CEREMONIAL OF BISHOPS
It is the complex of sacred rules and directives that govern the preparation and the attitudes, movements, and gestures to be observed in the solemn celebration of Mass and the choral Office in the presence of the bishop, as well as the bishop’s comportment in the manifestations of his office.
Having its initial seed planted by Christ Himself in the institution of the Sacraments and first developed by the Apostles, the Church over the centuries has modified and refined this ensemble of ceremonies that surround the essential acts of worship. These ceremonies, originally transmitted orally, were later inserted here and there into liturgical books in general forms. This gave rise to a great variety of secondary elements, which were regulated differently by the authority of individual bishops. Thus, when the need was felt to codify all the ceremonies, various ceremonial books arose, especially from the 11th century onward, when every church and every monastery had its own Customaries or Ordinaries (Ordines) or Rituals (Rituales libri or Libri agendarum).
Some code of ceremonies may have been known to St. Jerome, who (Ep., 56, ad Heliod.) attests regarding the priest Nepotian: “He took care in the functions of the Church so that the smallest as well as the greatest ceremonies and prescriptions were carried out according to the order established and determined by the elders.” St. Augustine also seems to have known some ceremonial, since he laments the neglect of ceremonial prescriptions relating to certain liturgical practices (Ep., 55, ad Ianuar.).
To eliminate these discrepancies, the Council of Trent ordered the compilation of a single ceremonial of bishops. Pius IV had entrusted this task to the Perugian Fulvio della Cornia, and Sixtus V in 1588 established the Congregation of Rites, assigning it among other duties the revision of the Pontifical, the ceremonial of bishops, and the Ritual. The ceremonial of bishops, compiled by learned prelates including L. Torres (later a cardinal) and drawn from the Roman ceremonial of Patrizzi and those of Burcardo and Grassi, was published in 1600 by Clement VIII, made official and obligatory for all churches, especially cathedrals and collegiate churches.
In 1650, Innocent X, noting many typographical errors, ordered a new edition, reprinted under Clement XI. Benedict XIII in 1727 corrected it further, removing typographical errors (due, as the bull states, not so much to the incompetence of the printers as to the fault and negligence of others), clarifying obscure and ambiguous norms, removing those that had fallen into disuse, reconciling contradictory ones, and adding those omitted in their proper places. In 1741, Benedict XIV wished to produce a more accurate edition, paying particular attention to music and chant, and adding the entire third book to resolve numerous controversies that had arisen among bishops regarding honors and precedence. The last typical edition, issued by Leo XIII, is from 1886.
The ceremonial of bishops is divided into three books. The first treats of the bishop’s duties at his elevation and his entry into the diocese, the duties of the officials of the cathedral, the regulations for pontifical functions, and the private attendance of the prelate at the Office and Mass without chant. The second expounds the ceremonies for pontifical and solemn Mass and Office, whether or not the bishop is present, as well as the particularities fixed for certain days of the liturgical year. The third specifies the signs of respect and the honors that bishops and civil authorities must render to one another.