New Priests Named to
College of Consultors
When it comes to running a diocese, a
bishop is not alone. He relies on the
input of a group of priests who serve as his senate. According to the Code of Canon Law, each
diocese must have this group, the Council of Priests, as well as a smaller body
that the bishop must consult with before making certain decisions. The College of Consultors,
this smaller group is comprised of priests who also serve on the Council of
Priests.
Bishop Edward U. Kmiec, bishop of
Buffalo, has appointed 11 priests to a five-year term to the College of Consultors. They
include Bishop Edward M. Grosz,
auxiliary bishop of Buffalo, pastor of St. Stanislaus Parish, Buffalo, and episcopal vicar of the vicariate of southeast Buffalo; and Msgr. David S. Slubecky,
diocesan vicar general and moderator of the curia.
Other members of the College of Consultors include Msgr.
Robert C. Wurtz, pastor of Our Lady of Victory
Basilica, Lackawanna; Msgr. James E.
Wall, vicar of priests; Msgr. W.
Jerome Sullivan, pastor of St. Mary of the Lake Parish, Hamburg, coordinator
of the Priests’ Personnel Board; Msgr.
Robert E. Zapfel, pastor of
Bishop Kmiec presides over the College
of Consultors, but when the position becomes vacant,
such as through death or re-assignment, the College of Consultors
must elect an administrator to oversee the diocese until a new bishop is
named.
When Archbishop Henry J. Mansell was named bishop of Hartford, the College of Consultors named Bishop Robert J. Cunningham to head the
diocese until the pope named a new bishop for the Diocese of Buffalo. Following Bishop Cunningham’s appointment as
bishop of Ogdensburg, the College of Consultors once
again was called on to make a decision as to who would run the diocese in the
absence of a bishop. It was then that
they elected Bishop Edward M. Grosz, auxiliary bishop of Buffalo, as diocesan
administrator. Bishop Grosz served in that capacity until Pope John Paul II
named Bishop Kmiec the new bishop of Buffalo.
The Council of Priests serves as the
bishop’s senate and assists the bishop in the governance of the diocese. Members are freely elected, but some may be
appointed by the bishop. When there is
no bishop in the diocese, as was the case in late 2003 and much of 2004 in the
Diocese of Buffalo, the Council of Priests suspends it’s duties until a new
bishop is appointed and the council is reestablished within one year of the new
bishop’s installation to the diocese.
There are two new members of the
Council of Priests who will each serve a term of five years. They are Msgr. Wurtz
and Father Sams.
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