The Wound in the Right Foot: A Second Opinion

Abstract

Antonio Rosmini and Garrett Sweeney have each contributed to the debate on the appointment of bishops in the Roman Catholic Church. Revisiting their arguments reminds us of the changes in the mode of appointment in the course of church history, and of the comparative recency of the current mode. The vigour of the debate in recent years may be traced to a shift in the self-perception of the church since Vatican II. This shift seems to demand a re-examination of the mode of appointment, and its adaptation to the times.