I don't want to imply that the process was perfect and unpolitical prior to Pope Francis and Cardinal Cupich. It certainly was! And the pope always has the right to appoint the bishops he wants. I would hate to have that policy changed.
What we are seeing now are disturbing trends: the appointment of ideologues to major appointments becau…
I don't want to imply that the process was perfect and unpolitical prior to Pope Francis and Cardinal Cupich. It certainly was! And the pope always has the right to appoint the bishops he wants. I would hate to have that policy changed.
What we are seeing now are disturbing trends: the appointment of ideologues to major appointments because of their ideology, the appointment of mediocre priests, some of whom are morally questionable, to other dioceses, and in spite of all this talk on synodal listening, to ignore the voices of those who best know the local situation.
I don't really despair, though. The ideologues are either older or mediocre, so they will struggle to overcome the younger faithful. They will also find few men under the age of 70 to carry out their visions.
I agree. The quality of the young priests in the US is so high that the liberal bishops have slim pickings to choose from in choosing like minded liberals in the future as their successors.
I hope they all pretend they are aligned with Pope Francis. Sort of like Bishop Paprocki who was a protege of the ultraliberal Cardinal Bernardin, but became an awesome orthodox bishop. I am actually hoping 56 year old Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, who was in charge of the National Eucharistic Congress, is advanced, but he may have to wait for the next Pope.
I am surprised that you put the Polish-born Bishop Fedek into the mix. Polish priests and bishops are good at pretending to follow the lead of Pope Francis in word, but doing what is right in deed. The poor American bishops get the most criticism from Pope Francis, yet the Polish bishops are way more conservative. They cleverly quote Pope Francis in nearly every document and homily and never openly criticize him or his policies, but completely ignore almost every directive that comes from the Vatican. I personally know at least two Polish-born priests who have high positions in dioceses where Cupich dictates things who are more conservative than Bishop Strickland, but publicly they sound like they are towing the Cupich and Pope Francis line. I pray they do become bishops and make Cardinal Cupich cringe at who got through under his nose.
I don't want to imply that the process was perfect and unpolitical prior to Pope Francis and Cardinal Cupich. It certainly was! And the pope always has the right to appoint the bishops he wants. I would hate to have that policy changed.
What we are seeing now are disturbing trends: the appointment of ideologues to major appointments because of their ideology, the appointment of mediocre priests, some of whom are morally questionable, to other dioceses, and in spite of all this talk on synodal listening, to ignore the voices of those who best know the local situation.
I don't really despair, though. The ideologues are either older or mediocre, so they will struggle to overcome the younger faithful. They will also find few men under the age of 70 to carry out their visions.
I agree. The quality of the young priests in the US is so high that the liberal bishops have slim pickings to choose from in choosing like minded liberals in the future as their successors.
Just a few of the younger guys we hope to be seeing more of, who are pastorally oriented like our Holy Father:
Bishop José Arturo Cepeda Escobedo (55),
Bishop Ramon Bejarano (55)
Bishop Mario Alberto Avilés Campos, C.O. (55)
Bishop Felipe Pulido (55)
Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala (54)
Bishop Anthony Cerdan Celino (52)
Bishop Juan Rafael Esposito-Garcia (51)
Bishop Artur Bubnevych (49)
Bishop Cristiano Guilherme Borro Barbosa (48)
Bishop Joseph Armando Espaillat (48)
Bishop José Maria Garcia Maldonado (46)
Bishop Robert Fedek (45)
Well . . . we'll see.
All Hispanic but the last?
I hope they all pretend they are aligned with Pope Francis. Sort of like Bishop Paprocki who was a protege of the ultraliberal Cardinal Bernardin, but became an awesome orthodox bishop. I am actually hoping 56 year old Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, who was in charge of the National Eucharistic Congress, is advanced, but he may have to wait for the next Pope.
I am surprised that you put the Polish-born Bishop Fedek into the mix. Polish priests and bishops are good at pretending to follow the lead of Pope Francis in word, but doing what is right in deed. The poor American bishops get the most criticism from Pope Francis, yet the Polish bishops are way more conservative. They cleverly quote Pope Francis in nearly every document and homily and never openly criticize him or his policies, but completely ignore almost every directive that comes from the Vatican. I personally know at least two Polish-born priests who have high positions in dioceses where Cupich dictates things who are more conservative than Bishop Strickland, but publicly they sound like they are towing the Cupich and Pope Francis line. I pray they do become bishops and make Cardinal Cupich cringe at who got through under his nose.
The Polish bishops have experience in these matters.
Better hope that no one gets hold of the list you put together. That will bring any ‘upward mobility’ to a grinding halt.