The new president of U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was elected Tuesday by Archbishop Timothy Broglio of Military Services. Broglio oversees Catholic ministries to U.S. armed force forces.
Broglio, 70 years old, was elected from 10 candidates to a 3-year term. Broglio will succeed Jose H. Gomez, Los Angeles Archbishop who took the position in 2019.
William Lori, the archbishop of Baltimore was elected vice president.
The election of new USCCB leaders is usually a formality with the bishops elevating their vice president to that position. This year, however, the election was open as the incumbent VP — Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron – will soon turn 75 making him ineligible for service.
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FILE – On Sunday, April 12, 2020, Archbishop Timothy Broglio leads an Easter Sunday Mass in an unoccupied sanctuary at Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
From the moderate Archbishop Paul Etienne from Seattle to the conservative San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone. This year Cordileone was the headline-grabbing candidate by excluding House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (a San Franciscan) from receiving Communion in her archdiocese for her support of abortion rights.
They were nominated in the absence of several of their cardinal colleagues by fellow bishops.
Broglio wasn’t considered as conservatively hardline as some other candidates but his election was not well received by left-of-center Catholics, who sympathize with Pope Francis during his conflicts with the U.S. Bishops.
“I’m disappointed that Catholic bishops elected a president who has a track record of being a culture fighter,” John Gehring, Catholic program director at a Washington-based clergy organization called Faith In Public Life, stated. “Even though Pope Francis offers a better way forward for the church,” said John Gehring. “Too many American bishops continue to use old strategies that are not engaging and energizing the faithful.
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FILE – Baltimore Archbishop William Lori leads the funeral mass in Baltimore on March 28, 2017. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
On Wednesday, the annual fall meeting of the bishops will be concluded. This is the first meeting of the bishops since the U.S. The June Roe v. Wade decision, which found a constitutional right for abortion, was overturned by the Supreme Court. This decision returned legal abortion to the states.
Lori, chair of the bishops Committee on Pro-life Activities acknowledged that many Catholics support legalizing abortion.
Lori, elected vice president of bishops’ conference, stated that Roe’s demise is a huge victory but that it would be a Pyrrhic victory for those who fail to win in their minds and hearts.
He said, “We cannot credibly talk in a divided society as long our own house remains divided.” “But, at the same time we can’t wait until total unanimity is achieved before we bear witness the ambient culture about human dignity and life.”
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The conference’s fall meeting will be held in Baltimore on Tuesday, November 15, 2022, and Jose Gomez from Los Angeles, Archbishop of Catholic Bishops, will preside over it. (AP Photo/Peter Smith)
AP VoteCast was an extensive survey of 2022 voters and found that 60% of Catholic voters in Kentucky voted for an amendment to the anti-abortion constitution.
Broglio, a strong opponent of abortion, has extensive experience beyond U.S. borders. He studied in Rome and served in the Vatican diplomatic corps.
Broglio was the chief of cabinet for Cardinal Angelo Sodano (later Vatican secretary of State) from 1990 to 2001. Sodano was widely criticized for his inability to investigate prominent clergymen who were sexual abusers such as the Rev. Marcial Maciel is the leader of Legion of Christ, a religious organization.
Broglio stated that “Hindsight always 20/20” at a news conference following his election. “Many of the things we have learned now may not have been known back then.”
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Cardinal Timothy Dolan speaks at the Ash Wednesday service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York on February 17, 2021. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)
He stated that Maciel had “had everyone fairly buffaloed” during his tenure because he was recruiting new priests.
Broglio claimed he had “left the secretary-of-state’s office by the time the great allegations came out” about Maciel.
Although Maciel was accused of many things in the 2000s and 2003s, the Hartford Courant first reported the allegations in 1997. Eight men had made accusations against Maciel.
Broglio stated that the experience was a “good reminder” to be more attentive and proactive.
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Jozef De Kesel (R), crosses the forehead with the new Bishop for Gent Lode Van Hecke. This was during his ordination at the Sint-Baafskathedraal cathedral, Gent, on February 23, 2020. (Photo taken by YORICK Janansen / BELGA / AFP). / Belgium OUT. (Photo by YORICKJANSENS/BELGA/AFP through Getty Images. . (Photo taken by YORICKJANSENS / BELGA / AFP. / Belgium OUT. (Photo by YORICKJANSENS / BELGA / AFP via Getty Images.)
Broglio also supported an earlier statement where he had linked the church’s abuse crisis to homosexuality. Broglio had stated previously that many cases of abuse were related to homosexuality, rather than pedophilia, since many of the victims of abusive priests are 12 years old.
The bishops commissioned the John Jay College of Criminal Justice to conduct a 2011 study that found homosexuality not to be a reason for priest abuse.
Broglio stated Tuesday that “it’s certain an aspect of sexual crisis that cannot be denied.” While it’s not to point fingers at anyone, I believe it would be foolish to suggest there is no relationship between them.
Broglio declined speculation on his election or whether it signalled a different agenda than the pontiff’s.
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FILE – Pope Francis listens during a speech at a Vatican special audience for FOCSIV Italian Catholic volunteer volunteers. A number of Roman Catholic priests and lay people in Sri Lanka have asked for the postponement by Pope Francis of his visit to the island country next month. They cite the visit’s proximity to the country’s presidential elections and the possibility that violence could be linked to them. Francis will arrive in Sri Lanka on Jan. 13 for a three-day trip, five days after the election. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini File) (The Associated Press).
He said, “I’m certain I’m in communion with Pope Francis,.” “I don’t know if this indicates any dissonance with Pope Francis.”
Broglio’s assertion last year that servicemembers should have the right to religious exemptions, sparing them from the Pentagon’s requirement that all troops be given COVID-19 immunizations, attracted national attention.
Broglio stated that, “Notwithstanding these vaccines’ moral permissibility, the Church treasures its teachings on the sanctity and conscience.” “Accordingly, nobody should be forced to get a COVID-19 vaccination if this would violate his or her conscience.”
Broglio was raised in the Cleveland region, where he attended Catholic schools. He then went on to Boston College, and later earned a doctorate of canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
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In May 1977, he was ordained to the priesthood for the diocese Cleveland at a Rome chapel.
Broglio was an associate pastor, college lecturer and a priest. He also participated extensively in the Vatican’s diplomatic services. Broglio was secretary to the apostolic nunciatures of Paraguay and Ivory Coast, and then he became apostolic Nuncio to Dominican Republic.
Broglio was made an archbishop in March 2001 by St. John Paul II. He was ordained as an archbishop of Military Services USA in March 2001.
Broglio is currently the secretary of the conference as a USCCB member. He has been chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace and chair of the Canonical Affairs and Church Governance Committee.
