In previous posts we've mentioned the ordination of Bishop Edward Rice. Bishop Rice's titles are Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis and Titular Bishop of Sufes. What does this mean?
An auxiliary bishop is a bishop without canonical jurisdiction as mentioned here - this basically means that he is not the ordinary of a diocese. An auxiliary bishop provides assistance to the ordinary bishop, who in this case is Archbishop Robert Carlson. So, as stated on the Archdiocesan website, Auxiliary Bishop Rice "assists Archbishop Carlson in his many responsibilities for the Archdiocese, and represents the Archbishop in overseeing the parishes and several Archdiocesan agencies and ministries".
A titular bishop is a bishop who basically is the bishop of a suppressed diocese only in title, hence the word "titular". Catholic Encyclopedia defines it as follows: "Titular bishops are those who have been appointed by the Holy See to a see or diocese which, in former times, had been canonically established and possessed cathedral church, clergy and laity, but at present, on account of pagan occupation and government, has neither clergy nor people. It is essential that the titular diocese did once exist, and did cease to exist through death or defection of clergy and faithful, or pagan settlement and government." The Catholic Encyclopedia also states, "According to the present ecclesiastical discipline no bishop can be consecrated without title to a certain and distinct diocese which he governs either actually or potentially. Actual government requires residence, potential does not."
No comments:
Post a Comment