On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his ordination as a bishop,
Boston Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley spoke with The Catholic Pilot
about the role of bishops in society and in the Church, using the
questions he was asked at his episcopal ordination August 2, 1984.
Q: On the day of your ordination as a bishop you were asked to bind yourself to as many as nine different promises for your future ministry. What are your reflections about those questions?
Cardinal O'Malley: To me, these questions define what the ministry of a bishop is about.
We have the expression, "lex orandi, lex credendi" - the law of praying is the law of belief. The liturgy teaches us about faith. I think the ordination ceremony of a bishop teaches us about what the role of the bishop is supposed to be, and of course, we are very weak and imperfect human beings. We strive to live this ideal, some things we do better than others, and sometimes we fail, but this is the goal.
The role of the bishop is very important because it is the ministry that Christ established so that his priesthood could extend through space and time. Without the bishop we could not have priests, without priests we could not have the sacraments. Then, there's the whole teaching authority the Spirit speaks through the College of Bishops in union with the Holy Father. We are a Church that is apostolic -- apostolic in the sense that we are built on the apostles and apostolic in the sense that the hierarchical structure is essential for our mission. It is one of the things that was established by Christ himself and we accept it in faith and in gratitude.
Full interview @ Catholic Pilot