Archbishops Broglio, Laurie have been elected as the next USCCB President, Vice President | Tech Reddy

BALTIMORE (CNS) – U.S. Military Service Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio was elected to a three-year term as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Nov. 15 at the fall general meeting of bishops in Baltimore.

The suburban Cleveland native was selected from a field of 10 candidates and won with 138 votes.

In the next vote, Archbishop William Laurie of Baltimore was elected vice president of the conference for a three-year term. He defeated Bishop Kevin S. of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana by a 143-96 vote in the third election. Elected in the second round with Rhodes.

According to the USCCB bylaws, the vice president is chosen from the remaining nine candidates.

The terms of the two chief officers will begin at the end of the fall assembly on November 17.

Archbishop Broglio, 70, served in the Vatican diplomatic corps before being appointed head of the military archdiocese in 2007. He has served as conference secretary for the past three years.

The prelate was an advocate for American military representatives around the world. As part of his role as head of the archdiocese, he regularly visits US military personnel. Archbishop Broglio was also an advocate of pro-life causes.

Since Archbishop Broglio is the secretary of the conference, the bishops planned to vote on his replacement on November 16. Likewise, Archbishop Laurie, 71, will be voted in after the election of chairman of the bishops’ pro-life committee and his successor as secretary of the conference.

Archbishop Broglio served as Chair of the Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace and their Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, and as a member of the 2013 Special Assembly Working Group.

He also served on the Committees on Religious Freedom and International Justice and Peace and the Subcommittees on Defense of Marriage and Health Care.

He was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Cleveland in 1977. In the Vatican’s diplomatic corps, he worked as a secretary in the Apostolic Nunciature in Ivory Coast and later in Paraguay. From 1990 to 2001, he was Cardinal Angelo Sodano’s Chief of Cabinet, Vatican Secretary of State under St. John Paul II, and Officer for Central America.

In 2001, he was appointed Nuncio of the Dominican Republic and Apostolic Delegate to Puerto Rico.

Archbishop Lori was appointed the 16th Archbishop of Baltimore in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.

He is a former chairman of the USCCB Committee on Doctrine and its Special Committee on Religious Freedom. He began a three-year term at the end of the 2021 autumn assembly of bishops.

Archbishop Laurie is chancellor and chairman of the board of St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, chancellor of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Maryland, and past chairman of the board of trustees of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

It is also the Grand Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus.

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he was ordained to the priesthood of the Archdiocese of Washington in 1977 at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, D.C. His first assignment was as pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Landover, Maryland. Then he was Washington’s secretary to Cardinal James A. Hickey also served as Chancellor, Curia Moderator and Vicar General.

In 1995, Archbishop Lori was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Washington. In 2001, he was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut.

In another vote on Nov. 15, bishops were elected to three episcopal seats on the board of Catholic Relief Services, the US bishops’ overseas aid and development agency.

Atlanta Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmeier was elected to his first term on the CRS board, while Bishop Mark J. Seitz and Bishop Anthony B. of Little Rock, Arkansas. Taylor was re-elected for a second term.