Involving the Laity with the Clergy in the Selection of our Bishops
The final document of the 2024 Synod, paragraph 70, says: “A bishop’s service is a service in, with and for the community. It is carried out through the proclamation of the Word and by presiding over the celebration of the Eucharist and the other sacraments. This is why the Synodal Assembly desires that the People of God have a greater voice in choosing bishops.” Involving the people in the selection of their bishops goes back to the early Church. In 428, Pope Celestine created a phrase which was to resonate for centuries throughout Latin Christianity: “No bishop is to be given to those who do not want him: the agreement and wish of the clergy, people and local council (ordo) are necessary.” Less than twenty years later, in 445, Pope Leo the Great went on to coin a principle which goes even further than Celestine’s: “who is to preside over all, must be elected by all.”
Following through on this proposal, on Saturday, November 23, several int’l networks are collaborating to sponsor an online event exploring ways to involve the whole community in the selection of their bishops and pastors. To find the times for you in your locale, click on Our Universal Calendar. A good time to introduce this practice in today’s world is upon their retirement.
For so many reasons, certainly not the least of which is the sexual abuse of clergy and its coverup by bishops, discussion will begin with Margaret Mary Moore (MSW, Columbia U; MA, St. Louis U; STB & STL, Louvain) explaining why the current system of having the Apostolic Nuncio make recommendations without any consultation involving the people, and a handful of bishops in Rome deciding what the local church needs and who can best fulfill that need must be replaced. This current highly centralized and non-transparent method of appointing bishops, whereby the Roman Curia and ultimately the Pope appoint almost every bishop in the world, is a relatively recent development of the last century or so. The 2024 Synod expressed the desire to return to the original practice of involving the people in the selection of church leaders by the community.
Antonio Belsito, author of the book about Blessed Antonio Rosmini will deliver a short introduction to the writings of Blessed Antonio Rosmini. There will be a specific reference to his work The Five Wounds of the Church which reintroduces episcopal elections inspired in 1848 by priest, philosopher and theologian Antonio Rosmini, who is now on his way to sainthood. For years, doubt was disseminated on his philosophical and theological principles. But it has now become obvious to every unbiased Catholic philosopher or theologian that Fr. Rosmini’s vast literary production not only does not contain anything which is not in perfect accordance with the doctrines of the Church but that it actually makes a tremendous contribution for a deeper and clearer understanding for the selection of bishops. To read Rosmini’s plan, click his concrete proposal now.
Dr. Luca Badini Confalonieri with the Wijngaards Institute for Research will stress the essential requirement of any method of appointment MUST be a period of public discussion of each candidate’s views of their vision including concrete proposals for the local church, explaining how they see things, what is their understanding both of the Gospel in general and of what the Gospel requires there and then, where they want the local church to go, and how they propose to get there. Finally, all of this would ultimately be followed by a democratic election.
Throughout the discussion, Fr. Tom Reese with Religious News Service will point out that there is no perfect way for candidates to be chosen. Each diocese will need to decide what works best for them. However, without reintroducing episcopal elections, synodality will continue to be an undelveloped concept with very little meaningful implementation.
The participants will be invited to share their thoughts about the qualities needed in choosing our bishops. The research for involving the whole community in the selection of bishops will be sent to the Synod Office inviting them to share this reseach with Committee #7 designated to explore the criteria for selecting candidates for the episcopate.
Click here to Register: A Synodal Approach for Selecting our Bishops
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We have begun to genuinely join our voices together behaving as a synodal Church. Let us now stay abreast of what is happening with each stage of the Synod well beyond the close of the 2024 Synod. The real work of becoming a synodal Church is still ahead of us. It will not happen unless we stay involved in the process. We will keep you informed and continue to gather online as a community.
On behalf of the CCRI steering committee,
Rene Reid, CCRI director