US Catholic Bishops Elect Leaders for Anti-Abortion Fight, but They Could Still Lose
The president, the first woman and the first person of color.
When the Catholic Church formally announced its 2016 presidential encyclicals, Pope Francis, Pope Benedict, and Pope Pius XI, it also made clear that the Church’s endorsement of the candidates did not mean that they, or anyone else, could become bishops or cardinals.
And, it also said that the Catholic Church is “not a political organization.”
In the wake of an August meeting between Pope Francis and the presidents of eight U.S. Catholic dioceses, the bishops on Thursday officially announced their slate of candidates in the election to lead the U.S. bishops’ conference against abortion, contraception and gay rights.
The election will take place Jan. 28–Feb. 2. In its news release, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace said that it had already approved the candidates, with the exception of the president of the U.S. archdiocese of Newark, N.J. There, the church’s election committee had not yet met.
The bishops’ announcement noted that “the Church in the United States has always and will continue to be a prophetic witness in all the challenges of our time–the fight for economic justice, human rights and dignity; the liberation of women; the protection of immigrants; the defense of civil society; and the promotion of peace.”
All seven U.S. bishops have said that the election would send an important message to the world about the United States Catholic Church.
The archbishop of Denver, Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, made it clear that he would support his archdiocesan president, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, when asked whether or not he supported his archdiocese’s choice of pope for the U.S. church. “The Church is one and it’s diverse,” Chaput said.
The archdiocese said that it had accepted the bishops’ guidelines for the election of its bishops, with the exception of its president, which it said would be handled internally. The church said “it was a Catholic question and it
