Source: Los Angeles Times

On October 28, 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported that Roman Catholic Bishop Tod Brown of Orange County, California will become the church's national leader of interfaith affairs. The appointment comes one day after a historic agreement in Germany between the Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church that erases the more than 400-year-old theological conflict over the place of faith and good works in earning God's grace. Brown will mark the agreement with an unusual joint service Sunday night, October 31st, with Murray Finck, bishop of the Pacifica Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Brown, commenting on the new appointment, stated: "My priority here is to be the best shepherd of our church community that I can be...It's an exciting time to be in the area of ecumenism." Brown will serve a three-year term as chairman of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops' Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs Committee and plans to travel, meet with religious leaders on the international level, and possibly draft future pacts with other faiths. Brown also plans ecumenical progress in Orange County, with plans for regional dialogues between Muslims and Catholics set to begin in February.