I have no idea what individual bishops around that table might have thought.

But organizationally, the church in the United States is 188 separate dioceses governed by individual bishops.

The 2.5 million-member church has allowed female priests since 1976, but individual bishops were allowed to set the policies in their dioceses.

Some techniques that individual bishops had favored are now being reconsidered.

In that capacity, he worked closely with individual bishops and priests throughout the world in preparation for the rare celebration of the Church.

He shows genuine episcopal devotion to "the Church's welfare" crosscut by the commitment of individual bishops to their political masters.

In Nigeria, the episcopal conference has delegated the authority to set a higher prohibitive minimum age to the individual bishops.

On the one hand, it served in a merely consultative role with respect to individual bishops and the Holy See.

As the conference's voice increased, that of individual bishops tended to decrease.