Once a Bishop is appointed, how much authority does the Pope have over him? Can the Pope remove the faculties of the Bishop or replace him unilaterally?

-- Lawrence Grayson (LawrencePGSr@aol.com), September 15, 2003

Answers

Hello, Lawrence.

On paper, the pope is theoretically capable of controlling the basic actions of any bishop -- from appointing him, to assigning him, to re-assigning him, to requiring him to obey any orders given, to deposing him if necessary. Naturally, the pope in our day has no means to exercise physical force, so a bishop is capable of acting contrary to a pope's will -- but he cannot fight being moved or deposed.

In actual practice, I don't think that any pope has ever made all the bishops of his day into his mere puppets or deputies. This is particularly true in the post-Vatican-II era, during which the popes have given the bishops -- as genuine successors of the Apostles -- the ultimate in respect and freedom to operate without intrusion. You may want to read one of the 16 documents of Vatican II, "Christus Dominus" ("Christ, the Lord"), which has the bishops and their mission as its central subject.

Although we never know what is going on behind closed doors, it appears that our current pope, a bishop himself, firmly believes in the "collegiality" of all the bishops. He seems not to dictate to a brother bishop except (1) in the rare case in which a man begins to do something really bad that affects neighboring bishops' people, and (2) the even rarer case in which a bishop slips toward heresy or very sinful behavior.

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), September 15, 2003.

I've learned in my time at school that this was one of the most important features of Vatican II. After Vatican I, some were saying that no further council was needed (because an infallible Pope could handle all the dirty work himself). VI was silent on the role of bishops, because it was never finished.

At least with respect to this matter, VII was the completion of VI's teaching regarding the authority of the sheperds of our faith.

Another important element John didn't mention yet is that all teaching that comes from the Vatican--whatver council or congregation- -is understood as being in complete conformity with the Holy Father. This important fact is often forgotten by polemics who try to portray a false image of Bad Curia vs. Good Pope or vice-versa.

Nothing is pubished without his express consent, seal, and signature.

-- Skoobouy (skoobouy@hotmail.com), September 16, 2003.

The pope is, and always was the power in the Church. They gave that power away at Vatican II, {unfortunately}, with the resulting chaos. Weak popes made the matter even worse. It seems everything fell apart from then on. The Church will eventually triumph, in spite of these incompetents.

Today, we have John Paul II, who, instead of safeguarding the ensemble of the Catholic Church against the vice of pedophilia, restrained himself to a few bewailing complaints without any effective legal measures against the criminals. Even while a healthy public opinion and the civil law of the United States have demanded the punishment of the criminal-priests, he and the Vatican have risen up to protect the accused and the convicted priests. In this position there is a fundamental inversion of the role of the authority and the law. The Vatican is not working to defend the whole of the Church, but to protect those who are destroying her honor and her structure. Hence one can see that disaster is not far away.

-- Truth (Who is right@franklyspeaking.com), September 16, 2003.

Jmj

Well, here you go again, (un)Truth, with another "crock" -- like on another thread.

"Weak popes made the matter even worse."

There haven't been any "weak popes" since Vatican II. If a pope doesn't do something that you, in your almighty and perfect wisdom, would have him do, that doesn't make him "weak." Instead, the odds are about 99 to 1 that it makes you "wrong."

"Today, we have John Paul II, who, instead of safeguarding the ensemble of the Catholic Church against the vice of pedophilia, restrained himself to a few bewailing complaints without any effective legal measures against the criminals. Even while a healthy public opinion and the civil law of the United States have demanded the punishment of the criminal-priests, he and the Vatican have risen up to protect the accused and the convicted priests."

Did you, (un)Truth, have to take a special graduate course to make yourself excel even the anti-Catholic liberal media in ignorance? You haven't the vaguest notion what the pope has actually done, publicly and (especially) quietly to help the bad situation be cured.

"The Vatican is not working to defend the whole of the Church, but to protect those who are destroying her honor and her structure. Hence one can see that disaster is not far away."

Those words qualify even more to be called "baloney" than Oscar Mayer's best product. You know ZILCH, pal.

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), September 16, 2003.