How Do Certain Priests Rise Up To Become Bishops?

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How Do Certain Priests Rise Up To Become Bishops?? And even higher office, Cardinals and so on??

I’ve met or seen Priests and I think, ‘he’d certainly be a good Bishop’ in my opinion. There is some sort of hierarchy or something. I have met Priests who worked for Bishops. I just ponder how the ladder one climbs in the Church works. I’m not even sure of the correct area for this question.
 
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Various priests and other Bishops make suggestions about who would be a good Bishop. When there is an open SEE, this “committee” makes suggestions which then go to the Vatican.
 
A priest somehow gets on the Bishop’s radar in the same way that a normal employee gets on a manager’s radar for promotion. The priest stands out in some way - he does a great job at some visible task, he’s excellent at raising funds, or is well connected, or presents himself especially well, shows an interest in handling more responsibility, makes his superiors look good, and/or perhaps is a member of a particular group whom the Bishop thinks should be more represented at higher levels (such as a minority, or bilingual, or traditionalist, etc.)

The priest likely gets some kind of diocesan job or task that makes him more visible to the bishop and auxiliary bishops and diocesan staff. He gets to know people.

Pretty soon when they need an auxiliary bishop or a permanent member of diocesan staff, he might get the job.

And then when it’s time to appoint a new bishop somewhere, he might get tapped for that job.

And so on… Networking seems to be a lot of it to be honest.

it also definitely seems like particular parishes might be “feeders” for diocesan jobs. The parishes in question that I’ve seen doing this are very large and have a lot going on, and usually the pastor is supervising a number of priests and deacons and a significant number of staff and lay volunteers. It’s like managerial preparation. The priest from some sleepy parish out in the hinterlands is unlikely to get called up for a diocesan job and often they will assign priests there who are either just starting out (if the priest does well, he gets a busier assignment) or perhaps are retirement age and need a less busy environment.
 
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Although it’s an old book and not totally up-to-date with modern times, the novel “The Cardinal” provided a very interesting account of how a fictional priest rose up to become a fictional Cardinal.
 
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Nowadays most new bishops have an earned doctorate, in Canon Law, Theology, or similar. If not a doctorate they at least have specialized training in Canon Law, and very likely have studied for a year in Rome at some point. He will very likely have served as Chancellor, and/,or Vicar General.

A newly minted bishop will have his first assignment as an auxiliary in his own diocese, or maybe as Ordinary at a small diocese elsewhere. It’s very rare for a bishop to become Ordinary in his home diocese.
 
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While from a secular source, the portion concerning bishops is pretty accurate, if I remember correctly.

Additionally, as said previously, an advanced degree of some sort is usually looked for - either a doctorate in theology or an advanced degree in canon law.
 
Well, the last priest in my Diocese who was elevated to bishop did not have a doctorate or a canon law degree and had never studied in Rome. He was our Vocations Director and was invited to spend several years as spiritual director at a major seminary. At the end of that assignment he had just been assigned to a very small parish when he received the call from the Nuncio. Sadly, he was assigned as an auxiliary bishop in another Diocese.

Our bishop recommended him to be a bishop and often senior priests in a vacant Diocese are sent questionnaires from the Nuncio asking who they recommend to be the administrator and the next bishop.
 
A particular priest will come on the “radar” for whatever reason - it might be their experience in handling a large parish, the position in a seminary or just their overall skills in pastoral care and administration.

When there’s a need for a new bishop, a list of names is submitted to the Nuncio (the Pope’s representative) who then makes enquiries amongst varying people (priests and others), by sending them a questionnaire asking about the candidate’s varying personal and pastoral qualities and attributes. The enquiry process is conducted “sub secreto pontificio” - under pontifical secret) - how confidential that is exactly is debatable but, let’s just put it this way - if you ever receive such a letter, and don’t want to be trusted with anything important ever again, then feel free to put it on Facebook!).

The Nuncio then collates these responses and sends a recommendation (which can be of several names) to the Congregation for Bishops (or Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples in the case of mission territories) in Rome who then make a recommendation to the Holy Father. The bishop-elect is then contacted by the Nuncio and asked if he will accept.
 
Very good summary of the process.

Something that is taken into account in the process is the state of the vacant diocese. What are the needs? What are the characteristics? A diocese has had few seminarians in recent years may get a bishop who has demonstrated skill in promoting vocations. A diocese that is in dire financial straits may get a bishop with good financial acumen. A largely urban diocese likely will get a bishop from an urban background; similarly, a rural diocese likely will get a bishop from a rural background.

Of course, these are generalizations and each decision has its own unique characteristics.
 
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