What Makes a Good Bishop and a Good Diocese? A Case Study. by Dr. Jeff Mirus 

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture, Aug 23, 2024

Jeffrey Mirus holds a Ph.D. in intellectual history from Princeton University. A co-founder of Christendom College, he also pioneered Catholic Internet services. He is the founder of Trinity Communications and CatholicCulture.org.

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”.  …

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