I am a proud original member having helped to pass out the flyers announcing his first Aliso Viejo Mass. I know that I am not alone in saying that Father Fred's leaving will be a huge loss to Corpus Christi and the Aliso Viejo community. His vision is not complete and our Home will not be the same without him. He truly is a one of kind.

I believe the Bishop's decision is just wrong on so many levels. How he can move someone who has brought so many back to the faith and who is so beloved by his parishioners, is beyond me. I think it is a case of cutting off your nose to spite your face because I believe the money going to the diocese will definitely decrease. No matter who replaces him, Corpus Christi will never be the same. What a shame.

I do not know what they are thinking by taking our Fr. Fred away from us. He is Corpus Christi. He has worked so hard to build and create such a unique parish and his shoes will be very hard to fill. A very sad time for us.

http://www.rcbo.org/bishops-office.html
Bishop Todd's homepage if anyone wants to send comments.

There wasn't a dry eye at church yesterday. It truly is a sad day for Corpus Christi. I guess God needs him to use his talents in a different community.

@Bishop Todd: If it ain't broke, don't fix it !!!

They just don't get it. Father Fred is why most go to that church. They will lose 30 or more percent immediately and the funds that go with him. The problem with the leaders of today is they cant just leave some things well alone. They feel change is good and it's usually someone at the top that needs to create their own job security by constantly making change which causes the unproductive to get rewarded and the successful to be unjustly treated as in this case. Good luck Father Fred wherever the SYSTEM takes you. Remember God is controlling all things.

Not a dry eye in the church at Sunday 10am Mass. The " oh- nos" were very audible as Fr Fred broke the stunning news that he was leaving on July first. It was quite a shock since Fr Fred had told us only a few weeks ago that he would be staying for another year or two at least. This will not be a good move for Corpus Christi. Whatever are they thinking !! Sad for Fr Fred and sad his flock.

I can't believe the decision to move Father Fred, we are shock that they will take him away from us, but at the same time he may be needed somewhere else. AV will not be the same without him...

The announced departure of Father Fred from Corpus Christi was one of shock and sadness. I came into the Roman Catholic Faith as an adult at St. Timothy parish in Laguna Niguel and met Fr Fred there. Although we had never met before, I felt like I was meeting an old friend. When the outreach to Aliso Viejo started, my wife and I followed him just to see what it would be like (not that we weren’t already hooked). I have respect for Bishop Tod Brown but am wondering why this move is being done now when we are barely half way to finishing our church. Yes, we the community, are Corpus Christi but Fr Fred is the foundation that this parish is/was built upon. We (my wife and I) have discussed this quite a bit since the announcement and although my faith in God is not shaken, my faith in the Roman Catholic Church, and in particular the Diocese of Orange is somewhat in question. Bishop Tod, with all due respect,what were you thinking?

To all of the responses above, I agree. Father Fred is the ONLY priest who did NOT condemn me because I was divorced. He listened to me, held my hand when I cried and consoled my current spouse when we could not marry in the Catholic church. Who is going to care about us and the church as much as Father Fred? NOBODY. Bishop Todd, you really need to take a moment and reflect on all of the wrong decisions you have made. This is definitely one those poor decisions.

Although in my own selfishness I would never want Fr. Fred to leave us, it's not hard to deduce a possible plan for him. Even today as he said he doesn't know the Bishop's plan and that the Pastor for the new Cathedral has already been announced, the Diocese needs a leader and a motivator to run their $200M dollar pledge drive to pay for the Cathedral and other renovations around the Diocese. ( see the fund raising plan on the Diocese website ). Who better to tackle this task than the number one PSA producer of all Orange Diocesan Priests? Our beloved Pastor. It's hard to accept the plan to take him from us at all let alone for a staff job, but the Lord must have a plan here. I support Fr. Fred in his decision to honor whatever they have planned even though it's probably the toughest assignment he's ever been given. I will think of him every time I step through doors of Corpus Christi and he will surely be missed. God Bless you on you journey Father, Mike Lantz.