Being a bishop is no easy task – there are so many responsibilities and duties. Bishop Edik Baroni introduces himself and gives us some tips about this matter. Bishop Baroni says a bishop before being a bishop has to be a self-sufficient person. They have to be well instructed secular and religious people combined in one.
Baroni inform us about his life and education that how he achieved his goal by following his calling with hard work and dedication. Baroni since age of 15, to answer to his religious life calling, enters in the Roman Catholic Church of Tehran as a postulant. He did not only start learning about catholic faith but also works at the church and also went to school and dedicated his free time to learn new languages. All these were because he wanted to be a well instructed clergy man.
He was sent to Rome to start his formation as a candidate to priesthood. All those years that he spent in Rome and Italy helped him to became more mature as a future Church leader. Every summer he was sent in a different city or country in Middle East to work for Salesian School or Church and learn how to be in middle of the different ethnic group as a clergy.
Later Baroni Moved to Los Angeles and started working in different positions in Bank of America until now with a title of Assistant Vice president. He became priest in 2012 but continued both religious and civil works. He founded Holy Apostolic Church of USA and Persian Apostolic Community worldwide until in May 2022 He was consecrated Bishop in Ecumenical Catholic Church of Christ. Bishop Baroni shows us once a Clerics becomes mature spiritually and as a civil person, then he may serve as a prime example of a role model for his flock.
Bishop Baroni emphasis a few important habits that every Bishop must instill in themselves to effectively serve as a leader for the people. Here are a few examples of said habits.
Must Be Personally Holy
The first and foremost quality of a bishop is to have personal holiness – those who pray to the Divine Office and have regular confessions for themselves. Plus, bishops that are personally holy tend to be better teachers as well. And with a strong commitment to one’s faith, it is believed that God will provide the rest that is missing.
Must be well instructed
A bishop as a leader not only needs to be knowledgeable in Scripture and doctrine of the faith but also in other languages than his own. A bishop can not speak only Assyrian, or Arabic or Armenian but has to be fluent in other universal languages as well to be able to communicate with brother and sister from other churches. For this reason, Bishop Baroni since the young age dedicated himself to learn and speak, and preach, and celebrate the sacraments in six different languages such English, Armenian, Spanish, French, Farsi and Italian.
Promoting and Defending Faith
A bishop should have a strong willingness to stand up for the truth, no matter what. As chief defenders of the faith, every bishop since the beginning has continued the tradition of standing firm for their faith and have the ability to acknowledge and confront the serious issues that occur in the Church.
Committed to Apostolic Doctrine:
An important duty of a bishop is to be an excellent teacher, one who is committed to their faithful Catholic and Apostolic education. A bishop must have the necessary education in institutes that contribute to the diversity of higher education in America and anywhere in the world. Having the ideal experience and knowledge about the faith is what gives a teacher the skills they need to effectively preach and overseas their teachings to others.
Bishop Baroni keeps encouraging bishops to work hard to achieve their goals in their diocese.
Moreover, some of his many notable works include fighting against the religious discriminations within the Middle East and various other poor countries.
