Divine Doctorate
Below, Rich raises the question about the Doctor of Divinity degree which almost all bishops seem to possess. Hense the initials “D.D.” after their name. As far as I know, within the context of the Catholic Church, this is completely an honorary degree that is given to all bishops sometime between their appointment and episcopal consecration. At least within the Catholic context, I have never come across an earned “Doctor of Divinity” and I don’t know of any Pontifical University that offers a DD programme.
My guess is that besides tradition, there is some sort of connection between the DD and canon 378, par. 1, no. 5 which states: “To be a suitable candidate for the episcopate, a person must: hold a doctorate or at least a licentiate in sacred Scripture, theology or canon law, from an institute of higher studies approved by the Apostolic See, or at least be well versed in these disciplines.”
Traditionally, this hasn’t been as much a problem in Europe, where the state managed the Church’s property, so basically a bishop could be a good Pastor who was educated in the Sacred Sciences. However, in America, with the separation between Church and State, this didn’t lead to the best results because theologians and academics were often poor business managers. So even as early as the 1900’s Rome was complaining that among the American bishops, the skills of a banker were often more important than the skills of a pastor and theologian.