Bishop Changes in the USA

[Digitonomy]

I really don’t understand why a retirement normally would have to be accepted to begin the process of finding a new bishop…why not just hold off on leaving a see vacant until the Vatican is prepared to name a successor?

If there is a sitting bishop, he has the power to influence and sanction those within the diocese involved in the selection of a replacement. You seem to be more familiar than I am with the committees and so forth involved in the whole process, which determines where there could be undue pressure applied.

Besides the bishop actively applying inappropriate pressure in the selection process, all involved may behave differently if it is not known for sure that his resignation will be accepted.

Here is the issue I had heard about for the Bishop of Birmingham - notice the two announcements that the resignation had been accepted. I couldn’t find the details in a quick search… I think the issue was that it wasn’t actually published, as the Vatican’s publishing house suspends all activity upon the pope’s death - wouldn’t want rogue elements in the Vatican publishing papal edicts after all. As a result, even though it was accepted by John Paul, it did not take effect.

catechism.org/comm/archives/2005/05-088.shtml
nccbuscc.org/comm/archives/2005/05-116.shtml

 

[legeorge]

I am in the Diocese of Younstown too, and I have been praying that our long period of waiting for a new a shepherd will be rewarded with a wonderful new Bishop. I see it as penance and preparation, (in a sort of lenten spirit). We really, really need a good, strong, faithful Bishop in these parts. And we are blessed to have Monsignior Siffron serving our Diocese in the interim. He does a good job. I jokingly asked him if maybe he might be the next Bishop, and he shook his head and said “Oh, no”. I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t want the job either. Just keep up the prayers. All will work out the way God wants it in the end.

 

[davidc2]

Obviously I missed a few vacancies when I scanned the list. Oops. Oh the joys of dyslexia!

Of course you could just look at the page which lists vacancies in the US

As far as the timing of resignations and new appointments. Bottom line is that it varies a lot. Vacancies for whatever reason are typically filled in 6 to 18 months. Often resignations are held up until a replacement is ready, although there are cases where it can be accepted quite rapidly - especially if the bishop is ill.

The case of the Birmingham retirement was quite a mess. Typically decisions on resignations and appointments are made by the Holy Father and then within a few days or weeks its made public and official. The time lag is give the appropriate people a “heads up”, ask the bishop-designate if he’ll accept the office, biographies to be prepared, and other administrative type stuff.

So when it becomes obvious that a Pope is going to die rather soon (as was the case in the last days of March, 2005) the process is accelerated - because even though the Pope has made the decision, it isn’t yet officially published - and they can’t be published after his death. So in the period of two days you had literally weeks (dozens) of resignations and appointments hurriedly announced.

In all the confusion the Birmingham retirement was missed and was not formally published - but the information that his resignation was going to be accepted had already been given to the Nuncio and to the Bishop himself. The Nuncio proceeded to put out a press release, as is the normal practice, and this was picked up in the media (and on my own website).

Shortly after Pope John Paul II’s death, someone realized that the resignation had accidently not been formally accepted. So then things were publically corrected and his resignation was null and void. After Pope Benedict XVI was elected, he accepted the resignation.

 

[frleo]

I wonder if sometimes the delays for some dioceses might relate to whether or not they get a newly ordained bishop or a bishop transferred to their diocese. It might be that it takes longer when looking to ordain a new bishop as they may not be as well known and more research and inquiry is required before making an appropriate appointment. If it is a diocese that is typically assigned an experienced bishop, the process may be a bit quicker as the bishops and their qualifications are hopefully already well known.

This is just a random thought on my part and is not carefully researched. I could be off base on this, but it could explain some of the delays.