Commentaries

If you take seriously, as I do, the notions of apostolic succession and the necessity of the Church manifesting “God with us” today, alive in the world, then this account of the U.S. bishops provides wonderful food for thought. It provides cause for grounded hope. These are good men with strong habits of sacrifice, prayer, and service, while living in a “me-first” society. In fact, one of the most uplifting—and yes, surprising—aspects of the entire survey was the amount of time the vast majority of bishops spend praying. Having sat in on countless meetings with bishops wielding calendars bleeding blue ink (into two or three years hence), I was frankly surprised at this good news. But only a tad less surprised than when I learned how many of them exercise regularly. I would imagine it’s a matter of absolute necessity, again, given what I have experienced of their insane schedules....

Personnel and Collaboration

This chapter considers the bishop’s role as leader of an organization whose primary resources are people. Using data from the survey and interviews, the chapter explores bishops’ relationships and collaborations with Church personnel, including priests, deacons, religious, and lay persons. It also explores relationships with other bishops and collaborations through state and national bishops’ conferences. The first section explores the bishops’ perspectives and experiences with different types of Church personnel. The second section discusses how bishops rely on different individuals and groups to assist in their decision making. The final section looks beyond the diocese to relationships with fellow bishops, both individually and as part of national and state bishop conferences.

A Day in the Life of a Bishop

This chapter describes the normal daily routines that bishops follow and compares their averages (in terms of hours spent sleeping and working) to those of other American males in their same age category. Analysis is also made of the amount of time that they spend praying and exercising each day. Some interesting results come to the fore such as the fact that bishops sleep two hours less per day and work two hours more per day than men their own age. We also delve into their preferences for both secular and Church news sources, noting (not surprisingly) that the more traditional bishops choose conservative outlets and the more progressive ones choose liberal sources.

Governance and Administration

This chapter takes the perspective of the diocese as an organization and the bishop as the leader and administrator of that organization. In business terms the bishop would be the chief executive officer. A diocese is perhaps more comparable to a nonprofit organization, where the CEO is the administrator and the board of directors are responsible for governance and mission. However, in the case of the diocese, the bishop is responsible for both the administration and governance. The chapter uses data from the survey and interviews, as well as reviews of diocesan websites to examine different aspects of the bishop’s role as an administrator of the diocese. First, it explores a key decision-making area by reviewing different strategies bishops use to staff parishes when there are not enough priests. Second is a review of diocesan strategic and pastoral planning processes. The final section discusses diocesan level policies, including safe environment and protection of children.

Challenges, Hopes, Vocations

This chapter first looks at the challenges identified by the bishops: secularism, religious freedom, indifference, marriage, family, lack of priests, and relativism. Additionally, attention is given to the challenge of addressing clergy sexual abuse. Second, we examine their hopes for the future: young adults, laity, spirituality, vocations to Church ministry, Pope Francis, priests, Hispanics, and evangelization. Third, we look at how the bishops are encouraging vocations to priesthood and religious life. How are they promoting a new generation of priests, sisters and brothers to serve the Church? These three issues provide a broad understanding of where the bishops of the United States may be leading the Church.

Who Are the Bishops and Where Do They Come From?

This chapter provides an overview of information on the current bishops of the United States: their age, where they are from, where they went to school, what they studied, their theological perspective, and which pope appointed them bishop. Additionally, what is the size and complexity of the dioceses they lead? Characteristics such as these are helpful in understanding the human, cultural, and geographic context of the American bishops at the start of the 21st century. In trying to assess and identify the desired qualities for a bishop, some criteria are hard to measure and instead rely on a careful discerning judgment (solid faith, gentleness, wisdom, etc.), and other criteria are more readily ascertained and documented (age, management skills, education, etc.).

The Bishops Speak

This chapter discusses Catholic bishops speaking out on issues of the day. Catholic Church teaching and tradition yields “conservative” positions on issues such as abortion and physician-assisted suicide and “liberal” positions on issues such as immigration, capital punishment, and assistance to the poor. Survey data finds that bishops tend to write more frequently about the Church’s pro-life teachings than its “liberal” social teachings. Most bishops say they ask Catholics to consider Catholic teachings when voting for candidates. Most bishops agree that the clergy sexual abuse scandal has made it more difficult for them to present or defend Catholic teaching in their diocese. This is especially the case in dioceses where the scandal has received more media coverage. In general, bishops say that criticism in the media is a greater problem for them in more secularized areas of the country.

Satisfactions in Episcopal Life and Ministry

Bishops take seriously their vocations as “successors to the Apostles” and they feel the weight of the responsibilities placed upon their shoulders in an increasingly secularized and seemingly post-Christian era. However, as this chapter demonstrates, they do not allow those daily burdens and their concomitant frustrations to stifle their contentment. This chapter presents the overall very high levels of satisfaction among bishops, even higher than those reported by Catholic priests in the most recent national study of priests. We discovered that their burnout rates are very low even in the midst of such long and intense workdays. Their number one source of satisfaction is linked to their liturgical role. High satisfaction is also derived from their community leadership role. While they embrace their administrative work willingly, they do not report deriving great satisfaction from it.

Introduction

Catholic bishops have captured the imagination of novelists, who have fashioned them into unforgettable, larger-than-life characters. These include the saintly Bishop Myriel of Les Misérables, the treacherous Cardinal Richelieu of The Three Musketeers, the quietly perseverant Bishop Latour of Death Comes for the Archbishop, and the scheming Bishop Angri of the popular The Da Vinci Code. These portrayals are caricatures, but they probably reflect a real historical tendency for people, lay Catholics included, to view the bishops on a simplistic spectrum that ranges from haloed hero to biretta’d bad guy. This introductory book chapter provides an overview of Roman Catholic bishops and their responsibilities. The chapter discusses the three primary roles of bishops, defined by Church documents as “sanctifying, governing, and teaching.” Types of bishops are distinguished (auxiliaries, ordinaries, and cardinals) as well as their differing positions within the Church hierarchy. The chapter summarizes the secretive process by which priests are chosen by the pope to become bishops. It also explains the symbols of their ministry (e.g., mitre, crozier, and cathedra).