Bishop Vann is a graduate of Springfield’s St. Agnes Grade and Griffin High schools. He attended Springfield College and earned a  Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology from Millikin University, located in Decatur, Illinois. After working for three years as a medical technologist, he entered the seminary in l976, spending a year at the Immaculate Conception Diocesan Seminary in Springfield and four years at Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, majoring in theology.

After his ordination on May 30, l981, he was assigned to graduate studies in Canon Law at the Angelicum in Rome, with residence at the graduate house of the North American College, the Casa Santa Maria dell’ Umilta.

Upon returning to the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, then Father Vann was involved in the work of the Diocesan Tribunal and the Tribunal of Second Instance in Chicago. He served as pastor of parishes ranging in size from 35 to 1,300 families, two of which had large schools . He taught Canon Law at Kenrick Seminary. Before he was named bishop, he was pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Springfield, Vicar for Priests, and the Diocesan contact for Hispanic Ministry.

Bishop Vann was ordained and installed as the third bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth on Wednesday, July 13, 2005, at Texas Christian University’s Daniel – Meyer Coliseum.

In Texas, he collaborated closely with other bishops through the Texas Catholic Conference and Region X, which includes dioceses of States of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. He is the former Texas Bishops’ Liaison to the Texas Mission Council and Texas Catholic hospitals. And, through the U.S. Conference of Bishops, he works with bishops across the United States as well as globally.

Bishop Vann was a leader in the Texas Conference of Bishops, providing leadership for various initiatives at the national level, including service on ad hoc committee which assisted the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) to guide the incorporation of Anglican groups into the Catholic Church of the United States.

On September 21, 2012, His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI announced the appointment of Bishop Kevin W. Vann as the fourth Bishop of Orange. Bishop
Vann has led the Diocese of Orange – the 10th largest diocese in the country and the second – largest west of the Mississippi – in its multicultural mission to meet the social, economic and spiritual needs of the region’s increasingly diverse Catholic population. He led the historic effort to transform the former Crystal Cathedral from a world – renowned center of Protestant worship into the West Coast’s most visible center of Catholicism. Christ Cathedral was dedicated on July 17, 2019.

Served(s) on the following Committees:

• Vice President, California Catholic Conference of Bishops (CCC): Oct. 2019 – Present
• Secretary/Treasurer, California Catholic Conference of Bishops (CCC) : Oct. 201 6 – Oct. 2019
• Ecclesiastical Delegate for the Pastoral Provision : 2011 – Present
• Episcopal Moderator, Catholic Divorce Ministry : May 2010 – Present
• Member of the USCCB Canonical Affairs & Church Governance: Nov. 2020 – Present; 2009 – 2018
• Pontifical North American College Board: Nov. 2017 – Present
• Member of the USCCB Committee on Health Care Issues: 2016 – Present
• Member of the USCCB Committee on Migration : 2010 – Present
• Chairman of the Board of Directors of Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC): 2013 – 2019
• Member of the USCCB Committee on Catholic Education : 2013 – 2016
• Director, Cross Catholic International : 2012 – 2015
• International Dominican Foundation Board of Directors : 2007 – 2014
• Member of the USCCB Task Force on Health Care : 2009 – 2011

To connect with Bishop Kevin Vann, contact Santiago Avila.