At their November meeting the bishops re-emphasised the need for two bishops to the Pope's diplomatic representative to New Zealand, His Excellency, Archbishop Novatus Rugambwa (pictured).

New Zealand bishops are appointed through the Dicastery for Evangelisation headed by Cardinal Luis Tagle.

Rugambwa is the intermediary in New Zealand who recommends suitable and worthy candidates to Tagle.

Once a suitable and worthy candidate is found, Tagle recommends his name to Pope Francis to make the appointment.

Rugambwa, who has recently returned to New Zealand from Rome, was a distinguished guest at the opening session of the bishops' November meeting. He shared the Pope's greetings and blessings with them and the people under their pastoral care.

They in turn, spoke plainly of their concern about the bishopless state of both the Palmerston North and Hamilton dioceses.

After the unscheduled resignation of Charles Drennan, the Palmerston North diocese has been without a bishop for more than three years.

The Hamilton diocese has been without a bishop for nearly a year. On December 17, 2021 then Hamilton bishop, Steve Lowe, was appointed Bishop of Auckland.

At his installation as Bishop of Auckland in March, Lowe thanked Rugambwa for his presence.

"Can I please ask you to work hard to find a great bishop for Hamilton? I think Palmerston North and Christchurch are looking for one too," he remarked to laughter in the congregation.

In the meantime, Auxilary Bishop Michael Gielen was translated from Auckland and installed as bishop of Christchurch.

In early November, Lowe, Secretary of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference, commented that it takes a long time to appoint a bishop.

Lowe was responding to a piece in the international publication The Pillar, where Luke Coppen suggested the Vatican has forgotten about New Zealand's need to find two bishops.

Pointing the finger for the delay at Rugambwa, Coppen suggested Rugambwa might have a different model of Church than is commonly accepted in New Zealand.

Sources

• Supplied
• CathNews
• CathNews

It is three years since Charles Drennan resigned as Bishop of Palmerston North.

Coppen points out it appointing bishops in New Zealand has not previously been too much of a problem.

He reports that outside observers of the Palmerston North diocese say the local Church has fared surprisingly well without a bishop for the past three years. But there are certain decisions that must wait until the arrival of a new bishop.

Speaking with local clergy, one mentioned to The Pillar he could name five good candidates for the vacant dioceses.

"The problem is not the availability of candidates, but rather the criteria by which they are chosen."

He told Coppen the way bishops are chosen is "outmoded."

He said he had been asked to fill in forms about potential bishops that asked questions such as whether there was any reason in the candidate's family that would cause scandal to the Church.

How do we measure scandal these days; life and family life is complex today? he asked.

"We're looking for these men who are pluperfect," he said.

"The model still looks for men who are able to be subservient and at the same time almost be careerists. And so it becomes a sort of oxymoron that you're looking for," proffered another priest.

He told Coppen that he thought the group that probably suffers most from the Vatican's inactivity is the diocesan team.

"They sort of work for the bishop."

"They're his people who do his bidding. And I would say of everybody, they're a little bit lost."

Looking for a reason for the delay Coppen says the Dicastery for Evangelisation that controls the process of appointing bishops in New Zealand is considered to be adequately staffed and is 'fairly efficient.'

Noting that the Dicastery needs to cooperate with the powerful Secretariat of State, Coppen asks whether this interaction is slowing down the process, however, concluded there is no evidence to suggest this is the case.

Since 2019, the Tanzanian Archbishop Novatus Rugambwa has served as apostolic nuncio to New Zealand.

He is also the nuncio for a dizzying array of other territories, including Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa.

One of the priests interviewed by Coppen suggested that the problem seems to be the relationship between the New Zealand bishops and Apostolic Nuncio.

He opined they have different "visions of Church".

At his installation as Bishop of Auckland in March, Bishop Lowe, the former Bishop of Hamilton, thanked Archbishop Rugambwa for his presence.

"Can I please ask you to work hard to find a great bishop for Hamilton? I think Palmerston North and Christchurch are looking for one too," he remarked to laughter in the congregation.

Coppen says there was nothing in the light-hearted comment to suggest there was a gulf between the nuncio and the bishops. But it did imply that the lack of new bishops is weighing on Church leaders' minds.

Archbishop Rugambwa has not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.

Source

• The Pillar

Recently French theologian, Anne Soupa, gained worldwide attention by applying for the position of Archbishop of Lyon. She has since been followed by other French women making themselves available for senior leadership roles in the Church.

Also, in Switzerland Marianne Pohl-Henzen, a mother and grandmother has been appointed as the Bishop's Delegate and Pope Francis has appointed six laywomen to the committee to oversee Vatican Finances.

As a group committed to working for justice and equity for all the Baptised, especially women in the global and local Catholic Church, we are encouraged by this stirring of the Spirit of change.

We happily added our signatures to the global petition in support of Anne Soupa and we wrote to her pledging our support.

Through her symbolic action, Anne Soupa hopes to "ignite the imagination of Catholics to imagine the church of the future", and she challenges us to ask the question, "How can we in Aotearoa New Zealand work towards greater equality and justice in leadership and ministry, to bring about a more inclusive model of Catholic Church?"

The vacant See of Palmerston North

We are all aware that, like Lyon, the See of Palmerston North is currently vacant.

While such a vacancy exists, it is a prompt for us all to discuss what kind of leadership is needed in our Church today.

What alternative models of leadership are there to fulfil the role of a Bishop of Aotearoa-New Zealand in 2020?

First of all what does the Church see as necessary for candidates?

The Code of Canon Law Can. 378 §1. currently requires that Bishops:

• Be outstanding in solid faith, good morals, piety, zeal for souls, wisdom, prudence and human virtues.
• Are of good reputation, are at least thirty-five years old and have been ordained as priests for at least five years.
• They also need to hold advanced qualifications or hold true expertise in scripture or theology or canon law.

We also add, that they have had real pastoral experience, show an ability to work collegially and have skill in administration.

After a short phone survey of friends and colleagues, we were able to make a list of ten lay people who have all these qualifications with of course the exception of ordination.

We are pretty sure that most Catholics will be able to make their own lists! But ten is a good start.

We did not include in this list members of religious orders, many of whom qualify, to really make the point that there are among all the Baptised, ample numbers of people capable of leadership in the Church.

Models of diocesan leadership

Our own answer to the question ‘What alternative models of diocesan leadership can we imagine?' we offer for your discussion and discernment.

Option 1

A fully inclusive shared leadership model - say four people one of whom is ordained - representing the diversity of the baptised:

• Tangata Whenua
• Women
• Men
• Different age groups
• Other key ethnicities/cultures

Option 2

Separating the management and sacramental roles of the Bishop.

This would enable the former to be filled by one of the Baptised - woman or man - not requiring ordination - but carrying authority in that area. This mirrors Anne Soupa's application.

In a country where the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the Chief Justice and the Queen's Representative are all currently women, it is not hard to imagine a woman as a diocesan leader.

Option 3

Following the traditional model, a male ordained priest as Bishop, working closely with an inclusive, diverse team, that reflects gender balance, ethnic diversity and generational demographics. A group committed to shared leadership and without the Bishop having a veto.

Option 4

To offer support and encouragement for women who put their names forward for the position of Bishop of the Palmerston North Diocese

In all these models, the team would also work in a way that reflects the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

In closing

We will continue our discussion and research and invite interested women and men to join with us. Other ideas are:

• Start your own local group and keep the Apostolic Nuncio and your local diocesan leaders informed of your findings and opinions
  Join our group by contacting us on bethechange.aotearoa@gmail.com, and
• Take part in our inclusive prayer gatherings and ongoing ministry of working for equality in the Church
• Keep in touch with what we are doing through our email updates and looking at our website on www.bethechangecatholicchurchaotearoa.wordpress.com/

We offer support and resources to any groups on the journey of discerning new models of leadership in our Church of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Nga manaakitanga

• Ana Maria de Vos Sanchez, Christina Reymer, Jo Ayers, Louise Shanly - Coordinating Group for Be The Change, Catholic Church, Aotearoa
• The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of CathNews.