New US Bishops: Milwaukee Auxilaries

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What sort of criteria is used to determine whether a diocese warrants auxiliaries? Is it perhaps more based on the number of priests than the number of faithful? I ask because I see Latin American dioceses with HUGE populations of faithful but relatively few priests and no auxiliaries…while American dioceses with far fewer faithful but more priests get auxiliaries. Take Santo Domingo…over 3 MILLION faithful and no auxiliary bishops (though there are a couple emerita).
 
TWF,

It is often a matter of the Ordinary requesting assistance, and the Vatican either approving or denying it.

It could be that the Bishop has not requested to have an auxiliary, as that would remove a priest from the parish, and leave no one to replace him. The bishop might simply decide that the needs of the Diocese are better served by having the priest serve in the parish, than as a bishop in the Chancellery.
 
twf said:
What sort of criteria is used to determine whether a diocese warrants auxiliaries? Is it perhaps more based on the number of priests than the number of faithful? I ask because I see Latin American dioceses with HUGE populations of faithful but relatively few priests and no auxiliaries…while American dioceses with far fewer faithful but more priests get auxiliaries. Take Santo Domingo…over 3 MILLION faithful and no auxiliary bishops (though there are a couple emerita).
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I don’t know how things work “behind the scenes” but here’s an official statement on the matter:

"70. The Auxiliary Bishop.

The auxiliary Bishop, the principal co-worker of the diocesan Bishop in the governance of the diocese, is appointed in order to provide more effectively for the good of souls in a large or densely-populated diocese or for other reasons connected with the apostolate. The Bishop should therefore look upon the auxiliary as a brother and should involve him in his pastoral projects, decisions and in all diocesan initiatives, so that through their mutual exchange of ideas and opinions, they may proceed in unity and harmony in their intentions and endeavours. For his part, the auxiliary Bishop, conscious of his role at the heart of the diocese, should always act in complete obedience to the diocesan Bishop, respecting his authority.
  1. Criteria for Requesting an Auxiliary Bishop
a) When the needs of the diocese truly require it, the diocesan Ordinary who seeks the assistance of an auxiliary Bishop should make a petition to the Holy See, explaining his reasons. The request must not be motivated simply by considerations of honour or prestige.

b) When it is possible to provide adequately for the needs of the diocese by appointing Vicars general or episcopal Vicars without episcopal character, the diocesan Bishop should do so, instead of requesting the appointment of an auxiliary Bishop.

c) When requesting an auxiliary, the diocesan Bishop should present a detailed description of the offices and tasks which he intends to entrust to the auxiliary, even when it is a case of replacing an auxiliary Bishop who has been transferred elsewhere or who has resigned his office. In this way the diocesan Bishop personally avails himself of the opportunity to evaluate the quality of his episcopal service for the good of the whole diocese. The diocesan Bishop should not entrust the auxiliary Bishop with the care of a parish nor with tasks of a purely marginal or occasional nature." vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cbishops/documents/rc_con_cbishops_doc_20040222_apostolorum-successores_en.html#Chapter_IV

I don’t know if it can ever be said that an auxiliary is “required” but that is the term used above…

Dan
 
dans0622 said:
I don’t know how things work “behind the scenes” but here’s an official statement on the matter:

"70. The Auxiliary Bishop.

The auxiliary Bishop, the principal co-worker of the diocesan Bishop in the governance of the diocese, is appointed in order to provide more effectively for the good of souls in a large or densely-populated diocese or for other reasons connected with the apostolate. The Bishop should therefore look upon the auxiliary as a brother and should involve him in his pastoral projects, decisions and in all diocesan initiatives, so that through their mutual exchange of ideas and opinions, they may proceed in unity and harmony in their intentions and endeavours. For his part, the auxiliary Bishop, conscious of his role at the heart of the diocese, should always act in complete obedience to the diocesan Bishop, respecting his authority.
  1. Criteria for Requesting an Auxiliary Bishop
a) When the needs of the diocese truly require it, the diocesan Ordinary who seeks the assistance of an auxiliary Bishop should make a petition to the Holy See, explaining his reasons. The request must not be motivated simply by considerations of honour or prestige.

b) When it is possible to provide adequately for the needs of the diocese by appointing Vicars general or episcopal Vicars without episcopal character, the diocesan Bishop should do so, instead of requesting the appointment of an auxiliary Bishop.

c) When requesting an auxiliary, the diocesan Bishop should present a detailed description of the offices and tasks which he intends to entrust to the auxiliary, even when it is a case of replacing an auxiliary Bishop who has been transferred elsewhere or who has resigned his office. In this way the diocesan Bishop personally avails himself of the opportunity to evaluate the quality of his episcopal service for the good of the whole diocese. The diocesan Bishop should not entrust the auxiliary Bishop with the care of a parish nor with tasks of a purely marginal or occasional nature." vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cbishops/documents/rc_con_cbishops_doc_20040222_apostolorum-successores_en.html#Chapter_IV

I don’t know if it can ever be said that an auxiliary is “required” but that is the term used above…

Dan
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Interesting. Thanks. I’ve wondered about that too. In theory an auxiliary is never “required” as all of his authority / jurisdiction can be delegated to a presbyter vicar general (other than ordaining priests).
 
In some dioceses such as Philadelphia and Detroit, the auxiliary bishop often was a seminary rector. I don’t remember if one of these auxiliaries will be assigned to St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee.

I know my diocese put in a request a while back for a second auxiliary bishop.
 
There are a couple of reasons that Seminary officials, especially Rectors, are later chosen to be bishop (either as an Auxiliary or and ordinary).
  1. Seminaries are complex organizations with many pressures from different sources (their students, their dioceses/orders, teachers, Vatican requirements, accreditation agencies, etc.). In other words it is a good training ground for leadership in a diocese.
  2. When a priest is being considered, it is particularly important that more than 1 bishop knows/recommends them. Those in leadership roles in a seminary often have routine contact with the bishops of all the dioceses that send students there. (Doesn’t mean that they’ll be recommended, but at least they’ll be known - an important pre-requisite.)
  3. Typically leaders of a seminary get advanced degrees (if they don’t already have them) while in that role.
 
dans0622 said:
I don’t know how things work “behind the scenes” but here’s an official statement on the matter:

"70. The Auxiliary Bishop.

The auxiliary Bishop, the principal co-worker of the diocesan Bishop in the governance of the diocese, is appointed in order to provide more effectively for the good of souls in a large or densely-populated diocese or for other reasons connected with the apostolate. The Bishop should therefore look upon the auxiliary as a brother and should involve him in his pastoral projects, decisions and in all diocesan initiatives, so that through their mutual exchange of ideas and opinions, they may proceed in unity and harmony in their intentions and endeavours. For his part, the auxiliary Bishop, conscious of his role at the heart of the diocese, should always act in complete obedience to the diocesan Bishop, respecting his authority.
  1. Criteria for Requesting an Auxiliary Bishop
a) When the needs of the diocese truly require it, the diocesan Ordinary who seeks the assistance of an auxiliary Bishop should make a petition to the Holy See, explaining his reasons. The request must not be motivated simply by considerations of honour or prestige.

b) When it is possible to provide adequately for the needs of the diocese by appointing Vicars general or episcopal Vicars without episcopal character, the diocesan Bishop should do so, instead of requesting the appointment of an auxiliary Bishop.

c) When requesting an auxiliary, the diocesan Bishop should present a detailed description of the offices and tasks which he intends to entrust to the auxiliary, even when it is a case of replacing an auxiliary Bishop who has been transferred elsewhere or who has resigned his office. In this way the diocesan Bishop personally avails himself of the opportunity to evaluate the quality of his episcopal service for the good of the whole diocese. The diocesan Bishop should not entrust the auxiliary Bishop with the care of a parish nor with tasks of a purely marginal or occasional nature." vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cbishops/documents/rc_con_cbishops_doc_20040222_apostolorum-successores_en.html#Chapter_IV

I don’t know if it can ever be said that an auxiliary is “required” but that is the term used above…

Dan
Click to expand...
In my diocese, auxiliary bishops have usually served at the same time as a parish pastor going back decades. Years ago they would normally have an associate pastor, but the current auxiliary had a parish by himself for many years. Now he has no parish, but serves full time in the diocesan administration. (I wonder if this is a new policy, to not have care of a parish?)

Our diocese was increased to 2 auxiliaries in the mid 1960s. Then we were reduced to one auxiliary, starting around 1990. I have heard this is a common trend. I don’t know if this is specific to shrinking, rust belt dioceses, like ours, or if it is a general trend.

Since auxiliaries probably spend a lot of time relating to clergy and religious, I wonder if that is part of the reason why some arch dioceses have a higher ratio of bishops to Catholics overall. I suspect a see with lots of religious, and Catholic institutions, like Chicago, might have more bishops per million laity than dioceses in the sunbelt that sprung up in recent years. Maybe they think you need one bishop for every X number of clergy.

The other factor is the number of non Catholics. A see such as Atlanta is an archdiocese, even though it has far fewer Catholics than some dioceses. But the **archbishop **of Atlanta represents the Catholic Church to huge numbers of non Catholics. Also, archbishops of NY and Washington tend to have a part time national focus, which may require an extra auxiliary to handle local matters.
 
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