US Bishops: Changes This Week and Upcoming

[davidc2]

Pope Benedict XVI made the following changes this week in the US:

Bishop Sylvester Donovan Ryan retired and Bishop Richard John Garcia was named Bishop of Monterey in California. Bishop Garcia had been serving as an Auxiliary Bishop of Sacramento.

Bishop William Benedict Friend retired as Bishop of Shreveport. No immediate replacement was named.

That makes 8 dioceses without bishops, namely:

• Birmingham, Alabama
• Great Falls-Billings, Montana
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
• Little Rock, Arkansas
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Salt Lake City, Utah
• Shreveport, Louisiana
• Youngstown, Ohio

An additional 10 dioceses have bishops which are now past the retirement age, namely:

• Amarillo, Texas: Bishop Yanta
• Baltimore, Maryland (a): Cardinal Keeler
• Crookston, Minnesota: Bishop Balke
• Dallas, Texas: Bishop Grahmann
• Detroit, Michigan (a): Cardinal Maida
• Lansing, Michigan: Bishop Mengeling
• Louisville, Kentucky (a): Archbishop Kelly
• Mobile, Alabama (a): Archbishop Lipscomb
• Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Missouri: Bishop Leibrecht
• Superior, Wisconsin: Bishop Fliss

There may yet be some additional changes this year - the time between Christmas Day and New Years Day is often fairly busy with appointments around the world.

 

[WanderAimlessly]

From what I have heard. Pope Benedict has asked Cardinal Maida to stay on longer. How long is anyone’s guess.

 

[davidc2]

Its pretty common for Cardinals to retain their sees longer, although they almost always retire before reaching 80. In this case Cardinal Maida is currently 76.76 and Cardinal Keeler is 75.80. I would not anticipate a quick retirement for either (unless health issues arise).

 

[chicago]

Was it not Pope John Paul’s practice, at least, to generally accept the resignations of cardinals at 80 (even though they were submitted at 75)?

I recall a story which Cardinal Hickey once told of having met with the pope and relating his desire to retire (at this time being past the age of 75). John Paul merely quipped back to him, “You look young!” and kept him on till he turned 80.

 

[davidc2]

Sometimes but not always. In the case of Cardinal O’Connor, he remained Archbishop of New York until his death which was about 4 months after he turned 80. On the other side we have Cardinal McCarrick who retired as Archbishop of Washington, D.C. before turning 76 (although during the papacy of Benedict XVI rather than JP2).

 

[chicago]

And, yet, in O’Connor’s case, was it not known that he was passing away already? So I can see why the pope would have just naturally allowed him to “die in office” rather than immediately appoint an adjudicator or accept resignation. It did seem as if the process for his replacement was already underway at the time of his death, considering that the appointment of Eddy Egan to suceed him followed in a particularly short time thereafter.