Interactions Between Bishops and Vicars General / Moderator

Responsibility and Authority 

Between a significant amount of diocesan work, Confirmations, responsibilities on various USCCB committees, and family responsibilities, bishops are pulled in many directions. As a result, a large array of work comes to the Vicar General who is responsible for addressing the challenges and acting on the opportunities.

There are two basic dimensions to this work – depth and breadth. For the purposes of this writing, the focus will be on the breadth of the work. The work of the central administrative offices of a diocese consists of clergy, consecrated life, canonical services, pastoral ministry, social concerns, sacred arts commission, pro-life / natural family planning, Catholic schools, parish religious education, human resources, IT, real estate, facilities, and more. Tracking these areas is a challenge and a key part of that challenge is keeping the bishop apprised of your work so he can weigh-in when he desires and also allow you to lead and oversee the day-to-day work.

On occasion, confusion occurs between the Ordinary and his Vicar General. This confusion often arises from not having clear lines of communication regarding responsibility and authority. For example:

The Vicar instructs the Superintendent of Catholic Schools to make a change regarding the number of days of standardized testing. The Vicar did this based upon the Bishop indicating that priests were upset about this matter in their parish schools.The Superintendent complains to the Bishop,  who overrules the Vicar and the relationship between the Vicar and the Superintendent has been nicked. In this case, the Vicar thought he had the authority to do something that he did not and now worries he has lost the confidence of the Bishop. 

The Bishop indicates he wants to see the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. When the Vicar presents the report, it is in final form. The Bishop is frustrated since he wanted more input and believes the Vicar is assuming responsibilities that belong to him. Changing the budget at this point provides a poor example in leadership to the staff as it would appear the bishop is micro-managing, or the Vicar does not advocate for the staff. 

One Song Sheet

To avoid these challenges and lessen confusion between the Vicar and the Bishop, a diagram with four boxes may prove helpful. 

​Types of work may fall into different boxes from one diocese to the next. For example, in some dioceses the Bishop, for practical reasons, prefers to meet with and act through the Vicar for Clergy privately and the Vicar’s General role is secondary. In this case that may mean the Vicar General has  low responsibility and low power. Working in this dynamic is helped by the two vicars working closely with one another so lines of communication are not crossed between the Vicar General and the Bishop. 

There are instances, especially with diocesan corporations, where the board must be called to account for actions it is taking. In these cases, the Vicar General may be asked to intervene with the Chair of the Board of Directors. Especially if the corporation is separate, the Vicar General has high responsibility and low power. In these situations, it is best for the Vicar General to have a frank conversation with the Bishop so they are in agreement on the boundaries of what can be done and said. Further, gaining the support of one or two influential board members or donors on the matter may raise the Vicar’s authority without involving the Bishop’s Office. 

Hopefully, the direct reports of the Vicar General are strong, and most of their activities fall in the quadrant of low responsibility and high power. At times this box is seen as a “weak position” but there is another way of considering this position. If your direct reports are mission-driven executives, this can be a good place for the Vicar to be. His staff is competent, he lets them do their job, and he trusts them. 

Lastly, is the quadrant High Responsibility and High Authority where the Vicar is in the strongest position. The Vicar needs to convey his responsibility and authority to the staff and clergy on occasion before there is an issue. For example, clergy and staff need to know that in times of crisis that the Vicar General has control of the situation, leads, and coordinates the actions of the diocese. A short one-page document outlining a broad crisis response process may be helpful in this regard and in keeping your bishop up to date.  

Quadrant Shifting

Expectations, on occasion, between the Bishop and Vicar regarding responsibility and authority can fall out of sync. This happens for numerous reasons including:

1. There is no regular structured conversation between the Bishop and the Vicar about either routine issues or how extraordinary situations will be handled. 

2. The multitude of responsibilities have overcome the internal system for managing the workflow and this has impacted the relationship of the Bishop and the Vicar General. 

3. The Bishop or the Vicar General simply forgot how issues were being handled. 

Need for Structured Conversation

On a quarterly basis, the Vicar General can present to the Bishop the quarterly operations plan of the diocese and key issues. As part of that conversation, the Vicar General can present questions such as “My expectation for A is that I will do B. And I anticipate needing your input when working with the regional school’s canonical administrator. Are there other aspects of these issues for which I need to make you aware? And lastly, is it agreeable to you if I handle this situation in the following way…?”

In each of these cases the Vicar General is looking to see into which quadrant the matter fits most appropriately. The work of the Vicar General will be divided into the various quadrants because people are not placed in quadrants – ideas go in quadrants. For example, there may be an issue the Bishop is concerned about in Education and he may pull that matter closer to himself so the authority of the Vicar will diminish. Meanwhile there may be many other education issues of which the Bishop is not inclined to engage, and so the Vicar’s authority and responsibility are high.

Sudden Shifts

Sudden shifts in which quadrant an issue is located may come from:

1. A time of prayer has led to a shift in thinking and behavior

2. Conversations the Bishop had with priests

3. Conversations the Bishop had with others, ie: when he was visiting a parish

All three of these issues can typically be addressed through regular conversation with the Bishop. The key is to have regular conversations and to “de-brief” periodically with the Bishop regarding his visitations to parishes and schools. 

Internal System Beyond Capacity

Not having a regular reporting mechanism and tool may lead to the internal systems of the diocese becoming overwhelmed. The ability for the Vicar General to regularly update the Bishop is reliant upon getting good information from his direct reports. Not only is it important to get good information, it must also be in a form which can be used quickly and easily. Updating the Bishop is made easier if there is a standard process, format, and schedule.

Forgetting

Considering the workload of the Bishop and the Vicar General, simply forgetting tasks is a real risk. In many cases, forgetting has more to do with breadth than depth. This can be arrested through more structured meetings.

When presenting to the Bishop, it may be helpful to prepare an outline that will guide the conversation. The topics in the outline should be grouped. For example, all education matters should be grouped with education. This allows the Bishop’s train of thought to move in a linear fashion from topic to topic.  Related materials should be grouped to match the outline and one copy should be present for each person in the room to facilitate a smooth meeting. 

Certain projects take a long time to unfold. Therefore, updates should be provided periodically, and questions asked to see if the authority and responsibility dynamic has shifted. This is very important if the bishop is under the impression you are taking on more authority and responsibility than you normally do. 

In Summary

Authority and responsibility are key pivot points that determine the strength of the relationship between a Bishop and his Vicar General. The Vicar General must assume the work of making sure that these two points are kept in balance. 

Like any ministry, balance is attained through prayer and regular communication. Speaking with the Bishop up-front about this issue is critical and will enhance the working relationship.