Wanted: Bishop for Large Irish Diocese
Sunday Sequence has learned details of the consultation that will lead to the appointment of a successor to Bishop Patrick Walsh in Ireland's second largest diocese, . It is understood the the Apostolic Nuncio, sent letters and a questionnaire earlier this year to certain priests in the diocese asking for their advice.
And last week further letters were sent to certain members of the laity as well as to certain priests and its believed members of religious orders also. As before they included a detailed questionnaire amounting to a job specification for the post. Recipients were invited to suggest three names of prospective bishops in order of preference and to answer the questionnaire.
Sunday Sequence has obtained a copy of the questionaire, which may shed some light on the appointment procedure. It's published below. Should you feel moved to write to the Papal Nuncio with your own suggestions for bishop, that's entirely a matter for yourself.
Private and Confidential
15 March 2007
Dear _________________
Since the Holy Father has accepted the resignation of the Bishop of the Diocese of Down and Connor, the Most Reverend Patrick Walsh, I am at present conducting a consultation that will lead in due time to the appointment of his successor. In this contest, I am seeking your assistance.
Bearing in mind the particular situation in the North of Ireland and what you see to be the specific needs of the Diocese of Down and Connor at this time, I would find it helpful to have your judgement as to the specific qualities that you would consider desirable in the new Bishop and to have the names, in the order of your preference, of (three) possible candidates, either bishops or priests, whom you would consider well suited to lead the Diocese. To facilitate a more comprehensive answer, I enclose a Questionnaire that may serve as a general guideline. For practical purposes, I would ask that the page(s) relating to each candidate, signed by hand and dated, be presented in each case as a separate unit. Finally, given the confidential nature of this consultation, I would ask that, in sending me your reply, you would also return this letter and the accompanying questionnaire.
I regret imposing upon your limited time, but I am most grateful for whatever assistance you can provide.
With kind regards, I remain,
Yours in Christ
ARCHBISHOP GIUSEPPE LAZZAROTTO
Apostolic Nuncio
183 Navan Road
Dublin 7
Ireland
QUESTIONNAIRE
Please provide on separate sheets the information regarding each candidate, indicating the circumstances and duration of your acquaintance with him.
1. PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES: physical appearance; health; capacity for work; family background with particular reference to any possible hereditary condition.
2. HUMAN QUALITIES: intellectual endowment and practical skills; temperament; judgement and balance, sense of responsibility; ability to establish ties of friendship.
3. MORAL CHARACTER: Practice of the human, Christian and priestly virtues such as prudence, justice, honesty, loyalty, sobriety, faith, hope, charity, obedience, humility, piety, (daily performance of religious duties such as the celebration of the Eucharist, and the Liturgy of the Hours, devotion to Our Lady). Personal bearing and conduct with people in the exercise of the priestly ministry and beyond.
4. CULTURAL TRAINING: competent and up to date acquaintance with ecclesiastical studies; general culture; awareness of contemporary problems and responsiveness to them; knowledge of other languages; published works (books or articles).
5. ORTHODOXY: devoted allegiance to the Tradition, Doctrine and Magisterium of the Church; attitude to pronouncements of the Holy See regarding the ministerial priesthood, the priestly ordination of women, marriage, sexual ethics, social ethics and social justice; commitment to the authentic renewal advocated by the Second Vatican Council and subsequent papal teaching.
6. DISCIPLINE: loyal obedience to the Holy Father, the Apostolic See, the Sacred Hierarchy; esteem for and acceptance of priestly celibacy as put forward by the Magisterium of the Church; respect for and observance of the norms governing divine worship and ecclesiastical attire.
7. PASTORAL ENDEAVOUR: experience and achievements in pastoral ministry; work of evangelisation and catechesis, preaching and teaching (preparation, ability to speak in public); sacramental and liturgical ministry (particularly the administration of the Sacrament of Penance and the celebration of the Eucharist); promotion of vocations and the Catholic missions; ecumenical spirit; dedication to family and youth ministry; promotion and defence of human rights; initiative in the area of labour, human development and social action (especially in relation to the poor), culture and communications.
8. ABILITY TO GOVERN: fatherly spirit; spirit of service; sense of initiative; willingness to enter into dialogue, to seek and accept collaboration, to share responsibility; capacity to analyse, to plan, to make decisions and execute them, to direct and carry out projects with others and show due appreciation for the contribution of collaborators, male and female; interest in the concerns of both the local and the universal Church; respect for the legitimate autonomy of civil authorities.
9. ADMINISTRATIVE COMPETENCE: skill in administration; respect for and proper use of the material patrimony of the Church; willingness to seek the collaboration of experts; detachment from self-interest.
10. PUBLIC ESTEEM: does the candidate enjoy the esteem of fellow priests, religious, the laity and authorities?
11. OVERALL JUDGMENT REGARDING THE PERSONALITY OF THE CANDIDATE AND HIS SUITABILITY FOR THE EPISCOPACY: If your concluding judgment is favourable, please indicate whether you deem the candidate suitable to be a Resident Bishop or an Auxiliary, specifying the size and type of the diocese you would envisage (large, medium, small, rural, urban, industrial).
OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION
To seek further information regarding the candidates you have proposed, it would be appreciated if you could indicate the name, qualifications and address of any priest, religious, or layperson who is well acquainted with them and whose judgment and discretion can be relied upon.
Comments
Open, transparent democracy - church style!
The PR dept must have been asleep, at prayers - or more likely covering up another scandel!
alan
Alan Watson's comment betrays a massive misunderstanding of the process by which Catholic bishops are chosen. It's got nothing to do with PR and that's probably why the process doesn't appear 'hip'. The comment about covering up another scandal is - to say the least - unworthy.
We know only too well how they're chosen - as the 'confidential' questionaire demonstrates - that's the point.
PR - tongue in cheak!!
but surely it's the scandels and the way they're handled which are unworthy?
alan
Am I the only one who thinks it is inappropriate for the Ö÷²¥´óÐã/ Sunday Sequence to post the full contents of a letter marked 'private and confidential'? Cheap and immoral in my view. I was going to say that Sunday Sequence - or is it the William Crawley show - has reached a new low - but that would be untrue! It is part of an anti-Catholic trend which has become more evident in the programme in recent years. How the Catholic Church choses a bishop is its own business.
It looks like it was somebody from within the priesthood or the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church who has supplied the Ö÷²¥´óÐã and Sunday Sequence programme with the afore mentioned questionnaire it was hardly some Protestant fundamentalist with an axe to grind, so this anti-catholic trend surely must have originated from within the walls of the Roman Catholic Church, so blaming the Ö÷²¥´óÐã for making the procedure of selecting a new Bishop a more transparent process as anti-catholic is absurd.
Journalists the world over have always published leaked documents that are in the public interest why should the Roman Catholic Church have exemption when they have campaigned for transparent employment selection within Northern Ireland.
Chip
You were complaining about Will recently re prod fundamentalists - I think - Presumably this brings balance?
alan
Jim,
Anticatholic bias? You're mad. The programme has leading catholics discussing the document and crawley was the only one on air who defended it as consistent with vatican 2. Lets be reasonable here.
The sooner they get rid of Walsh the better for Down and Connor. He should never have been made bishop. He's a total ZERO. Good riddance to him.
Having read the questionnaire, I'm amazed that Bishop Patrick Walsh ever got the job!
The man for Down and Connor is Donal McKeown. Will the vatican have the good sense to put him in the job though? I hear there's already a Stop Donal campaign being run. He's too media friendly for them? Too progressive? Maybe he's too human?
The papal nuncio needs to know that Bishop Donal has the support of the people in down and connor. If he is not appointed there will be many people extremely unhappy. Another example of the hierarchy ignoring the people. I hope Sunday Sequence will expose the STOP DONAL campaigners. Well done for highlighting this process.
The papal nuncio needs to know that Bishop Donal has the support of the people in down and connor. If he is not appointed there will be many people extremely unhappy. Another example of the hierarchy ignoring the people. I hope Sunday Sequence will expose the STOP DONAL campaigners. Well done for highlighting this process.
I always get worried when people try to speak on behalf of "the people of Down and Connor" as Bertie G did. Like Paisley's "people of northern Ireland". All I can say for myself, having known Donal McKeown for more than 20 years, is that he is not the man to be bishop. He cannot communicate the faith because he doesn't quite believe in it all. And what's the point in putting in a bishop if lots of the priests don't want him.
Agree Bishop Walsh was a disaster by the way.
Splurge -
1. At least we agree on Walsh.
2. Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief. Who amongst us is full of faith? We all lack faith and need the help of God to trust more. Donal is no diferent.
3. Perhaps you can be specific about what he does not believe? If you mean the ordination of women, that is not something that is part of the substance of the faith. If you mean the divinity of Christ, you would have a point. But Bishop Donal is, I believe, entirely orthodox on all matters of essential belief.
4. Whats the point of putting in a bishop of lots of priests dont want him? That didnt stop them with Paddy Walsh. I contend that most of the priests in Down and Connor support Donal. I speak to a lot of people and he is highly regarded.
5. IF not Donal, who WOULD you select as bishop?
In response to Bertie G, of course we can all have problems with faith from time to time - I don't mean that - I mean that Donal has specific aspects of the Church's teaching that he doesn't fully support. This would include the ordination of women - the ban on which is a defined part of the faith - the Church couldn't be clearer. He is very cool on devotion to Mary, Latin in the liturgy. He doesn't hold up the Sacred Host when he celebrates Mass. He has no public record promoting the Church's teaching in any contentious areas - abortion, contraception, homosexuality. He just keeps his head down and hopes to become a bishop on the back of a few trendy comments in school. His career is an exact replica of Paddy Walsh.
I would support Prof Vincent Twomey SVD or Fr Gregory Collins, OSB
I don't believe you, Robert H Jackson! You NEVER went to St Malachy's during Walsh's reign . You're playing silly games!!!
Re 17
I must say that I am surprised that some of these comments have been posted by the Ö÷²¥´óÐã.
These posts are not by the Ö÷²¥´óÐã!!
A WORD OF CAUTION
Can I appeal to commenters here to please be careful to express you views without becoming unduly personal or offensive about actual people. The issues under discussion are important to many people and it is vital that our discussion here remains thoughtful and balanced. I have removed some comments from this post because they included personal attacks on Bishop Patrick Walsh.
I entirely agree with commenters here who have expressed the hope that we can maintain this space for balanced debate and intelligent discussion without descending into ad hominem attacks and hurling serious allegations at others.
Please leave this holy and humble man alone, he is the voice of the new generation rising in the church and would make a wonderul bishop, we should be enciuraging his loyalty to the faithful not attacking it.