How the Catholic church chooses P.E.I.'s next bishop

A P.E.I. priest expects the Charlottetown Diocese will have a new bishop relatively quickly.

Bishop Richard Grecco resigned from his leadership of the diocese earlier this month at the regular retirement age of 75.

Father John Molina, chancellor for the diocese, said the process of selecting bishops is an ongoing one, with bishops submitting names for potential promotion regularly. With Grecco's resignation the process would have accelerated. The papal nuncio, the pope's representative in Canada, would narrow the list down to three and submit that to the Vatican.

Molina expects the new bishop will not currently be on the Island.

"Traditionally for P.E.I., for the Diocese of Charlottetown, they have chosen bishops from outside of P.E.I.," he said.

"I think that will be a wise decision, since we want to get somebody that is neutral, even though that priest, or that bishop, won't have the intimate knowledge of the diocese. It will be a task that he will have to start with at the beginning of his mandate."

Ultimately, it will be Pope Francis that selects the bishop.

While Molina can't know what Francis will ultimately decide, Molina said the current pope has been leaning toward appointing priests with experience leading congregations.

"He has been choosing pastors more than any other other kind of profile," he said.

"I think he will choose a pastor more than an academic or an administrator."

Francis will choose partly on the advice of the Congregation of Bishops, led by Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Montreal. Molina said in recent years Ouellet has encouraged quicker appointments of Canadian bishops, usually within three to four months.

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