Bishops in Baltimore (Day Two)

This week the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is meeting in Baltimore. AmP will strive to provide complete, accurate day-by-day coverage. This meeting will feature ongoing discussions about (and possibly yield solutions to) several controversies facing the American Catholic hierarchy. Notable agenda items for this week include:

1. Election of a new 3 year term president (in all probability Francis Cardinal George of Chicago)
2. Election of a new 3 year term vice-president from a pool of nine nominees.
3. Election of new chairs for several important committees (terms vary)
4. Discussion of a new document advising Catholics how to Vote their Catholic conscience (briefly reported previously here, here & here)
5. Discussion of the role of U.S. Bishops in political issues
6. Presentation and discussion of John Jay research on the causes of the sex-abuse crisis
7. Discussion of the U.S. Bishop's ongoing marriage campaign (previously reported here).
8. Discussion of revised guidelines for music selections at Mass

• Related: This week's AmP reader poll: Who should be the USCCB vice-president in 2008?

Essential links:

• The USCCB's official page for the 2007 Fall General Assembly
• Documents from this year's meeting will be posted here.
• EWTN will provide live video and audio feeds of the public sessions here (schedule here).
• John Allen's coverage here, Rocco Palmo's updates here.

Day Two:

USCCB issues a statement, "A Call for Bipartisan Cooperation on Responsible Transition in Iraq" and a press release, "U.S. Catholic Bishops elect new president and vice president", which reads:

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, has been elected president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for a three year term beginning in 2008. The election occurred November 13 during the bishops’ general meeting November 12-15 in Baltimore. Cardinal George received 188 votes out of 222 votes cast for a total of 85%.

Under USCCB by-laws, the nine remaining candidates become candidates for vice president. Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona was elected as the new USCCB vice president, capturing a majority of 55% of the votes.

As expected, Cardinal George is the next USCCB president. He is the first religious to become president, and the first cardinal since 1971. Bp. Kicanas won over Bp. Dolan in a head-to-head vote after the first round failed to nominate a clear winner. Rocco has more and adds:

• Archbishop Joseph Kurtz was elected conference treasurer by a 2-to-1 edge over Bishop Michael Bransfield of Wheeling-Charleston
• Cultural Diversity in Life of the Church -- Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio
• Clergy, Consecrated Life and Religious -- Cardinal Sean O'Malley OFM Cap. of Boston
• Catholic Education -- Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Curry of Los Angeles
• Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs -- Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta
• Evangelization and Catechesis -- Bishop Richard Malone of Portland in Maine
• International Justice and Peace -- Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany
• Canonical Affairs and Church Governance -- Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Chicago
• Protection of Children and Young People -- Bishop Blase Cupich of Rapid City.

My commentary on these elections will be posted separately.

John Allen has been working overtime:

• Bishops adopt new financial controls
• Interview with Archbishop Charles Chaput
• Bishop most linked to denial of communion for pro-choice pols loses race
• Kicanas elected vice-president
• Sex abuse in church mirrors broad social patterns, study suggests

St. Blogs commentary:

• Ed Peters: The choice between Abp. Burke and Bp. Paprocki
• Diogenes: The vote to watch

Mainstream media reporting:

• {to be updated soon}

Liveblogging updates (EWTN live video and audio feeds here):

• (No liveblogging today due to time constraints.)

AmP coverage of last year's meeting is available here:

• [Day One] [Day Two] [Day Three]