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	Erie Bishop up for Conference Head By Dana Massing Erie Times-News November 10, 2007 http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071110/LIFESTYLES03/711100341/-1/LIFESTYLES08 Erie Catholic Bishop Donald W. Trautman is one of 10 candidates for president of the nation's Roman Catholic hierarchy. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will hold elections during its annual fall meeting, which takes place Monday through Thursday in Baltimore. Trautman's name appears on the slate of candidates for president and vice president. "I do not expect to be elected president," he said. The list also includes the current vice president, conservative Cardinal Francis George of Chicago. The U.S. bishops have a history of electing the sitting vice president to succeed as president. That could leave Trautman and the eight others battling for the No. 2 spot. "I'm not campaigning," the Erie bishop said. Trautman, 71, said he was honored to have been nominated by his "brother bishops." Each can nominate up to five candidates and those with the most votes go on the slate, said Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of media relations for the conference. The body has 290 voting members and about 280 are expected to attend the meeting, she said. Candidates for president and vice president need a simple majority of votes to win. The elections will probably take place Tuesday, Walsh said. While the bishops will themselves be voting for new leaders, their updated statement on faith and politics won't tell Catholics whom to vote for in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. The conference has issued guidelines on political life every four years for more than 30 years. This year's proposed document, "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States," will be voted on by all the bishops. "In this statement, we bishops do not intend to tell Catholics for whom or against whom to vote," the draft states. The 37-page document encourages Catholics to be involved in political life. But it suggests that they should be guided by moral convictions rather than political parties and should use Catholic teaching to examine candidates' positions. The document also makes clear that Catholics should oppose actions like abortion, and that voting for a candidate because he or she supports abortion would make the Catholic voter "guilty of formal cooperation in evil," according to several reports on the draft. Also on the meeting agenda are votes on a revision of the guidelines for music at Mass and two youth-related catechetical items. The bishops also will receive results from research into sex abuse by clergy. "Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship" guides the selection of hymns heard during worship, among other things. It's one of three items going to the bishops from their Committee on the Liturgy, which Trautman chairs. His three-year term as chairman ends after the November meeting. Trautman also held that position from 1993 to 1996. His recent term came at a pivotal time, as the conference was considering a new translation of the Order of Mass that remained in English but was more faithful to the original Latin. Trautman pushed for a translation that was accurate yet understandable to the people, including the 226,000 Catholics in his 13-county diocese. Other worship-related items up for votes by the bishops this month include a new liturgical book, "Weekday Celebrations of the Liturgy of the Word," and a revision of the translation of the Sunday and weekday Mass readings for Lent. Additionally, the agenda includes votes on a document that establishes a curriculum framework for the instruction of the faith for high school students and one that addresses education in morality and virtue. The bishops also are expected to hear from researchers at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Fordham University. They will present preliminary results of their research on the causes and context of the clergy sex abuse crisis. The study is expected to conclude in 2009. "The research results will be significant not just for the church but for all of society because understanding child sexual abuse precedes its detection and prevention," said Bishop Gregory Aymond, chairman of the bishops' Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People, in a news release. DANA MASSING can be reached at 870-1729 or by e-mail. Candidates for president and vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: Bishop Gregory M. Aymond of Austin, Texas Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of Milwaukee Cardinal Francis George, archbishop of Chicago Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz. Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky. Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Conn. Cardinal Justin Rigali, archbishop of Philadelphia Bishop Dennis M. Schnurr of Duluth, Minn. Bishop Donald W. Trautman of Erie Bishop Allen H. Vigneron of Oakland, Calif. Contact: dana.massing@timesnews.com
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