IV. On the Obligations of Bishops

What about the holiness, knowledge, and preeminence of Bishops? - The holiness of life of Bishops ought to be outstanding. The reason is that the episcopate is a state of perfection acquired and to be exercised. But they ought to excel in so much knowledge that they can satisfy the most grave duty of governing the diocese. Hence it is required that he be a doctor or licentiate in theology or canon law, or at least, as regards regulars, proved suitable for teaching by his superiors with legitimate testimony. Trent s. 6, c. 1 de R.; s. 22, c. 2 de R.; s. 24, c. 1 de R.; s. 25, c. 1, 17 de R.; Suarez de Rel. t. 3, l. 1, c. 15; Lugo, Resp. Mor. l. 5, d. 15; Bouix de Iure Reg. v. 1, p. 15 ff.; S. Th. 2. 2. q. 184, 185; Quodl. 2, a. 11; Quodl. 5, a. 22; Quodl. 12, a. 17; L. l. 6, n. 804.

Secular churches, pastors, and beneficiaries are held to pay the Bishop the cathedraticum, or pension, each year, as a sign of subjection and honor of the Episcopal Chair, and for sustaining the burdens of the same Chair or Bishop. The aforesaid pension, however, ought not exceed two solidi, namely twenty giulii, about 10 lire, for a giulio is worth about 50 centesimi. Cf. Benedict XIV de Syn. l. 5, c. 6, 7; Roman Council c. 6.

Functions: Episcopal functions are those which pertain to the Bishop by law or custom. They are listed in the Decree of the S. R. C., July 9, 1895, n. 3865. Likewise parochial prerogatives are those which concern the rights of pastors. They are listed in the Decree of the S. C. C., April 3, 1897, Regien.; December 20, 1902, Melev.; and in the Decrees of the S. C. R., Index, Parochus quoad iura parochialia, etc.

Cardinals: Cardinals are Princes of the Church, who provide assistance to the Supreme Pontiff in the governance of the Church; and, when the See is vacant, they elect the Supreme Pontiff. The College of Cardinals, if necessity does not press, cannot make laws, but must at once apply itself to the nomination of another Pontiff. Each has jurisdiction in his own title, but only concerning those things which pertain to ecclesiastical discipline and the correction of morals. Innocent XII, C. Romanus Pontifex, September 17, 1692. Consequently they can make laws and censures in it. Through the Constitution Apostolicae Romanorum Pontificum, April 15, 1910, the Supreme Pontiff Pius X constituted Suffragans as Ordinaries in the suburbicarian dioceses, who, in the name and place of the Cardinal Bishops, administer the diocese as other diocesan Ordinaries do, with the exceptions however noted in the same Constitution. A. A. S. v., p. 277 ff.

What about the obligation of residing? - It is certain that Bishops, although they are Cardinals, are held to residence; and that this obliges in itself under grave obligation, from Trent s. 6, c. 1, 2 de R., s. 23, c. 1 de R., and from the open declaration of Benedict XIV, C. Ad universae. L. 121. For indeed it is a most grave matter, looking to the salvation of souls. Hence they are held to receive the duty of consecration within a brief time, namely within three months. Trent s. 23, c. 2 de R. "And thus they cannot even exchange churches, as is expressly had from canon 15 of the First Council of Nicaea, and the same is had in canon 5 of the Council of Chalcedon and in Epistle II to Anastasius." L. 76. Cf. also L. 121. But the space of time required for grave fault must notably exceed the three months permitted by Trent. L. 127.

This residence is to be understood not only materially and idly, but formally and laboriously. This is established: 1. from Trent l. c., where they are held to discharge the office enjoined upon them; 2. from the Bull Grave of Benedict XIV, Instruction 17, n. 2; de Syn. l. 7, c. 1, n. 7; l. 13, c. 8; L. 127. A Bishop satisfies the obligation of residence by residing in any place of his diocese. This is established: 1. from Trent ib., in his Church or diocese; 2. from the Bull of Benedict XIV, C. Ubi primum; L. 124; Ferraris v. Episcopus, a. 3, n. 14, who adds: "provided he goes to the Cathedral at the times prescribed by Trent s. 23, c. 1 de R., S. C. of Bishops, December 17, 1649"; except: "unless episcopal duties in his diocese call him elsewhere." Trent l. c.; Lucidi de Visit. SS. Lim. v. 1, p. 140, ed. 3; E. M.

What are the causes excusing Bishops from continuous and perpetual residence? - From Trent l. c. they are four: 1. Christian charity, if for example some church is placed in great danger of heresy, discord, etc., and the bishop can bring help to it. 2. Urgent necessity, if for example the bishop is placed in danger of life on account of illness, personal persecution, etc. 3. Due obedience, if for example the Supreme Pontiff calls the bishop so that he may commit some business to him to be treated. 4. Evident utility of the church or republic, for example by reason of a national council, provincial council, etc. On account of these same causes a pastor also can be absent beyond the two months conceded to him.

The causes enunciated regularly do not legitimize the absence of Bishops, except insofar as there accedes the permission either of the Supreme Pontiff, or of the metropolitan, or, if he is absent, of the older residing suffragan Bishop. But now, says Scavini vol. 1, n. 428, 6th ed., Milan 1874, from Benedict XIV, one must always have recourse to the Pope. Urban VIII, C. Sancta Synodus, December 12, 1634; Benedict XIV, C. Ad universae, September 3, 1746. Regularly; for certain cases are to be excepted. And from the Council of Trent itself, l. c., exception is made: "unless the absence has happened on account of some duty and office of the republic annexed to the bishoprics; since the causes of this are notorious and sudden, it will not even be necessary that they be signified to the metropolitan." Benedict XIV, C. Ad universae, September 3, 1746, §§ 6, 9, 20; Urban VIII, C. Sancta Synodus, December 12, 1634; L. 122 par. Insuper, 125 in fine; Lugo, Resp. Mor. l. 5, d. 13.

Besides the aforesaid causes, is it never lawful for Bishops to be absent from their diocese? - It is lawful for Bishops, outside the aforesaid causes, to be absent from their dioceses for two or at most three months, but this cannot be done except from an equitable cause and without any detriment of the flock, Trent l. c.; by which words, says Benedict XIV, C. Ad universae, "levity of mind, desire for pleasures, and other futile causes are completely excluded." But for this three-month absence Bishops do not need permission of the Holy See. L. 122.

Is a Bishop excused from residence on account of danger of contracting plague? - Reply: Negatively. And the same must be said concerning a pastor. S. C. C. and Declaration of Gregory XIII, December 13, 1576. But then the pastor can minister the sacraments to those infected by plague through others, lest the healthy, fearing the plague, refuse to confess to him, and so that he may be able also to satisfy the other duties of his office. Since superiors also, whether regular prelates, are bound by the obligation of residence, on account of the care to be carried for their own, hence they too are held in time of plague to assist their own. L. 119, 233; S. Th. 2. 2. q. 185, a. 5.

To what penalties are Bishops liable who transgress the precept of residence? - Besides other penalties, they are held to restitution of the fruits For they do not make them their own in proportion to the time of absence, namely if they do not reside beyond three months, without legitimate cause and the express permission of the Roman Pontiff; and they are held to expend them on the fabric of the churches, or on the poor of the place, without any other declaration. If they are absent for six continuous months they lose the fourth part of the fruits; if for the whole year, half; if longer, they are to be punished more severely. Trent s. 6, c. 1 de R.; s. 23, c. 1 de R.; Benedict XIV, C. Ad universae; L. 122, 126, 127.

What about the obligation of visiting the diocese? - A Bishop is bound by obligation to visit the diverse churches of his jurisdiction by himself, or through another if he has been legitimately impeded, so that he may know his sheep, as is fitting, discover their necessities, and supply the means of meeting them. He is bound to this by divine and natural law; for he is the pastor of the whole diocese, and this law cannot be abrogated by any custom. This visitation is to be made once a year, or in two years if the diocese is large. All churches and public oratories are to be visited, and also parochial churches united to monasteries. On the occasion of visitation, moreover, procuration is owed to the Bishop, which is the furnishing of those things necessary for suitable food and lodging, to be supplied by those whom they visit. He likewise has the right of visiting pious places. Regular prelates also are held to visit frequently the monasteries of their congregation and to attend to their reform. C. 3 de Relig. Domib.; Trent s. 7, c. 7, 8 de R.; s. 21, c. 8 de R.; s. 22, c. 6, 8, 9 de R.; s. 24, c. 3, 9, 10, 11 de R.; s. 25, c. 1, 8, 11, 20 de Reg.; Giraldi p. 1, s. 583, 597; E. M. Cf. Instruction for the Apostolic Visitation of the City and Italy.

Ordinaries of the Latin rite cannot admit any Oriental collector of money without permission of the S. C. de Propaganda Fide. S. C., January 1, 1912.

What about the governance of clerics? - A special care of watching over the life and honor of clerics rests upon Bishops. This is established: 1. from Trent s. 14, Proem. de R., s. 22, c. 1 de R.; 2. from the Encyclicals of Pius IX Qui pluribus, 1846, and of Leo XIII Etsi Nos, February 15, 1882. Bishops are held, moreover, to institute an ecclesiastical seminary and to have particular care of it. Trent s. 23, c. 18 de R.

So that a Seminary of Clerics may be erected in each diocese, the Council of Trent s. 23, c. 18 de R. decreed that the Bishop establish and tax a portion to be deducted from the fruits of individual benefices for the expenses of the Seminary, yet with the counsel of two from the Chapter, one of whom is chosen by the Bishop, the other by the Chapter itself, and likewise of two from the Clergy of the city, the election of one of whom pertains to the Bishop, and of the other to the Clergy. Lugo, Resp. Mor. l. 5, d. 21.

Bishops in Italy must observe and put into execution the Norms of the S. C. of Bishops and Regulars, January 18, 1908. According to these Norms they cannot permit students of their own diocese to carry out studies privately, or outside Seminaries dependent on them. This has also been specially forbidden to other dioceses. But Italian Seminaries are to be ordered and the studies in them handed down according to the norm of the Circular Letters of the S. C. Consistorial, July 16, 1912.

The teaching of Sacred Scripture is to be imparted in each Seminary according to the prescription made concerning this matter by Pius X, Letter Quoniam in re biblica, March 27, 1906.

But the reading of newspapers and periodicals must be interdicted to students of Seminaries, an exception being made for these latter, for some periodical of sound principles and indicated by the Bishop as opportune for the studies of the students. There ought not be lacking in it a spiritual director. Pius X, Epistle to the Bishops of Italy, July 28, 1906. Students dismissed from one seminary cannot be admitted into another. In this matter the Decree of the S. C. C., December 22, 1905, is to be observed. "Those (pastors) who live shamefully and scandalously, after they have been forewarned, let (the Bishops) coerce and chastise; and if still incorrigible they persevere in their wickedness, let them have the faculty of depriving them of benefices according to the constitutions of the sacred canons, exemption and appeal being removed." Council of Trent s. 21, c. 6 de R. "The cognition of the aforesaid (crimes)... pertains to the Bishops themselves, who can proceed without noise and figure of judgment, and with only the truth of the fact inspected." Council of Trent s. 25, c. 14 de R. In this chapter there is question of causes of clerics who are concubinarians. Benedict XIV, C. Ubi primum, December 2, 1740; E. M.

What about the care to be had for doctrine? - It belongs to the Bishop to watch over institutions, whether private or public, and also over the printing of books in such a way that nothing be handed down which is opposed to faith and morals. It also pertains to him by a special title to denounce pernicious books. This is openly established from his office as pastor. Trent s. 5, c. 2 de R.; Leo XIII, C. Officiorum, VIII Kal. Febr. 1896.

Modernism: It is the collection of all heresies. Bishops must watch that it be rooted out if it has been present, and must take care lest it be present. Bishops are to prevent the writings of Modernists from being published and read; especially they are not to permit them to adolescents in Seminaries and to hearers in Universities. Let them institute a council of vigilance, to meet with the Bishop every other month and on a fixed day. Its duty will be to investigate indications of modernism in books and in teachings; likewise to watch over books and journals, lest dangerous questions be treated in these with weak arguments and prejudged questions; finally, in all writings concerning the social matter. By Modernism rash and false novelties are condemned, against the doctrine of Sacred Scripture and that constantly handed down by the Fathers and Catholic Doctors; but by no means is any modern discovery whatever condemned which is proved by solid reason.

Those who are prone to the errors of modernism are to be excluded from teaching and from sacred orders. Pius X, Encyclical Pascendi, Motu Proprio Sacrorum Antistitum.

What about the obligation of preaching? - "As regards Bishops," says Sporer t. 3, p. 73, n. 27, "although they regularly, according to custom, are not held to preach and administer the sacraments by themselves, nevertheless they must personally watch that this be furnished through others, and besides instruct the flock by good example and come to the aid of the poor. It was said regularly, for I think that at least sometimes Bishops are held to preach, since they themselves, as Trent declares in the cited chapter 1, session 23, are held by divine law to feed their sheep by the preaching of the divine word. And this is declared by the same Council s. 5, c. 2 de R." L. 127. Likewise in Trent s. 24, c. 4 de R., it is said that the duty of preaching is the principal duty of Bishops, and the Holy Synod "commands that in their own Church they themselves by themselves, or, if they have been legitimately impeded, through those whom they shall assume for the duty of preaching... announce the Sacred Scriptures and the divine law." Cf. also Trent s. 24, c. 7 de R. Cf. 239; E. M.

Bishops must further take care that children and the uneducated be taught the catechism according to the norm of the Constitution Acerbo nimis of Pius X.

What about celebration of Mass and administration of the sacraments? - Reply to the first: Frequently indeed, and even daily from fittingness, and at least on Sundays and feasts from grave obligation, they must offer the Holy Sacrifice for the whole diocese. They must also often stir the people to prayer, by enjoining private and public prayers in chief necessities, by decreeing supplications, etc. St. Paul to the Hebrews 5:1. The Bishop must likewise give effort that those things be observed by all which pertain to the holy celebration of Mass. C. Quoniam final de Privil. in 6; Trent s. 22, Decree de observ., etc.; s. 23, c. 1 de R.; Leo XIII, C. In suprema, June 30, 1882; L. l. 6, n. 337; H. A. tr. 7, n. 65, 66; E. M.

Reply to the second: The Bishop is held to administer the sacrament of confirmation; and it is very fitting that he show himself easy in administering it. He is held to confer orders by himself, unless he is impeded by illness. Trent s. 23, c. 3 de R. But he is not held to administer the sacrament of penance by himself, and since he has external governance, it is better that he abstain. It suffices that he deputize suitable priests for this ministry.

The Bishop is further held to confect the sacred oils within Mass on the fifth feria of Major Week, with twelve priests joined to himself along with seven deacons and subdeacons, and in case of necessity and with an indult of the Holy See, even with a smaller number. S. R. C., July 16, 1672, n. 1448.

Before he has received the pallium, an Archbishop cannot confer orders, gather synods, bless virgins, consecrate churches, or exercise pontificals even in his own church, unless he has obtained a special faculty. C. 28 de Electo. S. R. C., August 7, 1627, n. 443.

The Bishop is held to celebrate an anniversary each year, on the day of death, for the last deceased Bishop, but not for the administrator. Caerem. Episcop. l. 2, c. 36, n. 1; S. R. C., July 22, 1908; A. S. S. v. 41, p. 593.

What about convoking a synod and visiting the Holy Thresholds? - The Bishop is held to celebrate a diocesan synod every year. And every three years a provincial synod must be celebrated. Trent s. 24, c. 2 de R. "Every third year, and even more frequently for necessity or opportunity, all the Bishops of each ecclesiastical province should come together, to act jointly concerning the common business of their churches." Instruction of the Secretariat of State, May 1, 1900, to the Bishops of Latin America. A report every five years is to be presented by the Bishops themselves at Rome to the Holy See concerning the state of the diocese, according to the norm of the canons and order of the Decree of the S. C. Consistorial A remotissima Ecclesiae, December 31, 1909.

A report, moreover, is specially enjoined to be made concerning the observance of the Decrees concerning the age of those to be admitted to first Communion, concerning frequent and daily Communion, and of the Motu Proprio Sacrorum Antistitum, September 1, 1910, concerning whose observance a report is also to be made by General Moderators of Religious Institutes. In Italy, however, Bishops are specially commanded to preserve carefully monuments of art and history. C. of Sixtus V Romanus Pontifex, December 20, 1585; Instruction of the S. C. de Propaganda Fide, June 1, 1877; Plenary Council of Latin America 203; A. S. S. v. 10, p. 202; Benedict XIV de Syn. l. 2, c. 5.

What about the power of the vicar general? - A vicar general is he who is legitimately deputed to exercise episcopal jurisdiction generally, in place of the Bishop, so that his acts are judged to have been done by the Bishop. He must be a Doctor or Licentiate in Canon Law, or otherwise suitable. A Vicar General, during his duty, is a titular apostolic protonotary. Pius X, Motu Proprio Inter multiplices, February 22, 1905.

Whatever generally the Bishop can do from ordinary jurisdiction proper to himself, but not delegated, although ordinary as being annexed to an office, the Vicar can do, who with the Bishop constitutes one tribunal. Nevertheless this general rule has several exceptions, and certain things require a special mandate. And thus the Vicar General cannot confer, suppress, divide, or unite benefices; nor can he "concede dimissorial letters, unless he has express faculty concerning this from the Bishop, or unless the Bishop is outside the province, or distant by two or at least one day's journey from his own diocese." L. 787; C. Cum nullus de Temp. ord. in 6. Likewise the Bishop can, according to his own judgment, limit the jurisdiction of his Vicar in certain cases. But it is certain from several decisions of the S. C. C. that the Vicar General can, just as a pastor can, validly assist at marriage without the special mandate of the Bishop, and can concede to another, who is a priest, faculty of validly assisting at it, since he is an Ordinary, Trent s. 24, c. 1 de R. Benedict XIV de Syn. l. 2, c. 3, 8; Schmalzgrueber l. 4, title 16, n. 90, 91, 92; L. App. de Priv. 31, 47, 58; Plenary Council of Latin America 221; E. M.

The Vicar General can likewise approve Confessors, dispense in the proclamations of marriage, and bring censures.

But the Vicar General cannot know graver criminal causes, C. 2 de Off. vic. in 6; convoke a synod, S. C. C., December 4, 1655; Benedict XIV de Syn. l. 2, c. 3; visit the diocese; absolve from cases reserved by law to the Bishop alone, C. 4 de Poen. et rem. in 6; or dispense from irregularities from a hidden delict, Trent s. 24, c. 6 de R.

Precedence above all dignities and canons not vested belongs to the Vicar General. But precedence never belongs to him, namely neither in choir nor in processions, above canons clothed in sacred vestments. S. R. C., December 2, 1690, n. 1845.

Concerning the Vicariate of the City, cf. Constitution Etsi nos of Pius X, Kalends of January 1912, A. A. S. v. 4, p. 5 ff.

It cannot be prohibited, at least speaking generally, that Vicars General of the Dioceses of North America be from the number of the Consultors, unless the Consultors are very few. S. C. Consistorial, February 27, 1914.