The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will be voting for chairmen of eight standing committees before the 2020 General Assembly convenes virtually November 16-17.
In August, after consultation with the Holy See, the bishop-members of the USCCB voted to approve the convocation of this year’s November meeting in a virtual format in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The bishop-members voted to suspend the bylaws of the Conference to allow for paper, mail-in ballots for the election of the committee chairmen before the November meeting, with the results of the election to be announced during the meeting.
Since June, the Committee for Religious Liberty has had an acting chairman following the death of Bishop George V. Murry, SJ of Youngstown who had been serving as chairman. At the conclusion of the bishops’ 2020 Fall General Assembly, the bishop elected to the Committee for Religious Liberty will assume the post of chairman, and the bishops elected for the remaining seven committees will serve for one year as chairmen-elect of the respective committees before beginning a three-year term as chairmen at the conclusion of the Fall General Assembly in 2021.
Nominees for chairman of the Committee for Religious Liberty, and the chairman-elect of the Committees on Priorities and Plans, Catholic Education, Communications, Cultural Diversity in the Church, Doctrine, National Collections, and Pro-Life Activities are as follows (in alphabetical order):
For Chairman:
- COMMITTEE FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York
Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami
For Chairman-elect:
- COMMITTEE ON PRIORITIES AND PLANS
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA
Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo - COMMITTEE ON CATHOLIC EDUCATION
Bishop Thomas A. Daly of Spokane
Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv. of Atlanta - COMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS
Bishop Christopher J. Coyne of Burlington
Bishop Robert Reed of Boston - COMMITTEE ON CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THE CHURCH
Bishop Arturo Cepeda of Detroit
Bishop Jorge Rodriguez-Novelo of Denver - COMMITTEE ON DOCTRINE
Bishop Brendan J. Cahill of Victoria
Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville - COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL COLLECTIONS
Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City
Bishop James S. Wall of Gallup - COMMITTEE ON PRO-LIFE ACTIVITIES
Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver
Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore
