BISHOP
584
BISHOP
diminished exemptions from episcopal authority, and
delegated to the bishops some of the rights which in
the past the Holy See had reserved to itself. Sub-
sequent pontifieal acts completed the Tridentine
legislation, which is still valid. Protestantism and
at a later date the French Revolution destroyed all
temporal power of the bishops; thenceforth they were
free to consecrate tliemselves with greater earnestness
to the duties of their spiritual ministry.
II. Present Legislation. — Two classes of bishops must be distinguished, not with regard to the power of order, for all bishops receive the fullness of the priesthood, but with regard to the power of juris- diction: the diocesan bishop and the titular bishop or, as he was called before 1882 the episcoptis in partibiis infidelium. The former is here considered. Those belonging to the second class cannot perform any episcopal function without the authorization of the diocesan bishop; for as titular bishops they have no ordinary jurisdiction. They can, however, act as auxiliary bishops, i. e. they may be appointed by the pope to assist a diocesan bishop in the exercise of duties arising from the episcopal order but entailing no power of jurisdiction. (See Auxili.\ry Bishop.) Such a bishop is also called vicarius in pontificalibus, i. e. a representative in certain ceremonial acts proper to the diocesan bishop, sometimes sulfragan bishop, episcopus sufjraganeus. In the proper sense of the term, however, the suffragan bishop is the diocesan bishop in his relations with the metropohtan of the ecclesiastical province to which he belongs, while the bishop who is independent of any metropoh- tan is called an exempt bishop, episcopus exemptus. The titular bishop may also be coadjutor bishop when he is appointed to assist an ordinary bishop in the administration of the diocese. Sometimes he is in- correctly called auxiliary bishop. He possesses some powers of jurisdiction determined by the letters ApostoUc appointing him. Often also, notably in missionary countries, the coadjutor bishop is named cum jure successionis, i. e. with the right of succession; on the death of the diocesan bishop he enters on the ordinary administration of the diocese (Taunton, The Law of the Church, London, 1906, 55, 204, 617).
The Council of Trent determined the conditions to be fulfilled by candidates for the episcopate, of which the following are the principal: birth in lawful wedlock, freedom from censure and irregularity or any defect in mind, purity of personal morals, and good reputation. The candidate must also be fully thirty years of age and have been not less than si.x months in Holy orders. He ought also to have the theological degree of Doctor or at least be a licentiate in theology or canon law or else have the testimony of a public academy or seat of learning (or, if he be a religious, of the highest authority of his order) that he is fit to teach others (c. vii, De electione et electi potestate, X, I, vi; Friedberg, II, 51. Council of Trent, Sess. XXII, De ref., ch. ii). The Holy Office is charged with the examination of persons called to the episcopate, with the exception of the territories subject to the Congregation of the Propaganda or to the Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, or of those countries where the nomination of bishops is governed by special laws and concordats ("Motu proprio" of Pope Pius X, 17 December, 1903; "Acta sancta; Sedis, 190-1, XXXVI, 385). We have said that the Decretals recognize the right of the cathedral chapters to elect the bishop. This right has been long withdrawn and is no longer in force. In virtue of the second rule of the Papal Chancery the choice of bishops belongs exclusively to the pope (\Valter, Pontes juris ecclesiastici antiqui et hodierni, Bonn, 1861, 483). Exceptions to this rule, however, are numerous. In Austria (with the exception of some episcopal sees), in Bavaria, in
Spain, in Portugal and in Peru, the Government pre-
sents to the sovereign pontiff the candidates for the
episcopate. It was so in France, and in several South
American Republics before the rupture or denuncia-
tion of the concordats between these states and the
Apostolic See. By the cessation of these concordats
such states lost all right of intervention in the nomi-
nation of bishops; tliis does not, however, prevent the
Government in several South American Republics
from recommending candidates to the sovereign pon-
tiff. The cathedral chapter is authorized to elect the
bishop in several dioceses of Austria, Switzerland,
Prussia, and in some States of Germany, notably in
the ecclesiastical province of the LTpper Rhine. The
action of the electors, however, is not entirely free.
For example, they may not choose persons distaste-
ful to the Government (Letter of the Cardinal Secre-
tary of State to the Chapters of Germany, 20 Julv.
1900; Canoniste Contemporain, 1901, XXIV, 71^7").
Elsewhere the pope himself nominates bishops, but
in Italy the Government insists that they obtain
the royal exequatur before taking possession of the
episcopal see. In missionary countries the pope
generally permits the "recommendation" of can-
didates, but this does not juridically bind the sov-
ereign pontiff, who has the power to choose the new
bishop from persons not included in the hst of recom-
mended candidates. In England the canons of the
cathedral select by a majority of votes, at three
successive ballots, three candidates for the vacant
episcopal see. Their names, arranged in alphabetical
order, are transmitted to the Propaganda and to
the archbishop of the province, or to the senior
suffragan of the province, if the question is one of
the election of an archbishop. The bishops of the
province discuss the merits of the candidates and
transmit their observations to the Propaganda.
Since 1874 the bisliops are empowered, if they so
desire, to propose other names for the choice of the
Holy See, and a decision of the Propaganda (25 April,
3 May, 1904) confirms this practice (Instruction
of Propaganda, 21 April, 1852; "Collectanea S. C.
de Propaganda Fide", Rome, 1893, no. 42; Taunton,
87-88), Analogous enactments are in force in Ireland.
The canons of the cathedral and all the parish priests
free from censure and in actual and peaceful pos-
session of their parish or united parishes, choose in
a single ballot three ecclesiastics. The names of
the three candidates who have obtained the greatest
nmnber of votes are announced and forwarded to
the Propaganda and to the archbishop of the province.
The archbishop and tlie bishops of the province
give the Holy See their opinion on the candidates.
If they .judge that none of the candidates is capable
of fulfilling the episcopal functions no second recom-
mendation is to be made. If it is a question of the
nomination of a coadjutor bishop with the right of
succession the same rules are followed, but the
presidency of the electoral meeting, instead of being
given to the metropohtan, his delegate, or the senior
bishop of the province, belongs to the bishop who
asks for the coadjutor (Instruction of Propaganda,
17 September, 1829, and 25 April, 1835; " Collecta-
nea," nos. 40 and 41). In Scotland, when there is a
chapter of canons, they follow the same rules as in
England; and when there is no chapter, the bishops
of Scotland and the archbishops of Edinburgh and
Glasgow choose by a triple ballot the three candidates.
The names of these latter are communicated to the
Holy See together with the votes which each candi-
date has obtained. At the same time is transmitted
useful information about each of them according to
the questions determined by the Propaganda (In-
struction of the Propaganda, 25 July, 1883; "Col-
lectanea", no. 45). In the United States of America
the diocesan consultors and the irremovable rectors
of the diocese assemble under the presidency of the
