St. Alfonso Maria de Liguori’s Instructions to Bishops

Biskupska služba prva je, najvažnija i najodgovornija služba u Crkvi. Zbog toga je predmet promišljanja teologa i duhovnih pisaca, među kojima se ističe sv. Alfonz Marija de Liguori (18. st.). Članak, nakon kratkoga životopisa i presjeka crkvenih prilika de Liguorijeva vremena, prikazuje njegove upute biskupima kako dobro upravljati svojom Crkvom. Riječ je o najvažnijim brigama svakoga biskupa (sjemenište, ređenici, svećenici, župnici, vikar i najbliži suradnici te redovnice) i najučinkovitijim biskupovim sredstvima za dobro upravljanje svojom Crkvom (molitva, dobar primjer, rezidiranje, vizitacije, pučke misije, sinoda, savjetovanje, privatne audijencije i opomene). Zaključne misli pokazuju da se figura biskupa i njegova služba upravljanja Crkvom, opisane u sv. Alfonza, pokazuju kao pozornosti vrijedan doprinos i za suvremenu obnovu biskupske službe te rast u svetosti biskupa Kristove Crkve, a time i cijeloga Božjega naroda. Tu se posebno izdvaja biskupova obveza donošenja informiranih odluka na temelju kazivanja istine te se ukazuje na razliku doušnika i osoba istine.The office of bishop is the first, most important, and most responsible office in the Church. This makes it the subject of reflection of theologians and spiritual writers, among which St. Alfonso Maria de Liguori (18th century) stands out. After a short biography and an overview of the Church’s circumstances of de Liguori’s times, the article presents his instructions to bishops on how to govern their Church well. It regards the most important concerns of every bishop (the seminary, ordainees, priests, parish priests, the vicar and close associates, and religious sisters) and the most effective means of a bishop for governing his Church well (prayer, good example, residency, visitations, folk missions, synod, counselling, private audiences, and admonitions). The concluding thoughts show that the figure of the bishop and his office of governing the Church, as described by St. Alfonso, represent a valuable and noteworthy contribution for the modern renewal of bishop’s office as well as for the growth in holiness of bishops of Christ’s Church, and thus of the whole of God’s people. Here, a particular emphasis is placed on the bishop’s responsibility to make informed decisions based on truth telling, and the difference is shown between an informant and a person of truth