On Monday, the Vatican said Benedict had "relieved from pastoral care" Bishop Robert Bezak of Trnava, Slovakia. No reason was given, but Italian news reports suggested administrative problems were to blame, and Slovak news reports quoted Bezak as saying he thought his criticism of his predecessor may have had a role.
The exercise of the pope's ability to fire a bishop has important implications, particularly concerning bishops who mishandle pedophile priests.
In the face of U.S. lawsuits seeking to hold the pope ultimately responsible for abusive priests, the Holy See has argued that bishops are largely masters of their dioceses and that the pope doesn't really control them
Here is what one blogger has to say about the issue. Taken from: https://matisak.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/vatican-has-removed-a-popular-slovak-archbishop-robert-bezak-from-his-office/
Vatican has removed a popular Slovak Robert Bezak from his office
Posted on 02/07/2012 by matisak
Bezak was told that he can not speak to media. He said he doesn’t know a reason for the decision as Vatican has refused to tell him.
Question:
In general, what can be the reason for dismissing an archbishop? It probably require some procedure, isn’t it?
Answers:
John Allen, Senior Correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, Vatican analyst of CNN, Author of the book Opus Dei: An Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic Church
Under the church’s Code of Canon Law, the pope is the superior of every bishop in the world, and the pope theoretically can remove a bishop at any time, with or without a formal process. Usually, however, it works like this: Rome receives reports that a bishop is doing or saying something wrong, and appoints an “apostolic visitor” to conduct an investigation, generally a trusted bishop. The results are reported to the Congregation for Bishops in the Vatican, presently led by Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet. That department studies the results, and then makes an initial decision as to whether the bishop should stay or go. If they want him out, usually they ask the bishop to resign voluntarily, and issue a bland statement saying he’s stepped down for personal reasons. If the bishop is unwilling to resign, however, or if they want to make a public example of his case, the congregation can recommend to the pope that he be removed. That’s happened at least twice so far on Benedict’s watch: Bishops William Morris of Toowoomba, Australia, for alleged doctrinal deviations, and Francesco Micciché of Trapani, Italy, amid reports of financial malfeasance.
Steven Avella, Professor of History, Marquette University, Former President of the American Catholic Historical Association
1. Ineptitude or extreme administrative incompetence–particularly related to finances or other aspects of church leadership. If a diocese is in very bad financial shape because of the actions of the bishop, then likely the Vatican–alerted in part by the local nunciature or delegation–may intervene and remove the erring prelate. There was a bishop in Sicily in this case–likely others as well.
2. Doctrinal or disciplinary differences–occasionally a bishop will speak his mind on some aspect of church teaching or discipline–more likely the latter that differs from the Vatican. For example a bishop in Australia (Diocese of Toowoomba) was removed because he called for discussion of the ordination of women and married men. I know he was “investigated” by a fellow bishop–Charles Chaput today the Archbishop of Philadelphia–and then was summarily removed.
3. Moral failure and sexual misconduct–some bishops have been removed because they were caught in sexual affairs–either homo or heterosexual. In the US, it was discovered that auxiliary bishop Gabino Zavala (Los Angeles) had sired two children; recently in Argentina a bishop was photographed with an attractive woman on a beach; a bishop in Nova Scotia was discovered with child pornography (he was actually laicized–returned to the lay state).
Most of these men–with the exception of the Nova Scotia bishop–were not removed from the priesthood (although Zavala likely will be because of his children). The current president of Paraguay, Lugo, also had children–although he left the episcopate of his own volition when he ran for office.
Here is a partial vita sheet on the bishop:
The next citation is available at: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/deaconsbench/2012/07/pope-as-trump-he-tells-slovak-bishop-youre-fired/
Pope as Trump: He tells Slovak bishop, “You’re fired”
July 2, 2012 By Deacon Greg Kandra
It doesn’t happen often, but it happened today, and NCR’s John Allen takes note:
Pope Benedict XVI today added another name to the growing list of Catholic bishops fired on his watch, removing Archbishop Róbert Bezák of Trnava, Slovakia, from office.
A 52-year-old member of the Redemptorist order, Bezák had served as archbishop of Trnava, considered the cradle of Catholicism in Slovakia, since 2009.
Though a number of bishops have resigned under various forms of pressure, today’s announcement marks the fourth time in just the last year that Pope Benedict XVI has formally removed a prelate from office.
Those other cases are:
- Bishop Jean-Claude Makaya Loembe of Pointe-Noire in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in March 2011
- Bishop William Morris of Toowoomba, Australia, in May 2011;
- Bishop Francesco Micciché of Trapani, Italy, in May 2012.
Though the Vatican generally does not offer any official explanations, the basis for removal with both Makaya and Micciché was widely believed to be alleged mismanagement in their dioceses, including accusations of corruption and financial impropriety.
Morris, on the other hand, was charged with doctrinal deviations, including support for women priests.
Likewise, today’s terse one-sentence statement on the removal of Bezák did not offer any basis for the move. It’s been clear for some time, however, that Rome had its eye on the Trnava archbishop.
In January, the Vatican named Czech Bishop Jan Baxant, of the Litoměřice diocese, as its apostolic visitor in Trnava. That review triggered rumors of a possible change in leadership, since Baxant apparently asked other bishops in Slovakia how they would react if Bezák were removed.
According to press sources in Slovakia, there have been rumors of mishandling of large sums of money in the Trnava archdiocese in violation of church law, dating to the twenty-year period during which Archbishop Ján Sokol, now 78, governed the Trnava archdiocese, from 1989 to 2009.
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