Pope clarifies the norms for bishops' retirement

When 'necessary', the pope can ask for resignations.

Bishops take part in the Synod on the Family at the Vatican

Vatican City:  Pope Francis has codified his ability to effectively fire Catholic bishops, saying that in some circumstances, he "can consider it necessary" to ask them to resign their offices.

The move, which the Vatican announced Wednesday, seems to be an attempt by Francis to clear up any ambiguity about the pontiff's power to replace prelates around the world. While Francis and his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, have effectively removed bishops in the past, their power to do so was not previously so explicit in the Church's laws.

Wednesday's change comes in a short edict approved Monday by Francis at the request of Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state. Composed of seven short articles, the edict addresses the resignation of diocesan bishops and papal appointees.

Concerning resignations at the pope's request, the edict states: "In some particular circumstances, the competent authority can consider it necessary to ask a bishop to present his resignation from pastoral office, after having made known the reasons for the request and listening carefully to the reasons, in fraternal dialogue."

The competent authority in such an instance would seem to be only the pope, who is ultimately the only person responsible for appointing bishops.

Change in the language regarding bishop firings comes after Francis suffered some criticism in September when he dismissed Paraguayan Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano.

Livieres, who was accused of mishandling a priest accused of sexual abuse and of causing friction among other bishops, later spoke somewhat angrily about his removal in a posting on his diocesan website.

The church's Code of Canon Law does not specifically refer to the pope's power in that regard, only saying that a diocesan bishop can lose his office when there is some sort of "privation" — when the office is lost for some reason, likely because of the prelates' guilt of some sort of ecclesiastical crime.

Wednesday's Vatican edict also makes slight changes to when bishops serving at the Vatican are required to resign because of advanced age.

While the edict allows cardinals serving in the Vatican's curial offices to continue in their roles past the normal retirement age of 75 at the pope's request, it states that non-cardinals serving at the Vatican automatically "lose their office" when they reach 75.

Likewise, the edict states that members of Vatican congregations "lose their office" when they reach 80.

Other articles in Wednesday's edict effectively reaffirm current practice regarding the resignation of bishops. The edict, for example, restates that diocesan bishops are to submit their resignations at age 75, but that those resignations only come into effect when the pope approves them.

Source: National Catholic Reporter