Pope Francis confirms norms concerning bishops’ retirement

ANDREA TORNIELLI

VATICAN CITY.      http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it
Francis has confirmed Church law regarding the retirement age for diocesan and Curia bishops who are expected to hand in their resignation when they turn 75. He explained Canon 401 of the Code of Canon Law more clearly and in greater detail. This rule states that the Pope may ask a bishop to step down earlier than the set retirement age, having “examined all the circumstances”.

The rescript on the “dispositions regarding the resignation of diocesan bishops and holders of offices of pontifical nomination” came into force this afternoon and is composed of seven paragraphs. The new decisions were based on current Canon Law and on “the recommendations of the Council of Cardinals” assisting him “in the preparation of the reform of the Roman Curia and in the governance of the church,” the famous C9, which Parolin himself is a member of.

The text essentially says that the serious commitment entailed in the ordained ministry which is to be seen as service (diakonia) to God’s People, requires those entrusted with this task to invest all their energy in performing it well. Given the challenges today’s society poses, it is all the more important for bishops to be competent and possess the right human and spiritual qualities and abilities. Hence the Pope confirmed the retirement age of 75 for bishops but also stressed that a bishop’s resignation must be approved by the Pope before it becomes official, thus in some cases diocesan bishops’ mandates may be prolonged as has happened in the past and as continues to happen. Bishops who retire, automatically cease to hold any fixed-term office they may have on a national level. For example, there can no longer be cases such as that of Archbishop Robert Zollitch who kept his post as President of the German Bishops’ Conference even after he stepped down as head of the Diocese of Freiburg.
Worthy of the church’s appreciation is the gesture of one who, motivated by love and the desire for a better service to the community, believes it is necessary because of ill health or other serious reason to renounce his office as pastor before reaching the age of 75,” one of the paragraphs of the text states.

The most innovative part of the text is paragraph 5. It reaffirms the Pope’s power to request a bishop’s resignation when he believes it is necessary, “after having made known the reasons for such a request and in the context of a “fraternal dialogue”. The Pope already had the power to remove bishops from office – a recent case was the removal of Paraguayan monsignor Rogelio Ricardo Livieres and Benedict XVI also asked a number of bishops to resign during his pontificate. But now this has been stressed even more clearly.
As far as Curia members are concerned, it appears Pope Francis intends to be less flexible regarding extensions for over-75-year-olds. According to the current Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus which presents the structure of the Roman Curia, after their 75th birthday, cardinals are requested to present their resignation to the Pope. Cardinals who are also heads of dicasteries are not only requested to hand in their resignation, but are bound to do so. Once the Pope has considered all aspects, he then proceeds. Meanwhile, “non-cardinal heads of dicasteries in the Roman Curia, the secretaries and bishops who fulfil other offices of pontifical nomination forfeit their office on the completion of their 75th year.”

The norms published today are a “strong re-proposal of existing norms,” the Vatican Press Office said in a statement. They also put into practice Pope Francis’ request for a bishop’s ministry to be one of service and not just a title or some kind of award.

Similar Posts

  • Pope Francis and the Challenge of being Church today

    Articles, Editor's Choice, Pope Francis
    1 Comment

    Bishop Vincent Long of Parramatta, NSW, spoke recently about how we are now ‘living in a watershed and a privileged moment in the history of the Church.’ It is a time with demands and challenges for us.
    He said that in church ‘It is not “business as usual”. There needs to be an attitudinal change at every level, a conversion of mind and heart that conforms us to the spirit of the Gospel, a new wine into new wineskins, not a superficial change or, worse, a retreat into restorationism.

    Gaudium et Spes, the guiding document of the Council, presented a new paradigm: the church is not an enclosure which protects its members against the sinful world. It is a fellow pilgrim with the men and women of our age. It is a church incarnate in the world. Therefore, it is time not of fearful retreat, disengagement and self-referential pomp, but of accompaniment and engagement.

    The church will be less than what Christ intends it to be when issues of inclusion and equality are not fully addressed. That is why you heard me say that I am guided by the radical vision of Christ. I am committed to make the church in Parramatta the house for all peoples, a church where there is less an experience of exclusion but more an encounter of radical love, inclusiveness and solidarity.

    We cannot be a strong moral force and an effective prophetic voice in society if we are simply defensive, inconsistent and divisive with regards to certain social issues. We cannot talk about the integrity of creation, the universal and inclusive love of God, while at the same time colluding with the forces of oppression in the ill-treatment of racial minorities, women and homosexual persons.”

    It is a long but worthwhile read and can be downloaded in Pdf format

  • Not an era of change but a change of era. Updated

    Articles, Pope Francis
    11 Comments

    Updated to include a translation of Pope Francis’ address. Translation kindly provided by Pádraig McCarthy. Translations of the Popes addresses are very slow to appear in Rome so our thanks to Pádraig.

    Joshua J. McElwee reports in NCR on a speech by Pope Francis to a national conference of the Italian church in Florence.
    Pope Francis made a fairly strong statement that the Church must continue to face problems of the present in new and culturally relevant ways.
    “Before the problems of the church it is not useful to search for solutions in conservatism or fundamentalism, in the restoration of obsolete conduct and forms that no longer have the capacity of being significant culturally,”
    “Christian doctrine is not a closed system incapable of generating questions, doubts, interrogatives — but is alive, knows being unsettled, enlivened,” said the pope. “It has a face that is not rigid, it has a body that moves and grows, it has a soft flesh: it is called Jesus Christ.”

  • Marriage Annulment Process Changed

    Pope Francis
    1 Comment

    Pope Francis has announced new procedures for the annulling of marriages.
    The documents making the announcement, Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus and Mitis et misericors Iesus, are still only available in Italian and Latin.
    We carry a report on this move from Crux.
    http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2015/09/08/pope-francis-streamlines-process-for-granting-annulments/
    Is this an important step for reform and Francis’ message of Mercy?
    How relevant is it for the majority of catholics who divorce and remarry?

  • Mercy cannot be codified, legislated or judged

    Articles, Editor's Choice, Pope Francis
    2 Comments

    The NCR carried an interesting Editorial about the “Year of Mercy” and what is intended by it.
    “The fear inspired by legalism dominated the community’s life for decades, but we’ve learned that fear stifles and kills; it does not nourish or transform. Mercy is an encounter with the other, and ultimately an experience of God. Mercy is transformation. “

    “Speaking at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Dec. 8, Francis said: “We have to put mercy before judgment, and in every case God’s judgment will always be in the light of his mercy. Let us abandon all fear and dread, for these do not befit men and women who are loved. Instead, let us live the joy of encounter with the grace that transforms all.”

  • Recent spat between cardinals signals a ‘battle for the soul of the Church’

    ACP News, Articles, Pope Francis
    7 Comments

    Brendan Hoban sees in the recent public disagreement between Cardinals Muller and Maradiaga a part of the ongoing struggle between Benedict XVI’s church and Francis I’s church. It is, he believes, a battle “between a black and white view of Catholic reality (take it or leave it) and an acceptance of the complexity of human experience (try to understand weakness and failure)…” (First published in the Western People).

Join the Discussion

Keep the following in mind when writing a comment

  • Your comment must include your full name, and email. (email will not be published). You may be contacted by email, and it is possible you might be requested to supply your postal address to verify your identity.
  • Be respectful. Do not attack the writer. Take on the idea, not the messenger. Comments containing vulgarities, personalised insults, slanders or accusations shall be deleted.
  • Keep to the point. Deliberate digressions don't aid the discussion.
  • Including multiple links or coding in your comment will increase the chances of it being automati cally marked as spam.
  • Posts that are merely links to other sites or lengthy quotes may not be published.
  • Brevity. Like homilies keep you comments as short as possible; continued repetitions of a point over various threads will not be published.
  • The decision to publish or not publish a comment is made by the site editor. It will not be possible to reply individually to those whose comments are not published.