What makes a good bishop and a good diocese? A case study.

By Dr. Jeff Mirus ( bio - articles - email ) | Aug 23, 2024

The Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, in which I live, has been recognized as an outstanding diocese since its relatively recent foundation in 1974 under the leadership of Bishop Thomas J. Welsh. Arlington had a number of advantages, some of which were natural to the region, and some of which depended on the reputation of the bishop chosen to lead the new diocese which was being carved out of the Diocese of Richmond

For example, I was told that the priests of the Diocese of Richmond were given the opportunity to choose whether they wished to be assigned to Bishop Welsh in the new diocese, or wished to remain in the now-restricted Richmond territory. Remember that in the mid-70s the disintegration and dissolution of the Catholic Faith was far advanced as a result of massive public shifts in “acceptable” opinions following the Second Vatican Council—shifts in the Church which primarily reflected the shifts in the dominant culture as the war years became a distant memory and too much emphasis was being placed on “getting with it and getting ahead”. If the battle lines among the laity were becoming very clearly drawn, so were the battle lines among priests. The result was that, because of Bishop Welsh’s superior reputation for orthodoxy and commitment to honest Catholic education and evangelization, a great many of the priests who really cared about precisely these values chose to align themselves with the new diocese.

More natural to the region, of course, was population growth. Arlington, even if it did not become widely known for its Catholic fidelity and apostolic zeal, would at least have an ever-growing population to welcome and attempt to retain. That is not true in every location. In some areas the local Church is declining not primarily because of its own failures but because the population is rapidly shifting to regions where there are more and better employment opportunities for the next generation—a problem that can face a rural area or a declining city. Divine Providence plays a role in these things, and Providence certainly at times permits a worsening of many of the conditions that would make Catholic growth comparatively easy.

But there is another side to that coin as well. Outstanding bishops who are possessed of a deep and courageous faith attract good Catholic families from around the country, and this is especially true if they make sure the Catholic schools are staffed by authentically Catholic administrators and teachers, and encourage new educational foundations, including those spearheaded by highly committed laity. This is exactly what happened under Bishop Welsh, who made repeated strategic moves to end any waywardness in the diocesan schools while appointing good pastors to supervise, and if necessary reclaim, the parish schools. He (and his successors) also welcomed lay educational initiatives in his diocese (three that I have had the honor to be associated with, and which also educated my children, are Christendom College, Seton Junior-Senior High School, and Holy Family Academy), and there have been others.

But Bishop Welsh also recognized the primacy of prayer and the importance of religious life. He invited women religious into the diocese: the Poor Clares, the Daughters of St. Paul, the Dominican Sisters of Nashville, and Our Lady’s Missionaries of the Eucharist. But he was always active as well, particularly in his recognition of and ministry to immigrant groups within the Diocese, mostly Hispanics and Vietnamese, and he established an Office of Migration and Refugee Services as well as creating five new parishes in his ten-year leadership of the Diocese. Both through his example as an apostolic bishop and his reputation as the former Rector of the fine St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in the Philadelphia area, Bishop Welsh also attracted many new priests to the Diocese. We have been fortunate to have had a continuation of orthodoxy and apostolic zeal in Bishop Welsh’s successors: (1) Bishop John R. Keating (1983-98), who ordained 84 men to the priesthood including the largest single group in diocesan history, 13 in 1996; (2) Bishop Paul S. Loverde (1999-2016), who issued five inspiring pastoral letters, ordained 73 priests, and dedicated eight new churches; and (3) Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, who assumed responsibility for the Diocese in 2016, who issued an important pastoral letter on Gender Ideology, and who has also been active in the USCCB, currently as chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities.

Fidelity at the heart of everything

We have been blessed here primarily because the bishops of this young diocese have put fidelity to Christ before every other consideration, and have lived that fidelity both personally and administratively in everything from praying for the living and the dead through instructing the ignorant to feeding the hungry. The Diocese has grown from 136,000 registered Catholics in 49 parishes and seven missions to 433,000 registered Catholics in 70 parishes and six missions. From the outside, of course, this looks like a perfect storm of success built by applying Catholic fidelity to a population which was growing, perhaps largely because of the diocese’s proximity to Washington, DC. But that alone does not explain the sound Catholic schools, the many beautiful new churches built throughout the diocese, or the reverent and uplifting liturgies that are so common here.

Most bishops would not be able to match that statistical record no matter how hard they tried. But the point is that it is not merely a statistical record. Along with perhaps a score of other dioceses around the United States, Arlington is recognized as one of the most faithfully energetic Catholic locations in the United States (and probably in the West). Obviously the episcopate in the United States as a whole is fairly healthy as well in comparison to many other countries, but there are still widely varying instances of bishops or archbishops or cardinals who are very confused about what Christ demands of his followers in the Church He founded.

Even though I know many of our readers could report great things about their dioceses, whether in America or elsewhere, the fact remains that the Diocese of Arlington is one of a collection of contemporary success stories that are still too few and far between. My point is not that any diocese is perfect; the last time I looked, they were still—just like even the best families—not only populated by sinners, but staffed by them. And no bishop, like no father however holy he may be, is good at everything. Nonetheless, since the Diocese of Arlington is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and in so doing has published the historical highlights and statistics which confirm all my personal experiences, I thought this was good news that ought to be shared.

Inevitably most news that gets reported is bad or even bizarre. Just as “dog bites man” is not as newsworthy as “man bites dog”, so neither is “bishop upholds catechism” as newsworthy as “bishop contradicts catechism”. We must salute all the quiet, self-effacing bishops, priests and religious who are criticized for the good they do, but we must beware of all the noisy bishops, priests and religious whom both secularized “Catholics” and the secular press praise for their “openness”.

The good bishops go about their work steadily and, for the most part quietly. And not every good bishop can have a growing diocese. But every good bishop can and will save all the willing souls under his care. And when it comes to access to the truth of Christ, he will not let them down.