This month, our prayer intention is dedicated to our Bishops. Let us pray for them that they may continue to be filled with the Holy Spirit as they shepherd their flocks. May they continue to be men of deep faith, integrity and compassion.
a. The Diocesan Bishops are in charge of a "Diocese" which is (usually) a geographical area made of local communities (parishes) of the faithful. The Bishop is the superior of all the priests (except those belonging to religious orders) in his dioceses, as well as the local spiritual leader of all the faithful of his diocese.
b. The Titular Bishop (or, as he was called before 1882 the episcopus in partibus infedelium) have no ordinary jurisdiction. They cannot perform any episcopal function without the authorization of the diocesan bishop. They can; however, act as auxiliary bishops, i.e. they may be appointed by the pope to assist a diocesan bishop in the exercise of duties arising from the episcopal order but entailing no power of jurisdiction.
2. The process of identifying priests with the qualities desired in a bishop is an ongoing process, even if there are no vacancies. The church is very explicit about the qualities that must be present in a candidate to the episcopacy.
- a good pastor of souls and teacher of the Faith
- enjoy a good reputation
- of irreproachable morality
- endowed with right judgment and prudence
- even-tempered and of stable character
- firmly hold the orthodox Faith
- devoted to the Apostolic See and faithful to the magisterium of the church
- have a thorough knowledge of dogmatic and moral theology and canon law (Canon law is the
body of laws and regulations made by or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the
government of the Christian organization and its members)
- outstanding for their piety, their spirit of sacrifice and their pastoral zeal
- have an aptitude for governing.
- Consideration is also be given to "intellectual qualities, studies completed, social sense, spirit of
dialogue and cooperation, openness to the signs of the times, praise-worthy impartiality, family
background, health, age and inherited characteristics."
3. The process of installing a new Bishop consists of two parts: identifying priests with the necessary qualities, and selecting the one who best fills a specific vacancy.
a. Periodically, the bishops of a province meet under the chairmanship of their archbishop to consider the names of priests who are possible candidates for the episcopacy. At the provincial meeting, a list of candidates for the episcopacy is assembled, voted on and forwarded to the apostolic nuncio (A nuncio represents the Holy Father to both a nation's civil government - as ambassador - and the Catholic Church in that nation). While the nuncio could nominate for bishop someone not from this pool of candidates, and the pope could appoint any priest he wanted, most appointments come from these lists.
b. When a diocese becomes vacant, the second part of the process gets underway – the search for the specific person who will fill a specific vacancy.
- The nuncio chooses several candidates to suggest to Rome from among the names which have been submitted. The nuncio's recommendations to Rome are based on his own extensive investigation of the needs of the diocese and each candidate's suitability for that particular diocese. During his investigation the nuncio sends a confidential questionnaire on the candidate to people who know him. The questions address the physical, intellectual, moral, spiritual, social, and priestly characteristics that one would hope for in a bishop. Those questioned include priests, religious and laity. Some are suggested by the priest's diocesan bishop, others are diocesan officials or people the nuncio has gotten to know personally. The laity consulted tend to be officers in diocesan lay organizations or on diocesan advisory committees. Each is told to answer the questions without consulting others. They cannot tell anyone, especially the candidate, that they have received the questionnaire.
- After the nuncio has examined the responses to the questionnaires, he prepares the "terna," a list of three candidates, and writes a report extracting and synthesizing the content of the consultation and giving his own judgment. The terna and the report are sent to the Congregation for Bishops in Rome, and no bishop sees them unless he is a member of that congregation. The report gives a description of the diocese, describes the process the nuncio went through in selecting the candidates, describes the candidates and gives the nuncio's recommendations.
- When the nuncio's report arrives at the Congregation for Bishops, the members discuss the appointment under the chairmanship of the prefect. The congregation then votes on the candidates and attaches its own recommendations to the report.
- The final step in the appointment process occurs when the prefect of the Congregation for bishops presents the nuncio's, the congregation's, and his own recommendations to the pope in a private audience. The prefect summarizes the discussions of the congregation and reports any dissenting opinions. The pope may ask for more information about the candidates, or may even ask for other candidates to be proposed. In the end however, the pope, led by the Holy Spirit, makes the appointment.
- After the pope makes his decision, the nuncio is notified, who then approaches the nominee and asks if he will accept the appointment. When the candidate accepts, Rome is notified and a date is set for the announcement. Although the process normally takes four to eight months, it can be much shorter or much longer. The right of consecrating a bishop belongs to the sovereign pontiff, who generally permits the newly selected to be consecrated by three bishops of his own choice. The consecration ought to take place on a Sunday or on the feast of an Apostle, by preference in the cathedral church of the diocese or at least within the ecclesiastical province.
4. Accompanied with the appointment of a new bishop comes his rights and powers as well as obligations to the Church and his jurisdiction.
a. Rights and Powers of a Bishop
- The bishop is the only ordinary minister of the Sacrament of Confirmation .
- A bishop is forbidden to exercise the Pontificalia — i.e. to perform episcopal functions in another diocese — without the consent of the ordinary, i.e. the proper bishop .
- Besides the power of order, bishops possess that of jurisdiction; they have the right to prescribe for the faithful the rules which the latter must follow in order to obtain eternal salvation. The power of jurisdiction is of Divine origin, in the sense that the pope is held to establish in the Church bishops whose mission it is to direct the faithful in the way of salvation. The bishops have then in their dioceses an ordinary jurisdiction, limited, however, by the rights that the pope can reserve to himself in virtue of his primacy. But this jurisdiction is independent of the will and consent of the faithful, and even of the clergy.
b. Obligations
- All their efforts must aim at preserving the true faith and a high moral tone among the people; they attain this end by good example, by preaching, by daily solicitude for the good administration of the diocese, and by prayer.
- Canon law has determined more fully this obligation, and imposes upon the bishops the obligation of celebrating Mass for the faithful of their dioceses every Sunday, on the feast days of obligation
and on the abrogated feast days.
- The bishop is bound to take special care of the education of youth and of the training of his clergy; he must exercise continual vigilance over the latter and assist them with his counsels.
- All Bishops are also required to submit a quinquennial report to the Pope (ie, every five years) reporting on their diocese and any problems that may have arisen in their diocese or difficulties the faithful are facing. At about the time that this quinquennial report is required, the Bishops of the region make their visit Ad Limina Apostolorum where they travel to Rome to pray before the Tombs of Sts Peter and Paul and to mee individually with the Holy Father to ensure he is kept aware of the state of the Church throughout the world.
5. All Bishops (except the Pope, Bishop of Rome) are required by Canon Law to tender their resignation if sickness or other grave reasons make them incapable of carrying on their role, or when they reach the age of 75.
References:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02581b.htm
http://frpat.com/bishopchoice.htm
http://www.catholic-pages.com/hierarchy/bishops.asp
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