Meeting the Bishop

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EqualinHim

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Hi,

So, recently, our Diocese received a new bishop. Bishop Knestout will be making a ‘progress’ of sorts and visiting our parish and CCM on different dates. I’m going to attend mass when he visits our parish. It was also announced that we’d be having a reception to welcome him and give some of our parishioners a chance to greet him. In a setting like this, how should I greet him? I’m an RCIA candidate and I really hope that some of the other Catechumens and Candidates have a chance to greet him! I understand that, in a formal setting, it’s appropriate for people to kiss his ring. But this is an informal setting, right? So I’m guessing I should just greet him respectfully with a handshake. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
 
A handshake is generally fine.
People used to kiss the Bishop’s ring. Nowadays, most Bishops are a bit embarrassed by that sort of thing.
I believe the proper way to address a Bishop is “Your Excellency”, but people also just call them “BIshop (Lastname)” as in “I’m very pleased to meet you, Bishop Knestout.”
 
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My bishop is very laid back when it comes to titles and putting him on high on the podium does not interest him at all. We call him bishop “first name” or cardinal “last name”. Before he was ordained as bishop he was living in a monastery. i remember when we had had mass outdoors and were mingling afterwards, he just walked around and talked with people like any other person would do. He asked me how we were all doing in my parish X and had a keen interest in how we were doing. I was surprised that he remembered which parish I come from.
 
Extend your hand to shake his and say," Hello Bishop, so nice to meet you!"

He puts his pants on one leg at a time!
 
Your Excellency is the proper address, no ring kiss. Then that allows him to tell you if he would like to be addressed differently. That is etiquette, not religion, or a statement about how he puts his pants on. I would also wait for him to put out his hand for a handshake rather than initiating.

I met a cardinal once and researched it. I said “Pleased to meet you, your Eminence.” He was very gracious, but he did not put out his hand, so I would have looked like an idiot of I had.

BTW, I am in the Richmond diocese also. Bishop Knestout seems like a great and holy man.

A funny story about honorifics happened when one of the US’s first “super athletes” Jim Thorpe, made a huge sweep of medals at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. At the closing ceremonies King Gustav V walked up to Thorpe and told him, “Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world!” To which Thorpe reportedly replied, “Thanks, king!”

I also remember the Three Stooges gag where they met some sultan, “Please to meetcha, yer Munificence!”
 
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Don’t be afraid to kiss the ring–it’s for Christ, not for the man who is a bishop. So if he puts out his hand for it, don’t take it to mean he thinks he’s hot stuff or that he is all high and mighty–it is for Christ
 
jfz178 said:
At the closing ceremonies King Gustav V walked up to Thorpe and told him, “Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world!” To which Thorpe reportedly replied, “Thanks, king!”
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I heard a similar story about Calvin Coolidge meeting Babe Ruth. When introduced to the President, Babe apparently responded with, “Hot as he**, ain’t it, Prez?”
 
Yeah, if you want to, go for it. I was just saying is not expected or generally done, except in special ceremonies. We had a saying the military about saluting: You salute the hat, not the person. What that meant is you are saluting that person’s role, not the person himself. With a bishop that is even more important because of Who he represents.
 
I typically won’t kiss the ring, but I will respectfully bow my head as I shake a bishop’s hand.
That being said, when I met the, then, Primate of Canada, I did genuflect and kiss the ring…many people genuflected (left knee of course) to His Eminence. We honour the office and Christ Himself, whose vicars bishops are.
 
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In formal settings, there is not a specific protocol which indicates that one is to kiss the bishop’s ring. I have no doubt there are some bishops who either would expect their ring to be kissed, or at least not object to it. However, it appears to be something that is moving towards dying out.

As we have information going back to the early 600’s indicating that bishops have rings, the ring itself has a long tradition. How far back the tradition of kissing the ring goes may be debatable, and due to what influences may also be debatable.

Several points, however, are not debatable; 1) we have become far less formal than even 60 years ago; 2) rightly or wrongly, some may attach kissing the ring to issues having to do with the centuries long fact that the Church was not only a spiritual leader, but also a temporal leader. That, in large part, came to an end with the loss of the Papal States.

The bishop may, or someone on his staff may indicate that the bishop a) does not want people kissing his ring; b) would tolerate it, and/or c) appreciates it. One can always call that chancery and ask ahead of time. It is a bit disconcerting to find, in the act of kissing or attempting to kiss the ring, that the bishop does not prefer that act.
 
Thankfully, our church has issued some guidance about meeting our new bishop. The new bishop is a bit more formal and prefers to be called “Your Excellency”. He also prefers to meet people in small groups rather than one-by-one. I recently met Bishop Kurt, bishop of the Eparchy of Passaic (Ruthenian rite byzantine). That meeting took place in a parish hall surrounded by 50 people after he baptized my friend’s son, and we talked for a good ten minutes or more. Meeting my own bishop, however, looks to be a very different matter. It’ll likely be surrounded by hundreds of people, and only a brief introduction or short conversation will take place. I’ll be able to say that I’ve met bishops from two major rites of the Catholic church.
 
I’m guessing it depends on what’s the norm, I can imagine a gesture like kissing the bishops ring would be more in keeping in some cultures than others.
 
Why? From what I’ve read about Archbishop Rummel, he seemed a decent fellow and an entrepreneur and a force to be reckoned with.
 
I’ve shaken the hands of several bishops and archbishops. Though, I’ve never kissed the ring.

I simply extend my hand and address him as “Your Excellency” (“Your Eminence” if a Cardinal)

NOTE: please do not use “Your Grace” unless this is an Archbishop in England or a bishop/archbishiop in Ireland. Reason, the style of “Your Grace” is for people who are considered nobility, on the level of a duke.

The United States does not have dukes, nor has the United States ever had a duke.
 
And if you’re lucky enough meeting a Franciscan Bishop (boston), “Brother” would not be frowned on by the (Arch)Bishop, although I’m sure it would bother some observers.
 
Hereiam said:
And if you’re lucky enough meeting a Franciscan Bishop (boston), “Brother” would not be frowned on by the (Arch)Bishop, although I’m sure it would bother some observers.
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Yeah… the issue there is that’s not even the correct way to address a Franciscan priest.

It’s Father or Friar. “Brother” would be how you address a Fransciscan who isn’t a priest (aka a Deacon or Lay Brother)
 
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phil19034 said:
It’s Father or Friar. “Brother” would be how you address a Fransciscan who isn’t a priest (aka a Deacon or Lay Brother)
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Uh, no…and you proved my point. The Friar, ordained or not, would not take offense to “Brother”…only those who don’t know many Franciscans would get worked up about it…and, by the by, “Deacon” is an appropriate title for a Franciscan transitional deacon, but again, they would take no offense in “Brother”.
 
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Your Grace is used in Canada for Archbishops as well.

It’s also used for various Eastern bishops… in the US and Canada.
 
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This has often been the case, but traditionally Franciscans were always “brother”. The superior is Father whether he’s a priest or not.
 
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