The Dicastery for Bishops has its origins in the "Congregation for the Erection of Churches and Consistorial Provisions" founded by
Pope Sixtus V on 22 January 1588. Before the
Second Vatican Council, when the pope announced the names of new cardinals at a Secret Consistory, that is, a consistory that only churchmen attended, the names of new cardinals would be read out, followed by those of archbishops and bishops. The name was changed from the Sacred Consistorial Congregation to the Congregation for Bishops in 1967. On 13 July 2022,
Pope Francis appointed women as members of this Dicastery for the first time, two religious and one laywoman (
Raffaella Petrini,
Yvonne Reungoat, and
María Lía Zervino). In addition, Pope Leo XIV appointed Sr. Simona Brambilla, M.C., prefect of the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life, as member of the Dicastery for Bishops on 14 February 2026.
Current procedure The Dicastery's members who live in Rome meet every other Thursday for an entire morning. Appointments for four dioceses are reviewed in a typical session. Before the meeting, dicastery members are sent documentation on the candidates for each diocese. At the meeting, one member takes the role of the presenter (
ponente), reviews the information and makes his own recommendation from the list (
terna) of three candidates. Each member, in order of seniority, offers his assessment. The Dicastery's recommendations, including any doubts, questions or minority opinions, are sent to the pope. He usually approves the dicastery's decision, but may choose to send it back for further discussion and evaluation. The prefect then meets with the pope every Saturday and presents the recommendations of the dicastery. A few days later, the pope informs the dicastery of his decision. The dicastery then notifies the nuncio, who in turn contacts the candidate and asks if he will accept the appointment.
Course of Formation for New Bishops Every September the Dicastery holds the "Annual Course of Formation for New Bishops", also known as "New Bishop School" and informally "Baby Bishop School". Attendance is mandatory for those ordained in the previous year. Topics are spiritual and practical, from imitating the leadership of Jesus to handling crises. There was a particular focus on "synodality", which was defined as listening and engaging the faithful. The event also involves meeting the pope. There are talks such as on the new media in relation to evangelisation; and the rapport between psychological development and spiritual commitment. There were also talks on administration, canon law, and the reform of the Roman Curia. ==Leadership==