Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem of Central Pennsylvania was re-adopted by the former Diocese of Harrisburg. Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem The Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem covers fourteen counties in Pennsylvania to the north and west of Philadelphia. Following the retirement of Paul Marshall on December 31, 2013, the diocese's ecclesiastical authority rested in its Standing Committee. A special convention took place on March 1, 2014, electing Sean Rowe, Bishop of Northwestern Pennsylvania, as Provisional Bishop. On April 28, 2018, Kevin D. Nichols was elected as Bishop, and pending the consent of the majority of the dioceses will be seated in September 2018. The cathedral is
Episcopal conference of episcopal conferences are currently governed by the 1983 Code of Canon Law (see especially canons 447-459) In addition, there are assemblies of bishops which include the bishops of different rites in a nation, both Eastern Catholic and Latin Catholic; these are described in canon 322 §2 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. The nature of episcopal conferences, and their magisterial authority in particular, was subsequently clarified by Pope John Paul II in his 1998 "motu proprio", "Apostolos suos", which stated that the declarations of such conferences "constitute authentic magisterium" when approved unanimously by the conference; otherwise