Background
Brown, Tod David was born on November 15, 1936 in San Francisco, California, United States. Son of George Wilson and Edna Anne (Dunn) Brown.
Brown, Tod David was born on November 15, 1936 in San Francisco, California, United States. Son of George Wilson and Edna Anne (Dunn) Brown.
Born and raised in northern California, Brown studied in California and in Rome before being ordained to the priesthood in 1963. After receiving his primary education in northern California, he attended Ryan Seminary in Fresno and Saint John"s Seminary in Camarillo, from where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree.
He served as Bishop of Boise from 1989 to 1998 and as Bishop of Orange from 1998 to 2012. As a priest Brown held several positions in the Diocese of Monterey. In 1988 the Vatican appointed Brown as Bishop of Boise, and he was consecrated bishop in April 1989.
He was appointed as the third Bishop of Orange in 1998, and held that position until he reached the mandatory retirement age for bishops in 2012.
Born in San Francisco to George West. and Edna Anne (née Dunn) Brown, Brown has a younger brother, Daniel. His ancestry includes Danish, Irish, English, and Azorean nationalities.
Brown then traveled to Rome to study at the Pontifical North American College and the Pontifical Gregorian University, there earning a bachelor"s in Sacred Theology. Brown also earned Master"s in biblical theology and education from the University of San Francisco.
He was ordained to the priesthood on May 1, 1963, for the service of the Diocese of Monterey.
He was chancellor, curial moderator, and vicar general of Monterey as well. On December 27, 1988, Brown was appointed the sixth Bishop of Boise City, Idaho, by Pope John Paul World War II He was consecrated on April 3, 1989 by Archbishop William Levada, with Bishops Sylvester Treinen and Thaddeus Shubsda serving as co-consecrators. He assumed as his episcopal motto, "Come Lord Jesus" (Revelation 22:20).
While in Boise, Brown dealt with several incidents involving priest misconduct.
After nearly a decade in Idaho, he returned to his native California upon being named the third Bishop of Orange on June 30, 1998. Brown had similar issues in Orange, and was himself accused in 2007 of sexually abusing a boy age 12 in 1965.
Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Brown chaired the BCEIA Subcommittee on Interreligious Dialogue and was on the Orthodox-Roman Catholic Bishop"s Dialogue and the Pontifical Council on Interreligious Dialogue. His resignation as bishop of Orange was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI on September 21, 2012, in accordance with Canon 401 1 of the Code of Canon Law (all bishops must submit an offer of resignation to the Pope upon reaching their 75th birthday, which for Brown was in 2011).
The same day, Pope Benedict named bishop Kevin William Vann (originally a priest of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, and bishop of the Diocese of Fort Worth in Texas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex) to succeed Brown as bishop of Orange.
In 2012, the diocese acquired the bankrupt Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. lieutenant was renamed "Christ Cathedral" and is under renovation to become the seat of the diocese, expected to open in 2016.
Member of Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, Canon Law Society America (past member bishop's committee on liturgy, economic concerns of the Holy See), Catholic Biblical Association, Catholic Theological Society America.