News Service
 
WASHINGTON – Just over four months after Pope Francis forced Bishop Martin D. Holley to step down as bishop of Memphis, Tennessee, he named Bishop David P. Talley of Alexandria, Louisiana, to lead the diocese.
 
Bishop Talley’s appointment was announced March 5 in Washington by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
 
The archbishop also announced Pope Francis’ decisions to accept the resignation of 75-year-old Bishop Armando X. Ochoa of Fresno, and name Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Joseph V. Brennan to succeed him. In addition, Pope Francis named Philippines-born Msgr. Alejandro D. Aclan to be an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
 
Fresno designate Bishop Brennan, who turns 65 March 20, has been a Los Angeles auxiliary since 2015. He will be installed as Fresno’s sixth bishop May 2.
 
A native Angeleno, Bishop Brennan is the son of a San Fernando Valley grocer and the ninth of 10 children. He speaks fluent Spanish, and has a twin brother living in the diocese he will lead, according to Angelus, the news outlet of the Los Angeles archdiocese.
 
The Fresno diocese is a 35,000-square-mile territory with about 1.2 million Catholics. It is situated in the heart of California’s agriculture-rich San Joaquin Valley, known as America’s “salad bowl” and the “food basket for the world,” Angelus noted.
 
The new auxiliary for the Los Angeles archdiocese, Bishop-designate Aclan, will become the second Filipino-American priest to be named bishop in the U.S. The first was Bishop Oscar Solis, an auxiliary bishop in Los Angeles from 2004 until 2017, who is now head of the Diocese of Salt Lake City.