|
As the
Catholic Church's Code of Canon Law says, "A diocese is a portion of
cooperation of the presbyterate so that, adhering to its pastor and gathered by him in the
Holy Spirit through the Gospel and the Eucharist, it constitutes a particular Church in
which the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church of Christ is truly present and
operative" (Canon 369).
That "portion of the people of God"
is usually, though not exclusively, determined geographically. The portion of the people
of God that makes up the Diocese of Rockville Centre is the eastern portion of Long
Island, the New York State counties of Nassau
and Suffolk. This diocese was formed in 1957 out of a portion of the Diocese of Brooklyn,
which at that time covered all of Long Island.
Most of the Catholics living within these
geographic boundaries are members of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Others who are
parishioners of Eastern Catholic Churches in communion with the Roman Catholic Church
belong to dioceses whose headquarters are elsewhere. Their parishes are listed in this
book under the heading, "Eastern Catholic Churches."
But the vast majority of the Catholics living
in Nassau and Suffolk make up the "particular Church" of the Diocese of
Rockville Centre. As is the custom in the Catholic Church, the diocese takes its name from
the location of the cathedral church. (The word for the bishop's church,
"cathedral," is related to the idea of the bishop's chair, from the Latin word
"cathedra.") That is why the diocese is known as Rockville Centre, rather than,
for example, the Diocese of Nassau-Suffolk. The Diocese also has a name in Latin, the
official language of the Roman Catholic Church. That name is "Diocesis Petropolitana
in Insula Longa" which literally translated is "Rock City Diocese on the Long
Island." When the Diocese of Rockville Centre was formed it was distinguished from
all other dioceses in the U.S. by having a village and not a city for its center and by
being entirely suburban in character.
Dioceses are also grouped into
"provinces." The dioceses in the State of New York happen to constitute one
province. The main diocese of a province is an archdiocese, also known as a
"metropolitan See." The metropolitan see for this province is the Archdiocese of
New York. "See," in this context, is another name for "diocese" or
"archdiocese," and has its foundation in the term "seat" as a center
of power, probably derived from the idea of a throne. This usage is commonly retained in
such phrases as "county seat." The other dioceses of a province are known as the
"suffragan dioceses" of the province. The Diocese of Rockville Centre is one of
seven suffragan dioceses in the Province of New York, the others being Albany, Brooklyn,
Buffalo, Ogdensburg, Rochester, and Syracuse.
Bishops, again according to the Catholic
Church's Code of Canon Law, are successors of Jesus Christ's twelve apostles; and
"they are constituted pastors within the Church so that they are teachers of
doctrine, priests of sacred worship and ministers of governance" (Canon 375). This
canon goes on to say that "by the fact of their episcopal consecration, bishops
receive along with the function of sanctifying also the functions of teaching and of
ruling which by their very nature, however, can be exercised only when they are in
hierarchical communion with the head of the college and its members." The next canon,
376, adds, "Bishops are called diocesan when the care of a diocese has been entrusted
to them; all others are called titular."
A lot of the theology of the Catholic Church is
summarized in those words. First, Catholics see bishops as the successors of the first
disciples that Christ called and made his special followers, the twelve apostles. The
"head of the college and its members" referred to above are the Pope, who
Catholics believe is the successor of St. Peter whom Christ made the head of the other
apostles, and all the other bishops in the Church who as a group share with the Pope a
responsibility for guiding the whole Church as inheritors of the role of the apostles.
Bishops become bishops by a religious rite
known as ordination or consecration, a celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Their
roles are to instruct people in the teachings of the Church, to celebrate the sacred rites
given to the Church by Christ, and to administer the Church after the example of Christ,
the head of the Church. The word pastor, so often used in connection with bishops and
priests, is the Latin word for "shepherd." Christ described himself as the
"good shepherd" who cares for the flock. Bishops have the role of guiding people
through teaching and leading and helping them to be holy.
The origin of the word "bishop" is in
the bishop's role as the one who oversees a diocese. In Greek the word for bishop is
"episcopos," or "overseer," and that word has developed into the word
"bishop."
Bishops are part of a hierarchy, which means
that in the Church there are different levels of authority. The Pope has responsibility
for the whole Church and is the immediate superior of all Catholics. All the bishops of
the Catholic Church share in the responsibility for the whole Church, but individual
diocesan bishops are the immediate superiors only of their own dioceses.
Sometimes, additional bishops are appointed to
help a diocesan bishop if his diocese is large and his responsibilities are many. These
bishops are called "auxiliary bishops." They also are called, as they are
referred to above in the quotation from Canon Law, "titular bishops." The word
"titular" refers to the fact that these auxiliary bishops are always given the
"title" of bishop of a diocese which is no longer in existence, usually in a
part of the world that once had many Christians and now has nearly none, like North
Africa. These titles are given to preserve the idea that bishops are usually responsible
for specific territories. Other titular bishops may engage in a specific kind of Church
work, such as serving as an ambassador of the Pope or heading a charitable organization.
Auxiliary bishops, however, actually work in the diocese for which they have been named
auxiliaries."
When a bishop is ordained or consecrated, the
sacramental celebration is the same whether he has been appointed a diocesan or auxiliary
bishop, and Catholics believe all bishops to be equally successors of the apostles. If an
auxiliary bishop is later appointed to be the head of a diocese, no additional ordination
is celebrated. Often auxiliary bishops are given responsibility, under the diocesan
bishop, to oversee a portion of the territory of that diocese. Then they have the title,
"episcopal vicar" or "vicar bishop." The word "vicar"
indicates that they act in the name of another...
Early on, in describing a diocese, the word
"presbyterate" was used. It is precisely this "presbyterate" with
which most of this book is taken up. It comes from the Greek word "presbyter,"
meaning "elder," which is the root of the word for "priest." Priests,
like bishops and deacons, again according to the Canon Law of the Catholic Church, receive
through ordination "an indelible character and are thus constituted sacred
ministers" (Canon 1008). Priests are deputed to fulfill, according to their order,
"in the Person of Christ the Head, the offices of teaching, sanctifying and ruling,
and so they nourish the people of God" (Canon 1008).
It is the priests who, in union with the
diocesan bishop, care for the people of the diocese, as they are, in turn, organized into
"parishes." These "parishes" are divisions of the the people of the
diocese, once again principally organized geographically, served by a priest as
"pastor," usually with other priests assisting him as "associate
pastors."
As pastors or associate pastors, priests are
responsible for such diverse obligations as the parish's worship, educational programs,
social service outreach and administration of the parish's finances and physical plant. In
the Rockville Centre Diocese there are 134 parishes: 126 geographical parishes, 7
non-geographical ethnic parishes which were originally established to serve immigrants
from specific nations, and the campus parish through which students at secular colleges
and universities in the diocese are encouraged to participate in the life of the Church.
These parishes serve a total Catholic population of more than 1.5 million out of a general
population of about 3 million.
Closely associated with these parishes is a
network of elementary schools serving more than 28,000 children. In addition, 11 parish,
diocesan or Religious community high schools serve more than 11,000 young people. Each
parish also has a program of religious instruction for those not in Catholic schools.
These programs serve more than 167,000 students.
There are over 400 priests in the Diocese of
Rockville Centre. The majority of them are natives of the metropolitan area. Many of them
studied specifically for the Diocese of Rockville Centre at the diocesan seminaries
beginning with the preparatory seminaries -- Cathedral Prep when Rockville Centre was
still part of the Diocese of Brooklyn, St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary before it was
closed in 1984, and Cathedral College, Douglaston, before it was closed in 1988 -- and at
the major seminary, Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington. Other seminaries have also
served to train our priests: St. Bernard's, Rochester, and the Vincentian Seminary, Our
Lady of Angels, both now closed, as well as Christ the King, Buffalo, and Mount St.
Mary's, Baltimore.
Besides the priests who were specifically
trained to serve in this diocese, Rockville Centre's presbyterate is enriched by priests
from other U.S. dioceses who have come here to serve as well as by priests from other
nations. In addition, priests from some of the Religious orders that exist in the Catholic
Church work in the diocese to staff parishes or to carry on special ministries such as
chaplancies in hospitals.
Priests who are members of Religious orders
(like the Jesuits, Franciscans, and Dominicans) have taken solemn vows of poverty,
chastity, and obedience and generally live in community with other members of their
religious congregations and are subject to the authority of their superiors in those
communities. Diocesan priests, by contrast, make a promise of celibacy and a promise to
obey the diocesan bishop and his successors.
Other men and women who are members of
Religious orders -- Brothers and Sisters -- collaborate with the clergy of the diocese in
many important areas of Church work. Traditionally many of them have worked in education
and health care; they also engage in social work, spiritual direction, and a wide variety
of other apostolates. The diocese is served by more than 1,400 women Religious and
95 Religious
Brothers.
In addition to the ordination of priests and
bishops, the Sacrament of Holy Orders is celebrated when men are ordained as deacons.
Those who are preparing to become priests are ordained deacons some time before their
ordination to the priesthood. In addition, recent decades have seen the restoration of the diaconate for individuals who
believe their vocation is to the diaconate. Beginning in 1976,
mature men in the Diocese of Rockville Centre have been invited to study for a ministry of
service as deacons (the word "deacon" comes from the Greek word
"diakonia," "service"). Deacons may be married or single at
the time of ordination. Those studying for priesthood and those not married at
the time of their ordination in the Roman Catholic Church make a promise of
celibacy when they are ordained deacons. Most deacons in the Rockville Centre Diocese, like most
in the U.S., are married, and continue to work and support their families through
employment while ministering on a volunteer basis. Deacons may officiate at Baptisms,
weddings, and funerals and serve in a variety of other ways. There currently are more than
200 deacons serving in the Rockville Centre Diocese.
Besides parish assignments (for priests)
there are also assignments in what is variously called the "Chancery," the
"Pastoral Center," and the diocesan "Curia." These administrative
services include the office which is technically the bishop's chancery. It is headed by a
chancellor and serves as the bishop's archivist and deals with matters of Church law.
There is also the bishop's court or Tribunal which deals principally with matters
involving marriage and which is headed by the "officialis." The responsibilities
of the other offices are usually clear from their titles. In addition to its
administrative services, the diocese operates an extensive social service network known as
Catholic Charities, a diocesan television center named Telecare,
and a diocesan newspaper, The Long Island Catholic.
Priests are sometimes given several honorary
titles which are listed as "Papal honors" in the biographical information. These
honors are granted by the Pope at the request of the diocesan bishop. They all bring with
them the title "monsignor" and they fall into three categories: an honorary
chaplain to the Pope; an honorary prelate (formerly known as a domestic prelate); and a
protonotary apostolic supernumerary which also brings in the initials P.A. Historically
these titles were given to those who were part of the papal household and aided the Pope
directly in carrying out his duties. Honorary membership has been conferred at least since
the 16th century. There are seven apostolic protonotories who work at the Vatican,
collecting and caring for the records of major Church meetings and such events as
canonizations; all other "P.A.'s" are called "supernumerary" to make
clear that theirs is an honorary title. These honorary titles bring no additional
authority. |
