Friday, January 04, 2008

Popular Acclamation


In the good ole days bishops were elected by popular acclamation, call me liberal, but I am actually in favour of this. The problem is how to do it without it the acclaiming being hi-jacked or just becoming mob-rule.

I can't help thinking the net might be the answer, a bit of popular acclaiming, followed by serious analysis. I think the net is something that could enable "Joe Public" a voice, within reason I am committed to it.

As pundits are predicting the vacancy of Westminster during the coming summer

nextcardinal@yahoo.com offers the opportunity make your suggestion. Simply putting forward a name is fine, giving reasons would be more useful.

4 comments:

Physiocrat said...

I don't think this is at all a good idea. I would hate to be in the position of having to suggest someone. A prerequisite is that they should genuinely not want the job. A religious might be the right thing, and the most suitable person is quite likely to be someone obscure.

Bishop Anders Arborelius of Stockholm seems to be making a good job of things and he is a Carmelite who had to have his arm twisted. Another was Cardinal Lustiger, and I don't think anyone had heard of him before.

gemoftheocean said...

To make it REALLY interesting... have all the candidates line up on a platform. Have someone hold their hand over each candidate's head. Whomever gets BOOED the least, gets the job. Whomever gets booed the most gets tossed to the lions. And whomever put forth the name of the guy that gets booed the most gets served up as the appetizer. Oh, wait, wrong century.

Personally, I don't like to see any bishops that don't have a lot of pastoral experience. What I do NOT like are these guys tapped from babyhood, it seems who get assigned as "bishop's secretary" at a very young age and get all the plum/cushy old boy network assignments, just slide right in."

I say:

"Dude, when you've had drunk people thrown up on you, and handled it with grace, when you've buried Mrs. Murphy when there was no one else at the funeral, when you've had pregnant 16 year olds on your doorstep, when you've dealt with the family who's lost their kids to cults, when you've found the money to pay the heat and electric bills in a poor parish and managed well enough to kick in a little for the poor people living in a yurt somewhere, THEN we'll talk if you're bishop material or not. It is also absolutely essential to be genuinely spiritual. Too many "administrator" [they have their place to be sure] but you want someone with a head on his shoulders who has some humility.

That said. Are you commissioning your mitre or are you going to try and bag one of Benny's old ones?

If the church univeral can make the nominations, I'll be glad to put your name in, but they'd better find a vegetarian lion, just in case - or a very old one with no teeth.

Anonymous said...

Fr. Ray,

I think Gem has got the measure of the preferred selection method in England:

"What I do NOT like are these guys tapped from babyhood, it seems, who get assigned as 'bishop's secretary' at a very young age, get all the plum/cushy old boy network assignments, and just slide right in."

I don't like this either, because it has created a self-perpetuating theological monoculture: the magic circle is constantly regenerated by successive waves of ideological clones. It reminds me of Dr. Who - his body changes occasionally, but all his other attributes stay exactly the same!

It's time for Rome to by-pass the blue-eyed boys on the bureaucratic fast track and reach down into the ranks of the ordinary clergy for new episcopal candidates.

This would be a much better way of picking new bishops than trying to part-democratize the process - a very slippery slope, in my opinion.

Anonymous said...

Popular acclamation?

Oh yeah. There's biblical precedent for it.

"Give us Barrabas!"

Good idea.

The Lord’s descent into the underworld

At Matins/the Office of Readings on Holy Saturday the Church gives us this 'ancient homily', I find it incredibly moving, it is abou...