Pope tells nuncios to select bishops close to the people they will serve; Scotland awaits four appointments

[lizardley]

Pope Francis has told his ambassadors to the world’s nations to always carry Christ with them.

At a meeting in the Vatican this morning, the Holy Father also told the more than 400 gathered pontifical representatives to help select new bishops that are close to the people they will serve.

Scotland is expecting a Vatican episcopal appointment for St Andrews and Edinburgh Archdiocese this month — according to Archbishop Antonio Mennini, the Holy See’s Nuncio to the UK—and further appointments to Paisley and Dunkeld Dioceses after the summer. Motherwell Diocese is also without a bishop, which means four out of the eight Scottish dioceses currently await bishops to be named.

Full report: sconews.co.uk/news/29439/pope-tells-nuncios-to-select-bishops-close-to-the-people-they-will-serve/

 

[Joe_5859]

That doesn’t sound much different to what Benedict had been doing. I noticed that most of his episcopal appointments tended to be like that. Most often, it seemed to be someone who was not from the same diocese but from one nearby.

I always thought that was a pretty good approach because having a fairly local boy who is more familiar with the general area is often a plus. But then – in light of the “no prophet is without honor except in his hometowm” phenomenon – taking someone from the very same diocese brings its own challenges sometimes.