Mostly Caught Up

This morning's appointment of Louisville pastor Father William F. Medley as the next bishop of Owensboro, Kentucky fills what had been the longest-vacant diocese in the U.S. Church. Owensboro has been without a bishop since Bishop John McRaith retired on January 5.

This leaves six Latin rite dioceses currently without an ordinary:

Ogdensburg, New York -- since Bishop Robert Cunningham's April 21 appointment to Syracuse, New York
Springfield, Illinois -- since Archbishop George Lucas' June 3 appointment to Omaha, Nebraska
Austin, Texas -- since Archbishop Gregory Aymond's June 12 appointment to New Orleans
Scranton, Pennsylvania -- since Bishop Joseph Martino's August 31 resignation
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania -- since Bishop Kevin Rhoades' November 14 appointment to Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana
LaCrosse, Wisconsin -- since Archbishop Jerome Listecki's November 14 appointment to Milwaukee

As the oldest of these vacancies is barely eight months old, and a third of them are barely a month old, it's no surprise that Rome hasn't gotten around to filling them yet, as the appointment of a new bishop is a long and involved process.

Also on a waiting list are six other dioceses, whose bishops are serving past the retirement age of 75. They are:

Lafayette, Indiana -- Bishop William Higi turned 76 in August
Corpus Christi, Texas -- Bishop Edmind Carmody turns 76 in January
Seattle -- Archbishop Alexander Brunett turns 76 in January
Spokane, Washington -- Bishop William Skylstad turns 76 in March
Cincinnati -- Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk turned 75 in August
Oklahoma City -- Archbishop Eusebius Beltran turned 75 in August

Of these six dioceses, however, only five are waiting for a new bishop, as the pope named coadjutor Archbishop Dennis Schnurr to Cincinnati back in October of 2008. When Archbishop Pilarczyk retires, Schnurr will automatically succeed him.

And again, as appointing a new bishop is a lengthy process, to have only five bishops awaiting successors and only one of those bishops over the age of 76 means the Congregation for Bishops Rome is pretty well caught up on its business. As no other ordinaries turn 75 until April of 2010 (Cardinal Justin Rigali in Philadelphia and Bishop Kevin Boland in Savannah, Georgia), this list could really shrink in the meantime.

Hat tip David Cheney.

Co-ad-what-tor?

This morning saw another bishop's appointment in the U.S., with the pope accepting the resignation of Bishop Bernard Harrington of Winona (thanks for your service, Bishop Harrington) and Coadjutor Bishop John M. Quinn succeeding Bishop Harrington (congrats, Bishop Quinn).

While it was announced, just as every other appointment, by the apostolic nuncio in Washington and the pope in Rome simultaneously, this appointment didn't have quite the same dropped-out-of-the-sky feel as some in that it was preceded by another announcement last fall, naming Bishop Quinn, then an auxiliary bishop of Detroit, as Bishop Harrington's coadjutor.

In other words, it was just a matter of time before the torch was passed.

This is only clear, however, if coadjutor is already conveniently part of your vocabulary, which for the many of us, it isn't. But one of the charming aspects of Catholicism is the endless potential for learning, either through history, prayer and reflection, or the endless layers of church concepts and terminology.

The USCCB's online glossary of Catholic terms defines coadjutor:

A bishop appointed to a Catholic diocese or archdiocese to assist the diocesan bishop. Unlike an auxiliary bishop—see auxiliary bishop—he has the right of succession, meaning that he automatically becomes the new bishop when the diocesan bishop retires or dies. By canon law, he is also vicar general of the diocese. If the diocese is an archdiocese, he is called coadjutor archbishop instead of coadjutor bishop. In recent years a growing number of U.S. bishops in larger dioceses or archdioceses have requested and received a coadjutor in the final year or two before their retirement, in order to familiarize their successor with the workings of the (arch)diocese before he has to take over the reins.

Seems simple enough.

A couple other random facts worth noting: the Catholic Church in the U.S. has one other coadjutor at present, Coadjutor Archbishop Dennis Schnurr of Cincinnati (formerly bishop of Duluth), who has the right of succession when Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk retires. Also, prior to the 1983 Code of Canon Law, Rome could distinguish between a coadjutor who had the right of succession and one who did not. This distinction does not exist in the current code, as canon 403, paragraph 3 plainly states, "... a coadjutor bishop does possess the right of succession."