The first site is a better one with one exception: The rule not to use ‘Bishop’ as a direct address (as in, “Hiya, Bishop!”) has gone by the wayside, at least in the U.S. It is now as common as saying, “Hiya, Father!”
The second site is from an archconservative Catholic web site and its info is outdated. E.g., Pope John Paul II tried to get people to stop kissing his ring early in his pontificate. He’s pretty much given up stopping people from doing it, but it’s no longer the ‘proper ettiquette.’ And the kissing of a Bishop’s ring is right out (especially in the U.S.).
Peace.
Now, if y’all want, you may kiss my ring. Though, I keep it in my back pocket.
The Protocol Office of the Government of Saskatchewan and the Canadian government’s Canadian Heritage site have pretty comprehensive info on styles of address for most religious groups.
moriah, mea culpa, I didn’t really look at that second site other than confirming the spoken address for a deacon. After looking closer at that page and other parts of the site, I wonder whether they are pre-Vatican II or pre-Trent.
According to Brother Daniel at the ULC, you can call yourself anything you want (except Doctor or something real that you’re not). Right Rev., Most Rev., Most Extreme Holiness, etc., you name it. They’re all BS terms anyway when you get right down to it, so you get to pick one. There’s no “real” rule about divinity–it’s a made-up discipline. There’s no governing body or legal organization that can come after you. You could even get away with D.D., since you can claim your specific spritual path makes you just as much a “doctor of divinity” as someone who has paid the money to get the title. Write to Bro. Daniel for more info.
