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B-2 | Canon Law Considerations
number of the faithful of that Church
sui iuris
.
The eparchial bishop may write to an eparchial
bishop or major superior of an institute or soci-
ety in the traditional territories, where there is
a sufficient number of priests, to ask for a suit-
able and qualified priest to serve in the United
States for an initial period of three years. In his
letter, the US eparchial bishop would note that
it is important that the priest be in good health,
have probity of life, a facility with English, and
be comfortable with US culture. He might fur-
ther specify that the priest have administrative
capabilities, being able to lead a parish that is
relatively young and in need of raising funds to
build permanent facilities, including a church,
parish hall, and rectory.
• A diocesan bishop of a Latin Church diocese in
the United States that has a significant number of
Eastern Catholic faithful with no local hierarch or
proper pastor might write to an eparchial bishop
or major superior of that Eastern Catholic Church
sui iuris
. He would request that a well-prepared
and suitable priest come to his diocese to provide
pastoral care for the Eastern Catholic faithful.
• A diocesan bishop in the United States seeks the
service of a permanent deacon from a Central
American diocese to coordinate the Hispanic
Ministry office of the diocese for a period of five
to seven years. Although a few incardinated
permanent deacons in the diocese have some
facility with Spanish, the bishop judges that at
the present time he cannot afford to take any of
these deacons away from their full-time parish
ministry to run the diocesan office.
• In view of the most recent census data, a diocesan
bishop in the United States may consider that the
growing Vietnamese population within his diocese
could benefit from the establishment of two addi-
tional parochial schools. Following the recom-
mendation of the pastors of the selected parishes,
the bishop may determine to request the tem-
porary service of a group of sisters from Vietnam
to assist the faithful with their transition to the
United States and to teach in the new schools.
In each of these examples, the temporary ser-
vice of the international cleric or religious institute
members was evaluated by the diocesan or eparchial
bishop for its usefulness in responding to a genuine
pastoral need of the Church in the United States.
Initiating a Formal Process for
Priests and Deacons
When a US diocesan or eparchial bishop determines
that the grave lack of clergy within his diocese or
eparchy requires the services of an international
priest or deacon, he is to make his petition known to
the competent diocesan or eparchial bishop or major
superior. His request should explain the underlying
need for the cleric’s service and express an expecta-
tion that the candidate will possess sufficient health,
probity of life, and the qualifications necessary to
perform the ministry or apostolic work.
The sending diocesan or eparchial bishop or major
superior should indicate the particular gifts, skills, and
personal dispositions that would make the potential
international pastoral minister an effective minister
in the United States. He should also offer assurance
that the candidate possesses sufficient health, probity
of life, and the qualifications required for the fulfill-
ment of the service. This assessment is derived from
the bishop or major superior’s personal knowledge of
the cleric and the cleric’s written record and follows
an inquiry of knowledgeable persons who can offer an
assessment of the cleric’s suitability for ministry within
the United States. The assessment should identify
whether the cleric being proposed for ministry has
ever exhibited behavior that is criminal or morally
reprehensible, including but not limited to sexual mis-
conduct of any kind, violations of celibacy, substance
abuse, physical abuse, financial improprieties, or any
condition that could impair effective ordained min-
istry. While it may not be possible for the receiving
diocesan or eparchial bishop to visit with a potential
candidate in person before making a final determina-
tion, modern technologies can provide suitable alter-
natives for conducting an initial assessment.
Once a mutually agreeable candidate has been
identified, a written agreement is then to be drawn up
between the diocesan or eparchial bishop of the receiv-
ing diocese or eparchy and the diocesan or eparchial
bishop or major superior of the sending diocese, eparchy,
institute, or society. The practice of a cleric directly offer-
ing his service to a diocesan or eparchial bishop, without
the support or approval of his own diocesan or eparchial
bishop or major superior, is always to be avoided.
Establishing a Personnel File
When an international cleric
is received within a par-
ticular Church in the United States, a personnel file