The Dicastery also schedules the visits at five-year intervals ("ad limina") that bishops are required to make to Rome, when they meet with the pope and various departments of the Curia.

[3] The Dicastery for Bishops has its origins in the "Congregation for the Erection of Churches and Consistorial Provisions" founded by Pope Sixtus V on 22 January 1588.

[4] On 13 July 2022, Pope Francis appointed women as members of this Dicastery for the first time, two religious and one laywoman (Raffaella Petrini, Yvonne Reungoat, and Maria Lia Zervino).

At the meeting, one member takes the role of the presenter (ponente), reviews the information and makes his own recommendation from the list (terna) of three candidates.

The dicastery then notifies the nuncio, who in turn contacts the candidate and asks if he will accept the appointment.