- Feb 5, 2002
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How long must Catholics wait for a new bishop when their old one steps down?
There is no definitive answer to that question. In some cases, a new bishop is announced on the day that an outgoing bishop retires. In others, it takes a year or two. Sometimes, dioceses remain leaderless for decades, usually following a major political upheaval.
Somalia’s Diocese of Mogadishu, for example, has lain vacant since the assassination of its last incumbent, Bishop Pietro Salvatore Colombo, in 1989, which sparked riots that led into the country’s ongoing civil war.
Given that the duration of episcopal vacancies is unpredictable, it’s hard for Catholics to know when an appointment is taking longer than it should.
This uncertainty may explain why an article appeared on the German Catholic Church’s official news portal Thursday voicing the suspicion that the Vatican is deliberately slow-walking appointments to the country’s vacant dioceses.
The author, Tobias Glenz, pointed to the three German dioceses (out of 27) that are currently without a shepherd. To understand his concern, consider that this means that roughly 10% of German sees are vacant.
Continued below.
www.pillarcatholic.com
There is no definitive answer to that question. In some cases, a new bishop is announced on the day that an outgoing bishop retires. In others, it takes a year or two. Sometimes, dioceses remain leaderless for decades, usually following a major political upheaval.
Somalia’s Diocese of Mogadishu, for example, has lain vacant since the assassination of its last incumbent, Bishop Pietro Salvatore Colombo, in 1989, which sparked riots that led into the country’s ongoing civil war.
Given that the duration of episcopal vacancies is unpredictable, it’s hard for Catholics to know when an appointment is taking longer than it should.
This uncertainty may explain why an article appeared on the German Catholic Church’s official news portal Thursday voicing the suspicion that the Vatican is deliberately slow-walking appointments to the country’s vacant dioceses.
The author, Tobias Glenz, pointed to the three German dioceses (out of 27) that are currently without a shepherd. To understand his concern, consider that this means that roughly 10% of German sees are vacant.
Continued below.
Is Rome slow-walking German bishop appointments?
Are German Catholics really waiting an unusually long time for bishops? And if so, why?
www.pillarcatholic.com
