The Episcopal State

When St. Paul says (I Tim. 3:1), “If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work,” he means what he says, namely, that the desire is for a work, necessary and precious, wholly indispensable. But St. Paul does not speak of the motive of the desire; he does not say that the desire is good, but that the work is good. Now, it is hardly possible for a man to desire the bishop’s office without desiring what belongs toit-power to rule, a right to reverence and honor, a sufficiency of temporal goods. And, for the rest, to desire the bishop’soffice is likely to desire with presumption, possibly with ambition, possibly even with covetousness. For the great office ofa bishop is a great burden as well, and it involves the state of perfection. But to accept the bishop’s office when called toit, is always lawful, often a duty. Vainly to desire the office of bishop, or ambitiously to aspire to it, is wrong. Says the unknown author of a Homily on Matthew xxv: “It is good to desire a good work, but to desire primacy of honor is vanity. Primacy seeks the one who avoids it, and eludes him who seek sit.”

But it is not right for one appointed to the bishop’s office to refuse the appointment absolutely. There isinordinateness of will in the desire to have rule over others;there is also inordinateness of will in the refusal to accept one’s appointed task. St. Augustine says (Ep. xlviiiad Eudox.): “Do not prefer your ease to the needs ofthe Church.”

The person chosen as bishop should have fitness for the office, and should be able to instruct, defend, and govern the faithful peacefully. It is not necessary that he be the best person for the office, but that he be a good person. For himself, a man appointed to the bishop’s office need make no objection to his appointment so long as he is aware of nothing in himself that would make it unlawful for him to accept the post.

A bishop must remain in office as long as it is possible for him to discharge its duties well for the spiritual benefit of his subjects. When, for some good reason, he feels thathe can no longer sustain the burden, he may lawfully appeal to the pope for release from his duties. Hence, it is sometimes lawful fora bishop to resign his charge.

A bishop binds himself to fulfill the duties of his pastoral office for the eternal welfare of his subjects. Hence,when the spiritual good of these subjects requires his presence among them, he must remain at his post, despite trials andpersecutions. Yet if his subjects will suffer no essential spiritual lack because of his absence for a time, he may depart,whether because of some advantage to the Church, or because of danger to his own person.

It is perfectly lawful for a bishop to have property ofhis own. To live without owning anything of one’s own is a matter of counsel, not of precept. And no one is bound to a counsel unless he has freely obligated himself to it by a vow.

As to the disposition of ecclesiastical goods, bishops are required to be faithful stewards or trustees; they are to use surplus goods for the benefit of the poor, for the decency of divine worship, for aid to needy clerics, and for the upbuilding ofthe Church in her necessary temporalities.

A religious who is raised to the episcopate is bound to retain such offices and duties of the religious state as are compatible with the discharge of the bishop’s duties, and are helpful in that work. But he is no longer bound to such of his former observances as conflict with the demands of his new state.