Those of you interested in episcopal politics should have the invaluable Catholic Hierarchy website on your Favorites.

Here’s a list of vacant sees, and you can see from it that there are several still in the US:

Sioux Falls since 12/04

Lake Charles, LA since 3/05

Youngstown, OH since 3/05

Birmingham, AL since 3/05

Salt Lake since 12/05

Then, of course, Little Rock and Pittsburgh just from last month.

One of the great mysteries of Catholic life is how some transitions take so long…and some don’t.

(Another great feature of the Catholic Hierarchy site – on the diocesan pages, he’s got demographic breakdowns of the diocese from, if the diocese is that old, 1950 to the present. Quite interesting)

The front page of the site also has an amusing disclaimer – I don’t know if David is simply trying (successfully) to be funny, or if he’s really getting inquiries along that line…I wouldn’t be surprised….