The Provision of the Episcopal Office as an Act of Governance in Relation to the Institutional Organization of the Church

Abstract

The threefold dimensions of the Episcopate as an institutional subject, namely the sacramental side (ordo), the organization of offices and the College of bishops (which embodies its organic form) are implicated in every act of appointment of a bishop. Analysing the provision in each dimension of the Episcopate as a subject, from the outlook of the personal dimension of ministry, in the first part of the article, emerges that appointment of holders of Episcopal offices has a consistent influence in the mission of Episcopal ministry, namely the perpetuation of the apostolic testimony. In the second part of the work, the degree of consistency between the functions of the offices and personal condition of Bishop is studied, from the point of view of the provision of each of the three main existing Episcopal figures : bishops holders of capital offices, auxiliary bishops and Episcopal offices serving the apostolic See.