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When a Bishop retires, how is his replacement chosen? BY SAMARA CAIN
Everyone has celebrated Mass with Bishop Slattery at least once. Sadly, our Catholic School Week Mass may have been the last Mass we celebrate with him. At the age of 75, each bishop is required to send his letter of resignation to the Vatican. At this point, you may wonder how a new bishop is chosen. There are four stages in the process. Stage One: Every bishop is encouraged to submit names of priests to the archbishop. Following a discussion between the bishops, they vote on which names to recommend. The vote tally is then forwarded to the apostolic nuncio in Washington, D.C. Stage two: After the final list is sent to Rome, the apostolic nuncio conducts his own investigations. The nuncio narrows his list and a questionnaire is sent to 20 or 30 people for their input. All material is reviewed, and a report is finalized. Three candidates are listed, and everything is forwarded to the Congregation of Bishops. Stage Three: A cardinal relator is chosen to read the documentation and report it to the full congregation. The congregation discusses the appointment and then votes. The Congregation could follow the recommendation of the nuncio, choose another of
the candidates on the terna, or even ask that another terna be prepared. Stage Four: During a private audience with the pope, the prefect of the Congregation presents and explains the recommendations of the Congregation. A few days later, the pope notifies the Congregation of his decision. The Congregation notifies the nuncio, who contacts the candidate and asks if he will accept. If the answer is “yes,” the Vatican is notified and a date is set for the announcement. It often takes six to eight months, sometimes longer, for a bishop to be appointed. Choosing a new bishop is an arduous task. There is no doubt a wonderful bishop will be appointed to our diocese. Although, Bishop Slattery will be missed, and we appreciate everything he has done. He will always be in our hearts The Diocese of Tulsa has been blessed to have Bishop Slattery for the past 22 years. Of course, retirement for a bishop doesn’t mean swinging in a hammock in the Bahamas for the rest of his life. Following his retirement, we can expect to see Bishop Emeritus Slattery helping cover Masses around the diocese and assisting the new Bishop with confirmations.
TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
Bishop Kelley is making a change for the 2017-18 school year. The faculty is planning on having all of the students use devices for classes, making Kelley a one-to-one school as it’s known in the education world. These could be anything from Android, Windows, or Apple. It is too early to determine how much students would have to pay for the devices.
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2020 vision
Link Crew selection process begins as BK looks forward to Class of 2020. BY BETH KEANEY Freshmeat. Frosh. Freshies. You probably remember being called these cringe-worthy nicknames as well as the other uncomfortable parts of adjusting to high school. Luckily, Link Crew is there to help freshman with this transition from middle school to high school, and the selection process for the Link Crew for the Class of 2020 has already begun. A multi-tiered process, the selection begins with attending an informational meeting. Next, applicants send in essays and videos that are reviewed and scored. After a review of each applicant’s disciplinary records and teacher recommendations, Mrs. Gabel and Mr. Oberste will narrow the pool down the the lucky Link Crew members. This process takes months, with applications due in February and notifying members in June. Typically, about 200 sophomore and juniors apply, with approximately 120 receiving the honor of being a Link Crew member their junior or senior year. Nervous about this competitive selection process? Mrs. Gabel has shared tips on how to set yourself apart from other applicants. “Having good extracurricular activities and a good rapport with teachers is all very helpful,” Mrs. Gabel said. “Essay and video responses are also an important
way to get to know applicants.” The competition for Link Crew does serve a purpose. We want to ensure that our freshmen have the best possible chance to start their high school career off on the right foot. “My Link Crew leaders helped me to get in the school spirit and showed me it was okay to be a little crazy sometimes!” Kristen Anthamatten (9) said. “I definitely want to be a Link Crew leader.” Not only does this orientation experience have an impact on the freshmen themselves, but it also enriches the leader’s high school experience. “I liked becoming a part of another group at Bishop Kelley and teaching the freshmen about high school and what to expect,” Link Crew leader Maddie Veit (11) said. So for those lucky 120 or so who will receive their Link Crew acceptance letter this summer, what next? “Be sure that you are doing it for the freshmen,” Mrs. Gabel said. “If your number one priority is them, then you will have a great experience and become a great Link Crew leader.” With that advice, hopefully our Link Crew leaders will be off to a great start in helping our “freshmeat” make the transition to high school.
BK plans for new technology in the 2017-18 school year.
BY BETH “I see the devices being a complementary tool to the lessons that are currently being taught,” Principal Feilmeier said. “Some delivery may be altered because each student would have a device, but the overall objectives of each course would remain somewhat the same.” Be on the lookout for a survey from the administration about this topic. Here are some opin-
GRUNDY ions from current students who will be a part of that transformation: “I think it is a good idea for Bishop Kelley to become more technologically advanced so students don’t have to be carrying 3 different textbooks. However, with the new technology, there could be complications in being able to access them all the time,” Grace Roy (10).
“I personally would not like it, I am most likely to remember something by handwriting it,” Rafael Serrano (10) said. “I think the new technology would be pretty cool,” Camilo Gonzalez (9) said. “This could make school a lot easier since we could do things on the devices that would normally be inconvenient,” Maya Gould (9) said.
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