Choosing a Successor

Even as Spellman's body was being laid to rest, U.S. Catholics were wondering about who might succeed him as pastor of the nation's most prestigious see. The fact that no one really knew* emphasized the extraordinary secrecy surrounding the church's method of choosing its spiritual shepherds.

In theory, bishops are spiritual successors of the Apostles, placed over their dioceses by divine institution. During the first centuries of the church, bishops were normally elected by acclamation at public gatherings of clergy and laity. By the Middle Ages, the naming of new bishops had become the prerogative of Popes, who frequently reassigned the right to kings in return for political favors. A vestige of this procedure remains in the concordats that the church maintains with some traditionally Catholic countries; in Spain, for example, Generalissimo Franco has the right to designate nominees for vacant sees.

Provincial Candidates. Elsewhere, prospective bishops are chosen by the hierarchy in proceedings whose secrecy would do credit to the CIA. Once every two years, the bishops of a province--a group of dioceses headed by an archbishop--meet to discuss the qualifications of priests who should be considered for advancement. The names of the top candidates are submitted to the Vatican's apostolic delegate or papal nuncio, who then passes them on to Rome's Sacred Consistorial Congregation after making his own investigation of their qualities. To fill smaller sees, the Pope usually accepts one of the province's nominees; major archbishoprics, more often than not, involve the elevation of a prelate who has proved his worth in lesser assignments.

The canonical prerequisites for a prospective bishop are few: a priest should be of good character and legitimate birth, at least 30 years of age, and possess some learning in theology and church law. In practice, however, several other factors come into play. In the U.S., for example, it helps to have studied at the North American College; about one-fourth of the American hierarchy graduated from the Roman seminary. The path to promotion is also smoother for priests with a talent for chancery administration and charity work than for theologians or parish pastors. Serving an archbishop with considerable influence in Rome helps; at least 25 of Spellman's former assistants have been elevated to the rank of bishop. During the nine years that Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi--a notoriously conservative ecclesiastic--was apostolic delegate to the U.S., it did not pay for a priest to have too many imprudent ideas about church reform.

Excess of Bureaucrats. Within the church, the mysterious process by which bishops are chosen has recently come in for some sharp criticism. Many Catholics feel that priests and laymen should have at least some indirect say in electing their bishops; others feel that the present system produces too many brick-and-mortar bureaucratic conformists and too few spiritual leaders with real pastoral qualities. Aware that the system needs updating, the U.S. hierarchy last April agreed to set up a special commission that would screen candidates proposed by all bishops. Some U.S. bishops--among them Bishop Clarence Issenmann of Cleveland--have begun to invite recommendations from parish priests and trusted laymen. "The Catholic Church finds herself to day in the midst of the gravest crisis since the Protestant revolt," warns Msgr. John Tracy Ellis, professor of church history at the University of San Francisco. "It is imperative that those chosen to lead the people of God should represent the broadest possible spectrum of their spiritual subjects."

*Among bishops most prominently mentioned as his successor: John F. Dearden of Detroit; Francis F. Reh, head of the North American College in Rome; Fulton J. Sheen of Rochester; John J. Maguire, the temporary administrator of the New York archdiocese; John J. Wright of Pittsburgh.

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