Chicago cardinal elected president of bishops conference

c. 2007 Religion News Service BALTIMORE _ The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops elected Cardinal Francis George of Chicago as its next president Tuesday (Nov. 13), choosing a Vatican veteran to lead the bishops’ conference through deep cuts in staff and mission. George, who was elected by 85 percent of the bishops meeting here this […]

c. 2007 Religion News Service

BALTIMORE _ The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops elected Cardinal Francis George of Chicago as its next president Tuesday (Nov. 13), choosing a Vatican veteran to lead the bishops’ conference through deep cuts in staff and mission.

George, who was elected by 85 percent of the bishops meeting here this week, is known for his incisive mind and occasionally sharp tongue.


As president of the bishops conference for the next three years, George, 70, will be the American church’s chief spokesman and its primary channel to Rome.

“I would characterize my leadership more as one of discernment than of being visionary … I’m the president of the conference, not the bishop of the United States,” he said, adding that, in some sense, it’s a “symbolic post.”

George succeeds Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., whose term ends this year. Because the Chicago prelate had served as vice-president of the conference for the last three years, his election was widely expected.

Two Catholic lay groups, however, pressed the bishops not to elect George, saying he had mishandled sexual abuse claims against Chicago clergy.

The bishops also elected Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tuscon, Ariz., as vice president of the conference. Somewhat surprisingly, the bishops chose Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Chicago over St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke to head their committee on canonical affairs and church governance. Burke has been one of the church’s most vocal proponents of using canon law to deny Communion to politicians who favor abortion rights.

George’s election comes as the conference’s influence and reach are waning, observers say. Deep cuts in budget and staff, partly as a result of a sex abuse scandal that’s cost the American church about $2 billion since 1950, may reduce its role in public life.

Moreover, the bishops have less appetite for sweeping statements on issues such as economic justice compared with the heyday of the conference in the 1970s and ’80s, said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior fellow at Washington’s Woodstock Theological Center.


“This is a time when the bishops want to do less and spend less money,” said Reese.

At the same time, the election of George, the first cardinal to head the conference and a well-known figure in Rome, may increase the Vatican’s already heavy influence on the American bishops, Reese said.

Before his appointment as Archbishop of Chicago in 1996, George led a U.S. province of his religious order, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He also served for 12 years in Rome as vicar general of the Oblates.

The Rev. Donald Senior, president of Chicago’s Catholic Theological Union, said George often emphasizes his missionary experience in talks and sermons.

“He’s seen the living conditions in other cultures,” said Senior. “He’s not political in the sense of getting involved in partisan politics but he speaks fearlessly about how we relate to other cultures.”

On occasion, however, George’s tendency to speak without fear has ruffled his native city.

Several years ago, the cardinal said that because of its support for abortion rights, “the Democratic Party has lost its soul … One could also argue that the Republican Party never had a soul.”


And while the cardinal’s intellect was never in doubt _ he has a doctorate in philosophy _ it was the candid way he dealt with bladder cancer in 2006 that endeared him to Chicago, Senior said.

“He’s not a glad-hander but he’s become very popular,” Senior said.

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Ahead of the Baltimore meeting, however, the lay group Voice of the Faithful sent letters to nearly 300 U.S. bishops, including George, urging them to reject the cardinal’s candidacy.

Protesting outside the bishops’ meeting in Baltimore, representatives from Voice of the Faithful and the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests say the cardinal’s moral leadership is in doubt.

“George is the last person the bishops should be electing as their president,” said Mary Pat Fox, president of Voice of the Faithful.

The cardinal neglected to remove a priest, the Rev. Daniel McCormack, from ministry in 2005 even after the archdiocese was told that he had been credibly accused of sexually abusing children, the groups say.

Last year, McCormack pleaded guilty to sexually abusing five boys aged 8 to 12. George has admitted that he erred in handling the case.


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Also on Tuesday, Skylstad, with the support of the other bishops gathered in Baltimore, called the situation in Iraq “unacceptable and unsustainable.”

Reminding Catholics and U.S. leaders of the church’s opposition to the invasion of Iraq, Skylstad said Washington must break the “partisan and political stalemate” that blocks a solution to the chaotic violence in Baghdad.

“Some policy makers seem to fail to recognize sufficiently the reality and failures in Iraq and the imperative for new directions,” Skylstad said.

“Others seem to fail to recognize sufficiently the potential human consequences of very rapid withdrawal. These two forms of denial have helped contribute to partisan paralysis,” he added.

Later this week, the bishops are expected to approve an outline of Catholics’ political responsibilities and a revision of the guideline for music at Mass.

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A file photo of Cardinal George is available via https://religionnews.com.

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