Sent to Siberia

Praying fervently and frequently for our bishops

09/07/2021

Lk 6:12-19 Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.

All newly ordained bishops love to talk about the day they received “the call” to be a bishop. Have you ever wondered what happened before that call came to that particulate priest? That is, how did Bishop Taylor get the call to become the bishop of Arkansas? How did Msgr. Francis Malone get the call to be bishop of Shreveport? The reason I reflect on this today is because we see the biblical beginnings of the call to be a bishop in the gospel today.

We read in Lk 6:13: “When day came, [Jesus] called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named apostles.” In a sense, all modern priests are like the disciples, but the day one of them gets the call to be a bishop, he steps into the ranks of the apostles. He becomes a successor of the apostles. The salient point here, however, is the call ultimately comes from Christ. Each bishop is his personal choice.

Now, what has to happen long before that call comes? There are essentially four stages of the coming of the call. The first stage involves each current diocesan bishop. Every year he submits to the local archbishop a list of names of the priests of his diocese whom he thinks would make good bishop material. He thinks they are worthy of “the call.” By the way, that is why my basic approach to our bishop is to “fly below the radar.” What he doesn’t know won't hurt me.

In the second stage a new actor bursts on the scene, the apostolic nuncio, or the pope’s ambassador to the United States. He obtains the lists of candidates from the archbishop and conducts a super-secret investigation of those priests who will make the cut. After his investigation, he sends a roughly 20-page report to the Vatican. He also includes his own personal recommendation. For instance, he might write: “I believe Fr. John Antony would be an ideal bishop for Siberia.”

The third step unfolds in Rome, in one of the departments of the Vatican, called the Congregation of Bishops. There are approximately 35 cardinals and archbishops from around the world who belong to that congregation. They meet twice a month, usually on Thursdays, and vote on the candidates for the call. They may accept the recommendation to send me to Siberia, or they may choose to send some other poor priest there. Their recommendation is then sent to the pope.

The fourth and final stage occurs at the desk of the pope, the Vicar of Christ. Remember the salient point of Lk 6:13, the call ultimately comes from Christ. Every bishop is his personal choice. Let me quote what it says on the U.S. bishops’ website about stage 4: “At a private audience with the pope, usually on a Saturday, the prefect (the head) of the Congregation of Bishops presents the recommendation of the Congregation to the Holy Father.”

It continues: “A few days later the pope informs the Congregation of his decision. The Congregation then informs the nuncio, who in turn contacts the candidate and ask if he will accept. If the answer is ‘yes,’ the Vatican is notified and a date is set for the announcement.” And now you know what I am doing every Saturday morning: waiting patiently by my phone to get the call to be sent to Siberia as their next bishop.

My friends, let us pray fervently and frequently for our bishops, those men called by Christ himself to be apostles, and not just disciples. Why? Well, because they are often the object of attack by the media, by the devil, and even by us Catholics. Have you ever criticized the bishop? Instead, let us adopt the attitude of King David regarding his predecessor, King Saul, when he said in 1 Sm 24:11, “I will not raise my hand against the Lord’s anointed.”

And may we cherish our bishops like St. Paul, who praised his protégé in 1 Tm 3:1: “Whoever aspires to the office of bishop desires a noble task,” especially if he aspires to be sent to Siberia.

Praised be Jesus Christ!