Candidates announced for next USCCB president

Washington D.C., Oct 9, 2019 / 11:00 am

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has released the list of candidates ahead of its presidential and vice-presidential elections. The elections will be held during the conference's General Assembly in Baltimore, which will be from Nov. 10-13. 

In an Oct. 9 statement, the USCCB announced that appearing on the ballot will be Archbishops Timothy P. Broglio of the Military Services, Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, Jerome E. Listecki of Milwaukee, and Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit, and Bishops Frank J. Caggiano of Bridgeport, Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Thomas John Paprocki of Springfield in Illinois, and Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend. 

The candidates were each nominated by their fellow members of the bishops' conference in line with the conference's statutes and bylaws.

The current USCCB president is Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, Archbishop Gomez has been serving as vice president since the last election in 2016. 

The first round of voting will elect the president by a simple majority of the bishops present for the election. If a candidate does not receive 50%-plus-one of the votes, an additional ballot is taken. If there is still no winner, a run-off between the two bishops with the most votes is held until a winner is determined.

Following the election of the president of the conference, the remaining nine candidates will form the ballot for the position of vice president, with the same electoral rules applying. 

Over the course of previous elections, the bishops have usually observed the informal custom of electing the serving vice president to the presidency. The most recent exception to this convention was in 2010, when then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan narrowly defeated the serving conference vice president Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tuscon to become conference president.

The president and vice-president will each serve a term of three years. 

In addition to the presidential and vice-presidential elections, the members of the USCCB will be voting for the new chairmen of six conference committees: the Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, Committee on International Justice and Peace, Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, and the Committee for Religious Liberty.