New Fresno Bishop Celebrates First Mass | Events

At the intersection of Bullard and Maroa Thursday, was a site sure to make drivers nearby do a double–take.

Hundreds of priests, dozens of bishops, three archbishops and a cardinal were all en route to celebrate the first mass of Armando Ochoa, Bishop of the Fresno Diocese.

"The Lord put me here, I have no doubt. And I know He knows how he's gonna use me. I'm ready to be used, in that sense of the word," Bishop Armando Ochoa said.

He's ready to be used after what's been an emotional year for Valley Catholics.

"It's a different day. There's a little sadness, it's ending that chapter, ending that era. And Bishop Steinbock, I was with him when he died. I was very close to him. So it's obviously personally a little challenging. But I think everyone's so joyful and so happy," Mary Kay Buckley said.

"Bishop John is a wonderful presence. I'm not here to replace him. I'm here to bring my style of servant leadership to the faith community," Bishop Ochoa said.

Bishop Ochoa uses that servant leadership to work on what he calls a 'broken immigration system.'

"Many of our undocumented have come looking for a better life, not only for themselves, but for their children and their children's children. So anything we can do to work and help the greater community at large understand many of our folks are not here to take advantage of the situation, but they really want to make ends meet for their families, and return to their countries of origin," Bishop Ochoa said.

During his interview with KMPH News, the Bishop also addressed sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.

"In a day and age, the most recent past where really the Roman Catholic Church has really taken it on the chin because of how we've handled or we've tried to handle the sexual abuse on part of just a small percentage, we really have to step up to the plate and do everything we can to regain the confidence of not only the Catholic community, but the community at large," he said.

Born in Oxnard, Bishop Ochoa is coming back to his California roots. Catholic leaders say Fresno is the perfect fit.

"Almost 25 years ago, I ordained him a bishop. So his Silver Jubilee is the end of February. You're getting a seasoned, experienced, good bishop who's going to be wonderful for you," Cardinal Roger Mahoney said.

Bishop Ochoa says he's happy to be back in California for a couple of reasons. He loves In–N–Out Burger and he loves bicycling as a way to burn off those burgers.

More than 1,000 people attended Thursday's installation for Bishop Ochoa.

Before coming to Fresno, he served as the fifth Bishop of El Paso for 15 years.