Is the diocese a branch office or a community?

A diocese is an all male celibate club who likes to tell non-male, non-celibate, non-straight people what to think and how to behave and we (the parishioners) dont even get a key to the executive wash room. Rome is very adamant that this is not Burger King; you CAN'T HAVE IT YOUR WAY. So get with the program all you malcontent misanthropes; quit your liberal belly aching and dust off that Baltimore Catechism. Just kidding; you know I love all you guys with the funny hats who went straight from Catholic high school to Seminary to Perfection - afterall; we have our own Clarence Thomas (Concepcion Seminary) as a shining beacon on the hill. ;)
Ricky in KC

A corporate structured organisation, where people rise according to their performance is doomed to mediocrity due to the "Peter Principle". "Perform well and reap the benefits of promotion, until you reach a level of mediocre performance and that's where you stay! Thus people tend to rise to their level of incompetency! So states "The Peter Principle!" I would venture that the catholic clergy, Bishops on up, are living proof of this theory!
God bless you and yours!
Ed

The Church is a group of believing people whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Hopefully the relationship between Diocese and the Universal Church and the Parishes and Deaneries could ideally be described as inter-dependent, as opposed to independent, like many protestant churches are, or as opposed to co-dependent, like so many fundamental religions are that bred blind following. We clearly need a vision and people who are going to see that vision to fruition.

I think a more democratic process in the church, elected bishops and pastors, could foster that as well as more interest in what it is that makes us affiliate with a church at all.

Both/neither.

How can we choose between two analogies? Obviously one can be closer than the other, but they both fail.

The diocese is a branch office, of Rome, of Heaven? Well, yes. In a certain sense, as the local manifestation of the Church founded by Christ (and having to maintain unity with that Church, as has always been in union with the see of Peter). And a part as of Christ's body it is only a part, it cannot survive on its own, and must do as the Head directs it.

But it is not a business, not a rubber stamp factory. How things should be implemented is different from one diocese to another: the people are different, the issues are different.

As a community? Certainly. The Church in Philadelphia, the Church in Los Angeles, the Church in Rome, there is a bond that is almost tangible.

But is that it? A local community that is part of some larger entity. State loyalties run deeper here in America, and in that regional differences. I am from Sout' Jersy. (no typo) I am fiercely loyal to my state (the land not the politics), particularly the unique natural landscape (the Pineys, only here). My diocese, well I am largely alienated in my diocese, but fiercely loyal to the Church. If it is only a community should I abuse myself to survive an unwelcome place?

So what is it then? Some combination of the two, or something greater? I think that the best way to sum it up (in another analogy, ironically), is that of a cell in a body. The Bishop is the head (nucleus) of the cell, as Christ is head of the Church. Each cell is part of a greater whole, and to maintain unity there must be a certain conformity. Otherwise individual cells may turn on one another, or simply depart from the body. But if they choose to separate themselves from the whole than they hurt the whole, and themselves even more.

and as this post is long enough I'll go into the process further down the page

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nightwalker on Catholic Answers

It's a franchise.It is the Authoritarianism of the church that stifles the spirit and growth of the church. Priests and deacons are afraid to step out on a limb when preaching. If something exciting or different were preached on any Sunday, the bishop's secretary would get dozens of letters and the pastor would probably get a phone call on Tuesday morning.
Say what the franchise says, serve what the franchise serves. Maybe the parish is a franchise and the diocese is the regional office.

Based on the top down treatment that the whole international community is getting, I would say that in its' current incarnation, it is a branch office.

I have an awareness of a principal at a Catholic HS who was chided for turning out no priests during his tenure! Sounds a lot like a sales quota to me.

A diocese is not and should never be a "branch office." The bishop's ministry should be guided by the ministry of Jesus and Jesus' call for his followers to be servants.

Bishops should trust Jesus, his teachings and his examples, well ahead of trusting their lawyers or the Vatican bureaucracy.

The pope should always and everywhere set a good example for his fellow bishops by doing his best to imitate Christ. The pope should be the symbol of unity in the church, but he should not conduct his ministry in a tyrannical way.

Like most people, I am fairly ignorant of the process. What I do know is that it is a political appointment and is not necessarily an appointment based on administrative ability, talent or skill.

For example: In the case of one midwestern bishop, my understanding is that he was a heavy handed conservative before his appointment. He was appointed to "make the liberal catholics in the diocese toe the line and to stamp out the creeping liberalism that had infused the diocese".

As soon as he took office, he instituted a number of radical changes, layoffs of staff, transfers, closings/consolidations of offices, etc. It was a purge of anyone in a leadership role that may have had any liberal beliefs that was eerily reminescemt of the McCarthy era of US History.

In my opinion, a great deal of damage was done to the diocese by his actions, and very little was given back to the faith community. What the future holds will remain to be seen.

I am curious as well as to the process. I am also curious to know how other diocses have been affected by recent promotions.