Emeritus Bishop

A bishop emeritus (lat. Episcopus emeritus ) is a bishop who has been released from his official duties after his retirement . Colloquially he is known as the old bishop .

Roman Catholic Church

In the Roman Catholic Church one is diocesan bishop after his retirement from office Emeritus diocesan bishop called or retired bishop, an auxiliary bishop in accordance Emeritus Auxiliary Bishop . They continue to hold the title and degree of ordination and enjoy the personal rights of a bishop, but no longer have official powers. For example, a bishop emeritus can validly donate the sacrament of consecration , but may only do so with the permission or on the instructions of the responsible diocesan bishop.

In Roman Catholic church law (CIC 1983, can. 401), retirement is regulated as follows:

§ 1: A diocesan bishop who has reached the age of seventy-fifth is asked to offer his resignation from office to the Pope , who will decide after weighing all the circumstances.

§ 2: A diocesan bishop who is no longer able to perform his official duties because of his poor health or for another serious reason is expressly asked to offer to resign.

Such a resignation from office is not necessarily accepted by the Pope. The "other serious reason" mentioned in §2 was, for example, when Walter Mixa resigned as a result of allegations of abuse and embezzlement.

Old Catholic Church

The Old Catholic Church has its own rules depending on the national church . Most of the time, an Old Catholic bishop retires at the age of 70. He is also called the Old Bishop and has the same rights within the Utrecht Union of Old Catholic Churches as a Roman Catholic Old Bishop in his church. Before retirement for reasons of age was introduced in the 1980s, an elderly bishop was assigned a coadjutor with the right of succession.

Orthodox Church

In the Orthodox Church , resigning from the episcopate for reasons of age is unusual.

Web links

Wiktionary: emeritus  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hirtenduell in Himmelspforten Spiegel Online , February 9, 2008, accessed on July 14, 2020
2. ^ Resignation request accepted: Vatican removes Mixa from the episcopate . Mirror online. May 8, 2010. Retrieved September 23, 2013.