Question I: Whether a bishop is in the state of perfection

IT IS CERTAIN that they are in the state of perfection. It is proved from the outstanding titles given to the Bishop.

IT IS PROVED by D. Bonaventure, first in the Apology for the Poor, chapter 3, first response, at the end, from D. Dionysius, On the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, chapter 1, where he says: As he who says Hierarchy says summarily the whole array of sacred things, so in saying Hierarchy he points to that which abides in God, and to the Divine man, in whom every Hierarchy is perfected. Hence the same Saint, in chapters 5 and 6, calls Bishops perfecters, even with respect to religious, as Valentia also notes, disputation 10, question 2, point 4.

NEXT he brings forward D. Jerome, epistle 128 to Fabiola: So great should be the knowledge and erudition of the Pontiff of God, that his steps and movements and all his utterances may be vocal; let him conceive truth in his mind, and resound with it in all his habit and adornment, so that whatever he does, whatever he says, may be the doctrine of the Apostles.

HE OBSERVES, however, with D. Jerome, epistle 85 to Oceanus, that the Bishop is indeed not held to excel in all things — otherwise he could not be a Bishop unless he were a Virgin — but it is fitting that he excel in those things which pertain to the office of feeding the flock. Therefore St. Jerome says: Let him be chosen as future Pastor of the Church in comparison with whom the subject people may deservedly be called a flock.

HE BRINGS FORWARD also D. Gregory, part 2 of the Pastoral Rule, chapter 1, where he says: The action of the Prelate ought to precede the action of the people by as much as the life of the Shepherd is wont to differ from the flock: he cites the same in the Pharetra in the place quoted. Whereupon D. Gregory infers: It is not fitting to approach the state of prelacy unless one be perfect: powerful in Virtues, let him come to govern even when compelled; empty of Virtues, let him not approach even when compelled.

IT IS PROVED also by D. Bonaventure, book 1 of the Pharetra, chapter 19, from the perfections which the holy Fathers require in Bishops.

D. GREGORY, in the Registrum, book 5, chapter 129: When the Bishop changes his mind together with his place: Let him not believe that reading alone and prayer suffice him, so that, withdrawn from others, he may sit studying and bear no fruit from his hand, but let him have a generous hand, let him meet the necessity of the suffering, let him consider another's poverty his own: because if he has this not, he holds the name of Bishop in vain.

THE SAME, book 8, chapter 119: Let your fraternity hasten to present itself with its whole mind humble in prosperity, and, when adversities come, upright with justice, friendly to the good, opposed to the perverse. Pressing never the face of anyone speaking the truth for it; devoting himself to works of mercy according to the possibilities of his substance, and desiring to be able to devote himself to them even beyond; compassionating the weak, rejoicing with the well-disposed, reckoning the losses of others as his own, exulting over the joys of others as over his own, vehement in correcting vices, soothing the spirit of his hearers in cherishing virtues: in anger holding judgment without anger: in tranquillity not abandoning the sentence of his severity.

THE SAME, part 2 of the Pastoral Rule, chapter 1: The action of the Prelate ought to transcend the action of the people by as much as the life of the Shepherd is wont to differ from the flock. For he must diligently study to measure himself, under how great a necessity of uprightness he is held to be bound, under whose care the people is called a flock.

D. ISIDORE, book 2 On Ecclesiastical Offices, chapter 5: To the Bishop, when he is consecrated, a staff is given, that by his judgment he may either rule the subject people, or correct it, or sustain the infirmities of the weak.

D. AUGUSTINE, in the Dialogue, question 65, to Orosius: Let him know that he is not a Bishop who desires to preside, not to profit.

The same, book 19 On the City of God, chapter 19: Bishop is a name of work, not of honor: for episcopos in Greek we may say in Latin superintendere, to superintend, that he may understand that he is not a Bishop who has loved to preside, not to profit.

D. AMBROSE, On the Dignity of Priests, chapter 3: As the episcopal grade is higher than all others, so, if it slips through negligence, its fall is more grievous.

D. JEROME, on chapter 3 of Sophonias: He who desires a bishopric desires a good work; see what he said: work, not dignity. But if he has looked only at dignity, he will quickly fall.

D. BERNARD, epistle 42: In all things, after the example of the Apostle, let your ministry be honorable — ministry, I say, not lordship: him indeed you shall honor, not yourselves. For he who seeks his own desires himself to be honored, not the ministry. But you shall honor it not by the finery of garments, not by the ostentation of horses, not by spacious buildings, but by adorned morals, spiritual pursuits, and good works.

THE SAME, much earlier in the same place: In all his acts or words let the Bishop seek nothing of his own, but only either the honor of God, or the salvation of his neighbors, or both.

THE SAME, book 4 On Consideration: Holiness befits the house of a Bishop, modesty befits it, honesty, and discipline of morals.

IT IS PROVED also by the S. Doctor, part 2 of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, cited chapter, where he compares Bishops to the celestial Dominations, which, as D. Dionysius says, On the Celestial Hierarchy, chapter 3, just as they are elevated above the other inferior choirs, so they elevate them to God. For Bishops are destined to the lofty ministries of ruling peoples toward the supreme end, of entering the Holy of Holies as mediators between God and us, of consecrating Priests, of anointing with chrism, nay even of making the Chrism and the holy Oil, of applying the keys, of judging, of excommunicating rebels, of feeding the sheep with doctrine, and of directing them, so that they do not refuse to give their soul for them. Which gifts, and others, demand heroic CHARITY; for no one has greater CHARITY than to lay down his life for his friends. Hence Zacharias, cited chapter 6, speaking of the ancient Pontiff, who prefigures our Bishops, says: He shall sit, and shall rule, and shall be a priest upon his throne; and there shall be a counsel of peace between them, and the crowns shall be for a memorial in the temple of the Lord.

Therefore Peter, 1 Peter chapter 5: Feed the flock of God which is among you, etc., neither as domineering over the clergy, but being made a pattern of the flock from the heart.

The S. Doctor shows the same from the epistles of Paul to Timothy and Titus, in which he prescribes the norm of sanctity by which Bishops, shining forth most splendidly, may, as it were exemplars, be able to instruct and correct others, and be censors of vices more by life than by words.

It is proved also by the S. Doctor, sermon 22 of the Hexaëmeron, before the middle, because Bishops are destined not only for the most high sacrifice, which is not granted to Kings, whence they even excel them in this, as D. Bernard says, sermon on the Lord's Supper, cited by D. Bonaventure, part 2 On the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, chapter 1, but also to be anointed with Chrism, and to distribute ordinations, and to give the Holy Spirit, which was granted to the Apostles alone. Wherefore they succeed the Apostles in high dignity, and accordingly they are held to emulate Apostolic sanctity. Therefore the Bishop must be so holy as to be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince those who contradict, as is said in Titus 1. Therefore Bishops ought to be perfect, and among them the Supreme Pontiff most perfect. This from S. Bonaventure, in the place cited.

You will object, first: To aspire to the state of perfection is worthy of praise; but to aspire to a bishopric is not praiseworthy: therefore it is not the state of perfection.

The S. Doctor answers, in the cited place in the Pharetra, from D. Jerome: that to desire a bishopric is to desire a good work, so long as the work is desired, not the eminence of dignity.

You will object, secondly: For perfection poverty is required, which is not in a Bishop.

The S. Doctor answers, in the Apology for the Poor, in the cited place, that poverty is not necessary to every perfect man, but that in some riches are also required, provided he be detached in heart from covetousness. For Bishops are destined for the governance of the people, for the sustentation of the poor and of the clergy, and other splendid expenditures, and therefore they ought to have revenues. The S. Doctor pursues this at length in the Apology for the Poor, third response, chapter 2, at the end.

Therefore in the Pharetra, in the cited place, he brings forward that saying of D. Augustine, sermon 52 to the Fathers in the desert: It is not for a Bishop to keep gold and to withdraw his hand from the beggar.

From what has been said you have whence Bishops contract the obligation of perfection.

It is answered, first, that it arises from the office of feeding the flock by word and example, as the S. Doctor pursues at length above.

It is answered, secondly, that it arises also from fidelity, for the Bishop is the Spouse of the Church, Can. licet, and Can. inter among the extracts On the translation of Bishops, and Can. sicut cui, question 7, question 1, as Valentia says, point 4: for he ought to be holy, that he may exercise the holy wedlock, seeking the things that are above for himself and for others. That this is signified by the sandals of Bishops, opened above, D. Bonaventure says, on Psalm 119.