Hardly a day goes by without someone asking me if I`ve heard anything about our new bishop. I`ve been asked twice today. Of course I`ve not heard anything recently and don`t expect to until there is an announcement but I have taken to checking the `Other Pontifical Acts` section of the Vatican Information Service emails.
In the meantime it gets tiring waiting to see what the future holds. It`s a bit like what they said about soldiers in the trenches in World War One who just wanted to hear the whistle so they could go over the top, probably into oblivion, just because the waiting gets to you. It`s like waiting for Summorum Pontificum all over again. (And don`t even mention the clarification document!) I pray every day for our new bishop. Who knows what opportunities or difficulties lie ahead? However the diocese still seems to tick over and there have even been some notable events, most notably the EF Mass at the cathedral.
Looking at the Vacant Sees section of the Catholic Hierarchy site I see the world record for waiting for a new bishop goes to the Melkite archdiocese of Alexandria which has been vacant since 25th November 1921 so we mustn`t complain.
In the meantime it gets tiring waiting to see what the future holds. It`s a bit like what they said about soldiers in the trenches in World War One who just wanted to hear the whistle so they could go over the top, probably into oblivion, just because the waiting gets to you. It`s like waiting for Summorum Pontificum all over again. (And don`t even mention the clarification document!) I pray every day for our new bishop. Who knows what opportunities or difficulties lie ahead? However the diocese still seems to tick over and there have even been some notable events, most notably the EF Mass at the cathedral.
Looking at the Vacant Sees section of the Catholic Hierarchy site I see the world record for waiting for a new bishop goes to the Melkite archdiocese of Alexandria which has been vacant since 25th November 1921 so we mustn`t complain.
4 comments:
Are many things held in abeyance when there's no bishop?
The rule is that nothing new should be done until there is a new bishop,(`sede vacante nihil innovetur`), which is `when the see is vacant, nothing new is to be done`.
So, applications to spend on new projects, such as resurfacing a car park are on hold. However a lot of things continue. I was at first surprised that visitations are continuing because normally they are done by the bishop and it is the once in five years or whenever when a priest gets a one-to-one with his bishop but bishop Dunn had delegated most of the visitation procedure to the Vicar General and the episcopal vicars so it continues.
Father do you think there is any chance of getting a Bishop who will try to do something against this dreadful "centre of life(death really)" place that we have in Newcastle which is carrying out satanic experiments on human stem cell embryo's?
Volpius, I hope so. I think under bishop Dunn there was a policy of keeping relations friendly so as to hope to have some influence. Hard to know what is the best approach. We should remember that non-embryonic stem cell research happens there too. I just hope and pray we get a bishop who will support a clear Catholic identity.
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