BYOB, Bring your own Bishop

Incoming Bishop Martin Amos, newly chosen as the eighth man to hold that title with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport, has asked for a low-key installation service later this month, and the diocese is poised to deliver just that.

“No money is set aside for this event. All our assets are currently under the protection of the bankruptcy court,” diocese spokesman David Montgomery said Thursday.

A special collection is being taken throughout the church’s 22-county eastern Iowa region to pay for the pared-down celebration since the diocese declared bankruptcy last month. That was two days before the Vatican announced the appointment of Amos and that it had accepted the retirement of Bishop William Franklin.

The Amos installation is planned for 2 p.m. Nov. 20 at St. John Vianney Church, Bettendorf. The Bettendorf church was chosen over Sacred Heart Cathedral, Davenport, because it is larger and has more parking and other facilities, Montgomery said. The historic cathedral, also called the bishop’s church, holds 220 fewer people.

The diocese has no idea how well the special collection will go, but the funds are intended to provide travel expenses for a group of invited dignitaries. Amos is a bishop in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.

“Bishop Amos wants a low-key installation,” Montgomery said. “He’s considering the financial situation of the diocese.”

Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States, will travel from Washington, D.C., to read a letter from Pope Benedict during the service. Nine other bishops also have been invited to take part, and some of them are paying their own expenses, Montgomery said.

Such a ceremony normally would include 28 invited bishops, he said. There also are costs involved with the reception to be held after the installation, but it will not include a dinner.

They should just have an episcopal pot luck afterwards.