The Bishop is Coming!

By Thomas J. Reese, S.J.
published as "Ubi Episcopus, Ibi Ecclesia," Church 10 (Summer 1994): 18-21
Copyright © 1994 by National Pastoral Life Center
All rights reserved

"The bishop is coming! The bishop is coming!" This simple announcement can strike terror into the hearts of the pastor and pastoral ministers of a parish. The bishop's visit to a parish is not something that the parish staff normally looks forward to with eager anticipation. If the bishop is coming for Confirmation, the staff will have to prepare the candidates, practice the ceremonies, and make sure that everything goes smoothly during his visit. If the bishop is coming for a pastoral visit, then speculation will be rife: "What does he want? Why is he coming?"

It is not only episcopal visits that cause shaking knees among parish staffs. A letter or telephone call from the chancery can be just as nerve racking: "Has someone complained to the bishop? Is he upset about something? Did he find out about what happened last week?"

Although for most members of the parish the bishop is a distant unknown character, for the parish staff the bishop can be the most significant person whose approval or disapproval can affect almost every pastoral program. A complaint from the bishop will cause many sleepless nights, hours of staff meetings, and indigestion. On the other hand, a word of thanks, a letter of congratulations from the bishop will be treasured. If he defends the staff against attack, they will canonize him.

Who is this man who can have such an impact on the pastoral team of a parish? What are his concerns, how is he appointed, how does he look at his parishes, and what is the best way to deal with him?

The most important key to understanding the American bishops is to examine the process by which they are appointed. Most bishops were originally launched on their ecclesiastical careers by their own local bishop. As young priest he caught the attention of his local bishop because of his talent and loyalty. The seminary rector might have pointed him out to the bishop as somebody to keep an eye on.

The typical career pattern of a priest who becomes a bishop is to work a couple of years as an associate pastor and then be placed in the chancery by the bishop either in the tribunal or some other office. He might be sent off to the Catholic University of America or to Rome to get a graduate degree in canon law or theology. His career would most probably continue in the chancery where he might hold a number of different positions: assistant chancellor, chancellor, secretary to the bishop, moderator of the curia, or director of personnel or finances. In these jobs, the priest gets some management experience. He learns about the strengths and weaknesses of the diocese; where the bodies are buried and which bodies should be buried. An alternative career pattern is to teach and then become rector of the seminary. In a large diocese, becoming an auxiliary bishop is an essential step up the career ladder. Most bishops are auxiliary bishops before they become diocesan bishops.

The appointment process begins when the bishops of a province gather under the chairmanship of the archbishop to draw up a list of potential candidates for bishops. The names of priests that are put forward at this closed meeting are discussed and voted on in a secret ballot by the bishops of the province. It is not surprising that each bishop puts forward those priests who have served him well in his chancery or seminary. Nor is it surprising that these are the priests who would be best known by the other bishops. A bishop is much more likely to know the chancellor of a neighboring diocese than the pastor of some inner-city parish.

The list of candidates approved by the province bishops is sent to the pro-nuncio, the pope's representative in Washington, who keeps this list for reference when vacancies occur. If the vacancy is for an auxiliary bishop, the diocesan bishop draws up a list of three names that he submits to the pro-nuncio along with his reasons for nominating these priests. If the vacancy is for a diocesan bishop, the list of three names (which might include priests and bishops) is drawn up by the pro-nuncio, but the outgoing bishop or acting administrator would do a report on the needs of the diocese that would be sent to Rome.

The pro-nuncio conducts his own investigation of the candidates without actually contacting them. Information is collected on the candidates personal background, education, and previous assignments. The pro-nuncio sends a confidential questionnaire to people who know the candidate and asks about his qualifications for being a bishop. The recipients are forbidden to tell the candidate about the questionnaire. Although the questionnaire lists fourteen topic areas, including a request for additional names of people who know the candidate, the cover letter indicates that the questionnaire is to serve as an orientation and the information can be given "in a discursive manner so as to develop fully your observations." (For a copy of the questionnaire, see my Archbishop: Inside the Power Structure of the American Catholic Church).

The questions on orthodoxy (item 6) indicate that a priest supporting the ordination of women, optional priestly celibacy, or birth control would not be made a bishop. The pope has numerous times made clear that he is seeking candidates who reflect his views on doctrine and church discipline. This is especially true in the appointment of archbishops who the Vatican hopes will then screen the candidates in their provinces.

After the pro-nuncio completes his investigation, he sends his report with the three names to the Congregation for Bishops in Rome. Two thirds of the cardinals on this congregation are Vatican officials, and the others, residing outside Rome, cannot often attend its weekly meetings. The only Americans on the congregation are Cardinal John O'Connor of New York and Cardinals William Baum and Edmund Szoka, who both work in Rome. Also on the congregation is Cardinal Pio Laghi, the most recent pro-nuncio in Washington. The head of the congregation's staff is Archbishop Justin Rigali, originally a priest of Los Angeles. These cardinals decide who will be recommended to the Pope who makes the final decision.

Once a bishop is appointed, there is no training program to prepare him for his diocese. He is thrown into the water and told to swim. If as a priest he worked in a chancery, he might have learned what bishops do by watching his own bishop. A period as an auxiliary bishop can be helpful, but some auxiliaries report that they were more involved in the administration of the diocese when they were as a priest. As auxiliary bishops much of their time is taken up with liturgical and ceremonial functions that their bishops are too busy to attend to.

When the bishop arrives, he finds a diocese with personnel and pastoral programs in place, and normally he will only make incremental changes in these programs over time, unless financial problems cause major budget cuts. Despite all the talk of empowering the laity, the key personnel in the diocese are the priests for the simple reason that the bishop is stuck with them (and they are stuck with him) until death (or age 75) do they part. A wise bishop cultivates this important constituency. If they do not support him, he will be in serious trouble. While the bishop can order an end to certain programs and practices, he will be less successful ordering the priests to do anything. And the more popular programs he kills, the more difficulty he will have persuading priests to support changes in policies, especially those policies that require more than simple external conformity. Thus when a bishop wants to have the diocese do Renew or change its catechetical program, it requires more than a episcopal fiat, it requires hours of consultation and persuasion.

Appointing Pastors

The most important role that a bishop plays in a parish is the appointment of its pastor. Most Catholics (and pastoral ministers) care much more about who their pastor is than who their bishop is. The pastor's impact is felt in the parish everyday: who he puts in charge of religious education (CCD), who he hires as choir director, who does he encourage to be communion ministers and lectors, how he interacts with the parish council. In the confessional, in preaching, and in presiding at the liturgy, the pastor affects the lives of each member of the community in a very personal way.

The appointment of pastors has become more difficult now that pastors have six-year terms. Each year 16 percent or more of the parishes must get new pastors. Ideally, the bishops wants to find the priest who perfectly fits the needs of each parish. Human reality rarely reaches this ideal. Each diocese has only a few superstars. As the clergy gets older and fewer in numbers, the problem gets worse.

Not surprisingly, bishops have found priest personnel issues, including the appointment of pastors, as the most difficult part of their jobs. Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago reports that 30 percent of his time is now devoted to dealing with cases of sexual abuse by priests. But the everyday personnel issues are also time consuming and difficult because it is impossible to make decisions that please everyone. Almost all of the bishops have established priest personnel boards to help them by making recommendations on assignments. Besides spreading the blame for unpopular decisions, the boards also provide bishops with insights into the abilities and shortcomings of his priests. This is especially important to bishops new to the diocese.

Members of the board (plus the regional auxiliary bishop if there is one) will visit a parish to inquire into the needs and desires of the people. Since everyone wants the perfect priest (Jesus with an MBA and perfect pitch), the visits can often appear to be a waste of time to members of the board. But the visits can allow the board members to get a feel for the people in the parish (liberal or conservative, involved or passive, upset or content). They can also spot divisions and potential problems the new pastor may face. For example, sparks would fly if the bishop appointed an authoritarian priest to a liberal, activist parish where the old pastor had delegated most decisions. After visiting the parishes and consulting the desires of the priests, the personnel board then tries to match priests to parishes. Just when they think they have it figured out, a death or resignation from the priesthood can throw the best laid plan of the personnel board into total confusion.

Some personnel board members enjoy putting parishes on the defensive by asking, "Why would any priest want to come to this parish?" This is a good question since bishops often let a priest refuse an assignment rather than force the priest into a parish where he (and consequently the people) will be unhappy.

Bishops have been finding it difficult to fill vacancies in big parishes with schools, especially if they are broke. What used to be the ultimate goal of every priest (a large parish with school), is now seen as a burden. One personnel director jokingly says, "The ideal assignment is no debt, no school, no associate, no nuns, and no work." Nor are priests falling over each other to get a parish that is divided into factions. But ultimately, the board has to fill the vacancies with the priests available. Sometimes the bishop has to be called into persuade a man to take a tough parish. One priest personnel director complained that the church's reward structure was backward: "The better job you do, the more difficult the parish you get; the worse job you do, the easier the parish you get."

Parish Visitations

When the bishop does visit, he usually gets only an impressionistic view of the parish. Few bishops, such as Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk of Cincinnati, have a well-designed formal process of visitation where they spend a whole day at the parish. If there is a school, he would spend five minutes in each class and then meet with the teachers for an hour. He also meets with the parish staff, which could include the school principal, director of religious education, youth minister, liturgy minister, organist, permanent deacon, and others.

"I meet with them as a group," explains Archbishop Pilarczyk. "I ask everybody to tell me what they do, and we just go around the circle. `I do this and this and this.' But the pastor will say, `Yeah, but you also do such and such.' It's a nice thing."

In the evening, the bishop will usually have dinner with the priests. Then there would be a liturgy and afterwards a meeting with the parish council. Archbishop Pilarczyk also asks the council, "What do you like about your parish and what would you like to see going on in the next few years?"

In a formal visit, the bishop has more time to listen to people's concerns and ask questions about what they are doing. But such visits are time consuming. Many bishops complain that they do not have enough time to do these visits properly. In bigger dioceses, the bishop cannot make long visits at many parishes; the auxiliaries will have to bear the brunt of parish visitations.

But most bishops only make quick visits to parishes for confirmations or other ceremonies. Here they can lead by example as did Archbishop John May of St. Louis who insisted at his liturgies that there be women involved as lectors and communion ministers, that there be singing, and that the cup be offered to the people. This led to the clerical joke: "What does it take to keep the archbishop happy? Wine, women and song."

The bishop can also observe the liturgy, for if it is not well prepared during his visit he can be sure that it is worse on a normal Sunday. Nor is it wise to be excessively innovative when the bishop visits. During one confirmation ceremony, a dancer pranced through the sanctuary and presented the bishop with a balloon. He turned to the pastor and said, "If she asks for someone's head, it is going to be yours."

After the liturgy if the bishop mingles with the people he is also apt to get an ear full. Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb of Mobile was approached by a girl who had just received confirmation. "She is in tears not because she has received the Holy Spirit, but because she cannot serve Mass," he reported. "Here is her chance to confront the bishop up close." This led him to conclude that somebody "has got the preparation and instruction of those children all mixed up if they have made this kind of value so paramount in their lives as to cause drastic warps in their faith life."

The smart pastor does not leave such encounters to chance. He will attempt to surround the bishop during his visit with prudent people who are his supporters in the parish. The smart pastor makes sure that the bishop hears good news during his visit. A word of thanks for what he has done for the parish and the church will not go unappreciated by a man who mostly hears complaints.

Because of the criteria used in the appointment of bishops, it is not surprising that bishops are concerned about observance of church discipline and the orthodoxy of religious education programs. Although the American bishops are trying to get Rome to approve altar girls, they still feel uncomfortable presiding at a liturgy where they are present because it makes them appear to be in opposition to Rome. Likewise they will insist on following the canonical recipe for communion bread and the official liturgical texts and rubrics.

When the bishop visits the parish, it need not be a time of fear and trembling. Most bishops have been pastors and are sympathetic to the challenges faced in trying to serve the needs of a parish. Admitting mistakes and shortcomings, with the promise to work on them, is often the best policy. Most of all, try to help the bishop enjoy his visit. He entered the priesthood because he wanted to minister to people not to become a paper-pushing bureaucrat. He prizes his time out of the office, give him a chance to enjoy it and to celebrate with God's people.

National Conference of Catholic Bishops

Besides his work in the diocese, the bishop has an impact on the parishes through his work in the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. This is the organization that must approve all liturgical texts and ceremonies. Most recently it has approved a lectionary using inclusive language and established norms for lay preaching. It also authored the National Catechetical Directory and numerous other documents that have affected parish life. At the June 1993 meeting, for example, they discussed the age of confirmation, one of the most divisive issues in the conference.

Conclusion

The bishop is an extremely important person in the life of the parish as is proper since he is the head of the local church, the vicar of Christ in his diocese. His job is difficult as he tries to navigate his church through the storms of the post-Vatican II world. Keeping the ship in one piece while avoiding the rocks is not easy when many on board, including the crew, do not have great confidence in his leadership. Yet most of these men seem to enjoy the job. Few say no when asked by the Pope to be bishops. Few retire before they must at age 75.

Thomas J. Reese, S.J., is the author of Archbishop: Inside the Power Structure of the American Catholic Church (Harper & Row, 1989) and A Flock of Shepherds: The National Conference of Catholic Bishops (Sheed & Ward, 1992).

See also