The Status of Sydney (updated!)

On Monday, George Cardinal Pell was named as the first Prefect (head) of a new Vatican office: the Secretariat for the Economy. He will actually take up the post toward the end of March.

What has been left quite unclear is whether Cardinal Pell remains as Archbishop of Sydney.

The announcement itself does not use the language which is customary when the newly named is leaving their previous post. In addition on that day, Cardinal Pell sent a letter to the staff in Sydney and he signed it "Archbishop of Sydney".

Various news outlets have had conflicting reports.

The Apostolic Nuncio (Archbishop Paul Gallagher) has indicated that Sydney is not currently vacant (reported in the Parramatta Sun on 26 Feb).

And yet the Sydney Archdiocese has announced the naming of an Administrator on 27 Feb.

So at this point I have to say that I do not know for certain if Sydney is vacant. I will continue to list Cardinal Pell as the Archbishop until there is a clear official statement.
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Update: the nunciature today released as statement that settles the matter. It reads, in part:

"...appointed as Apostolic Administrator "Sede Vacante" of the Archdiocese of Sydney..."

There can only be an Ap. Admin. "Sede Vacante" if the see is in fact vacant. Thus Cardinal Pell is now Archbishop Emeritus of Sydney.

Pre Pope John Paul II Bishops, updated

Today (11 Feb 2014) two bishops retired that had been named to those posts by then Pope Paul VI. They were: Bishop Sebastian Koto Khoarai, O.M.I. of Bishop of Mohale’s Hoek, Lesotho and Bishop Howard James Hubbard of Bishop of Albany, New York, USA.

So the question: How many active bishops were appointed to their current post before Pope John Paul II became Pope?

The answer is only 9 6. (updated 2 Nov 2014)

The ordinaries are: (Date of Appointment, Date of Birth, Age on 2 Nov 2014, Name, Title)

• 23 May 1966, 12 Apr 1919, 95.56, Archbishop Hovhannes Tcholakian of Istanbul (Armenian), Turkey
• 25 Jun 1973, 11 Dec 1936, 77.89, Archbishop Nikólaos Fóscolos of Athenai {Athens}, Greece
  Retired 12 Aug 2014
• 27 Jun 1974, 5 Dec 1936, 77.91, Bishop Franghískos Papamanólis, O.F.M. Cap. of Syros e Milos and Santorini {Thira}, Greece
  Retired 13 May 2014
• 20 Nov 1975, 10 May 1942, 72.48, Bishop Gilbert Guillaume Marie-Jean Aubry of Saint-Denis-de-La Réunion
• 26 Feb 1977, 5 Aug 1937, 77.24, Archbishop Hieronymus Herculanus Bumbun, O.F.M. Cap. of Pontianak, Indonesia
  Retired on 3 Jun 2014
• 26 Feb 1977, 25 Sep 1940, 74.10, Bishop Jean-Claude Bouchard, O.M.I. of Pala, Chad
• 27 Feb 1978, 23 Sep 1939, 75.11, Bishop Armando Umberto Gianni, O.F.M. Cap. of Bouar, Central African Republic
• 27 Feb 1978, 5 Jul 1942, 72.33, Archbishop Zacchaeus Okoth of Kisumu, Kenya
  (Originally named Bishop, Elevated to Archbishop on 21 May 1990)
• 28 Feb 1978, 15 Aug 1937, 77.21, Bishop Philip Sulumeti of Kakamega, Kenya

There are no longer any Auxiliary Bishops that meet the criteria. The last one retired in January 2012.

All of them were named by Pope Paul VI.

You'll notice that many of them are at or near the retirement age. Before they do retire, let us take a moment to thank them for their many years of service!

The Polish Hierarchy

Ya'll may have noticed that the last week or so the Polish Hierarchy has been having their ad limina visits. One thing that struck me was just how many Auxiliary Bishops were on the lists.

So I did a bit of research, there are 45 jurisdictions in Poland - 15 archdioceses and 30 dioceses. Of those, only 9 do not have an active Auxiliary Bishop. The are:

• Bydgoszcz
• Drohiczyn
• Kalisz
• Katowice (Archdiocese)
• Lowicz
• Sandomierz
• Szczecin-Kamien (Archdiocese)
• Wroclaw-Gdansk (Ukrainian)
• Poland, Military

In terms of numbers: 77% of dioceses and 87% of archdioceses have at least one active Auxiliary (80% overall).