He wouldn't be king's weak bishop

	St. Richard of Wyche When: about 1197-1253; canonized in 1262 Where: England What: Bishop, chancellor, teacher Feast: April 3

An old saying well known to dairy farmers and anyone who remembers unhomogenized milk, is: Cream always rises to the top. The cliche, when applied to daily life, means that the best wins.

That certainly seems to be the case with St. Richard de Wyche, a 13th century English bishop known for abilities as a churchman, scholar and manager.

Richard was orphaned when he was young. Years later, he worked doggedly to reclaim the estate left by his parents, which had been mismanaged. After he reversed the losses, Richard turned the estate over to his brother and began his studies at Oxford.

He also studied in Paris and Bologna, where he received a doctorate in canon law. In 1235, he was named the chancellor at Oxford, where he had been teaching since returning from Bologna.

Later, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Edmund Rice -- a friend since the two met when Richard first studied at Oxford -- appointed him chancellor of the archdiocese.

When Abp. Rice retired to a Cistercian monastery at Pontigny, Richard went with him. After the archbishop's death, Richard taught at the Dominican house of studies at Orléans, France. It was there, when Richard was in his mid-40s, that he was ordained to the priesthood.

He returned to England and was serving as a parish priest at Deal, until Boniface of Savoy, now the Archbishop of Canterbury, again made Richard the chancellor of the archdiocese.

Soon afterward, in 1244, King Henry III selected Ralph Neville to be the Bishop of Chichester in south England. But Boniface intervened. The king was well-known for picking weak bishops who would give him a large share of the diocese's income. Because of that, Boniface argued that the appointment was invalid and named Richard as the bishop.

That began a dispute between Henry and Boniface that was resolved in 1245 when the two sides appealed to Pope Innocent IV, who ruled in Richard's favor and consecrated him as the bishop.

But when Richard returned to England, he found that Henry had not accepted the pope's decision and would not allow him to enter the bishop's palace. The matter was not finally resolved until two years later when the pope threatened to excommunicate Henry.

For the next eight years, Richard denounced nepotism (the naming of relatives to church offices) and demanded that the clergy follow church rules. He also gave generously to the poor and needy. He died at a home for poor priests in Dover while preaching a retreat on behalf of a new crusade as ordered by the pope.