Four quick observations about the USCCB elections

Bishops looking for orthodoxy

Many of the candidates in the election for the USCCB presidency this year stand out as teachers of the Faith. And Archbishop Broglio, elected yesterday to be the new president of the U.S. bishops conference, is no exception. From his defense of marriage and family, to his outspoken defense of religious liberty, to his unwavering commitment to the Church’s immemorial Eucharistic doctrine, Archbishop Broglio stands firmly committed to the Church’s tradition and is expected to uphold it without hesitation in his new role.

The same is true of Archbishop William E. Lori, the new conference vice president and current chairman of the bishops’ committee for pro-life activities. Unfortunately, for a minority among the bishops and a loud caucus of Church pundits, these qualities prove to be less than desirable. Some have even retorted, in their disdain, that electing a leader with these qualities is evidence of the bishops’ defiance of Pope Francis. To this Broglio responded, in his press conference just after his election, “As far as I know, I’m certainly in communion with Pope Francis … I’m not aware that this [election] represents some dissonance with Pope Francis.”

Bishops unified, but divided

While the bishops rallied around Archbishop Broglio in the end, it took a while to secure enough votes. Forced to a run-off election, Broglio did not secure election until a third ballot with 138 votes in favor and 99 against. The election of Archbishop Lori as the new vice president has the semblance of a compromise. Just as was the case with outgoing conference vice president Archbishop Allen Vigneron, there will not be the continuity of vice president on the next ballot for top USCCB leadership in three years. Archbishop Lori is 71 and will be ineligible to stand for presidency at the next election, as he would reach retirement age midway through the term.

Traditionally, the presidential election typically was the graduation of the conference vice president. That has not held up for the last two elections and appears to keep the conference from establishing a six-year continuity plan for leadership as in the past. While the more progressive candidate on this year’s ballot, Archbishop Paul Ettiene of Seattle, could not secure more than 40 votes, it appears his supporters got in line to prevent Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend from taking the number 2 spot. Rhoades, himself an effective teacher of the Faith and upholder of Catholic doctrine, was a pivotal player in the drafting of the bishops’ document on the Eucharist last year, and also an outspoken critic of President Joe Biden’s inconsistency of belief and practice, especially where, the Eucharist is concerned.

Calling on a diplomat

Archbishop Broglio’s vast experience in service in the Roman Curia and to the Holy See’s diplomatic corps is an asset. Some Church analysts have drawn attention to Broglio’s association as Chief of Cabinet to disgraced Secretary of State Angelo Sodano, himself implicated for complicity and coverup of some heinous figures such as Marcel Maciel Delgado and Theodore McCarrick — all without any accusations other than guilt by association.

With former curial experience in the Holy See’s Secretariat of State, and subsequent service as an apostolic nuncio to the Dominican Republic and Apostolic Delegate to Puerto Rico, Broglio is well-situated to interface with the Holy See at a time when Church leadership in the United States is often at odds over varying interpretations and implementations of directive and policies from Rome. There is hope he can build on the good work of Archbishop Gomez in bringing greater unity, fraternity and collegiality to an episcopacy increasingly compromised by ideologies and agendas.

And at a time when several senior Church leaders have not hesitated to go behind USCCB leadership’s backs to deal with Rome directly, Broglio is in good stead to right the ship.

A different kind of archbishop

Archbishop Broglio serves as ordinary of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, which has pastoral responsibility for the armed forces and their families on all military installations, Veterans Administration facilities and other overseas federal services. Broglio’s archdiocese has no cathedral nor does it have any suffragan sees, meaning Broglio wears no pallium.

Nor is his archdiocese defined geographic jurisdiction, but rather a personal jurisdiction that extends to those he serves – nearly 2 million among all men and women in uniform and their families, all United States government property in the United States and abroad, including U.S. military installations, embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions. His archdiocese is inherently missionary and less defined by institutional bureaucracy than most.