Bishops & Priests

Details: 22 July 2011

Papal Books

Among the inspiring books written by the late Pope, Blessed John Paul II, (Karol Wojtyla), were two that pertained in a special way to the priesthood and the episcopacy. The first, "Gift and Mystery", was written in 1996 on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood and treated, in an autobiographical context, the Catholic priesthood. The second, "Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way", written in 2004 shortly before his death, was addressed specifically to and about Catholic Bishops and was done in the same interesting and autobiographical context. He said that what he related in those books "belongs to my deepest being, to my innermost experience. I offer this to priests and the People of God as a testimony of love."

For title of his second book Blessed John Paul chose some divine words of Jesus Himself (Mark 14:42), noting that our Lord spoke those words to His chosen Apostles, Peter, James, and John, in the Garden of Gethsemane, indicating that "not only He must be on His way to fulfill His Father’s will, but they too must go with Him’, and "that invitation is addressed particularly to us Bishops." Our former Holy Father remarks, "The call to become a Bishop is certainly a great honor. This does not mean, however, that a man is chosen for having distinguished himself among many others as an outstanding person and Christian. The honor comes from his mission (his duty) to stand at the heart of the Church as the first in faith, the first in love, the first in fidelity, and the first in service. If someone seeks in the episcopal office honor for its own sake, he will not be able to fulfill his episcopal mission well. The first and foremost aspect of the honor due to a Bishop lies in the responsibility associated with his ministry."

The Symbols

Blessed John Paul wrote about the symbolic elements traditionally associated with the office of Bishop, especially those bestowed on him at the liturgical ceremony of his consecration to become a successor to the Apostles. In addition to the anointing with sacred chrism and the bestowal of the Book of the Gospels, there is the ring, the crosier, and the miter. "The ring on the Bishop’s finger signifies that he is married to the Church. ‘Take this ring, the sign of your fidelity. In integrity of faith and purity of life, protect the holy Church, Bride of Christ. Be faithful until death’ (Revelation 2:10). This ring, a nuptial symbol, expresses the particular bond between the Bishop and the Church." The Pope wrote, "My ring reminds me of the need to be a strong link in the chain of succession that stretches back to the Apostles. The strength of a chain is measured by its weakest link. I must be strong with God’s own strength (Psalm 28; 27:7 & Psalm 23; 22:4)." In itself the "ring means nothing, but when the Bishop wears it, it symbolizes his authority. He must serve. In a sense the Bishop’s ring is a symbol of the passion of Christ and of all the martyrs."

"The investiture with the miter during the ordination ritual for the consecration of a Bishop is an especially eloquent sign. The newly ordained Bishop receives the miter as a sign of his commitment, according to the liturgical text, ‘to let the light of holiness shine in him and to become worthy to receive the unfading crown of glory when Christ, the Supreme Shepherd will appear." Miters have been worn by Catholic Bishops from at least the middle of the 10th century. They were an echo of the headdress worn by Jewish high priests in the Old Testament. There is evidence that they evolved from the head-covering worn by the highest civil officials in the ancient Roman Empire called the "camelaucum" and which the Emperor Constantine already in the fourth century told the Pope and the Bishops to wear in order to show to Christians and others their high authority in the Church.

Crosier & Book

The crosier, the blessed ceremonial Bishop’s staff, shaped like a piece of a shepherd’s necessary equipment, "is a sign of the authority that enables a Bishop to fulfill his duty to care for his flock. Like other signs it too speaks of the Bishop’s solicitude for the holiness of the People of God. A shepherd must watch and protect his flock and must lead his sheep into green pastures... There is always a problem in achieving balance between authority and service. Obviously, a Bishop has authority, but much depends on how he exercises it. If a Bishop stresses his authority too much, then the people might think all he can do is issue commands. He must serve by ruling and rule by serving. We have an eloquent model of this dual approach in Christ Himself. He served unceasingly, but in the Spirit of God He was also able to expel the money changers from the temple when this was needed." Bishops began to use the crosier from at least the beginning of the 7th century. The Bishop’s staff in the Latin Rite always had a shepherd’s staff kind of look, but in the Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church it is usually surmounted by a cross with two serpents heads on each side, a reminder of the words of Jesus about His being raised up from the earth like the bronze seraph serpent of Moses (John 3:14 & Numbers 21:4-9). It has been the perpetual custom for the Pope, because he is the Chief Bishop and Supreme Pontiff, not to use a crosier but rather to carry a staff which is actually a cross or crucifix.

In an episcopal consecration liturgy, after the laying on of hands and the sacramental prayer of consecration, a new Bishop is handed a Book of the Gospels. "This gesture indicates that the Bishop is to accept and preach the Good News. He is a sign of the presence in the Catholic Church of Jesus, the Teacher. Teaching is of the essence of a Bishop’s calling. He too must be a teacher. The Bishop is to become the servant of the Word. Precisely as a teacher he sits on the cathedra, the chair eloquently situated in the church known for that reason as the cathedral, from which he is to preach, proclaim, and explain the Word of God. There are others who assist the Bishop in proclaiming the Word of God, priests and deacons, catechists and teachers, professors of theology, and ever growing numbers of lay persons faithful to the Gospel, but nothing can take the place of the Bishop himself seated upon the cathedra or standing in the pulpit of his episcopal church..."

Also in that ceremony there is an anointing with sacred chrism. "At a priestly ordination the hands are anointed but at an episcopal consecration the head is anointed. This is another gesture that speaks of the imparting of the Holy Spirit, Who enters and takes possession of the candidate and makes him His instrument. The anointing of the head signifies the call to new responsibilities. The Bishop will have the task of guiding the Church, which task places great demands on him. This anointing by the Holy Spirit has the same Source as the anointings in other sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation), that is, Jesus Christ. The designation Christ, the Anointed One, became the proper name of Jesus because the divine mission that this name signifies was perfectly fulfilled in Him." If the new future Bishop of Lincoln will have already been a Bishop, he will simply be installed here, but if he is not yet a Bishop, we may be able once again to witness an episcopal consecration when that time comes.