Abstract
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.
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