By Patricia Zapor
St. Louis Review
November 16, 2010
http://stlouisreview.com/article/2010-11-16/surpising-election
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| New York Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan has been elected the next president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops during the bishops' annual fall meeting in Baltimore Nov. 16. The vote was 128-111 on the third ballot. He won over Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., current USCCB vice president. Archbishop Dolan is a native of St. Louis. |
New York Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan was as surprised as anyone that he was elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Nov. 16.
"I'm surprised, I'm honored, I'm flattered and a tad intimidated," Archbishop Dolan said shortly after being elected in an unprecedented departure from the USCCB's normal tradition of electing the conference vice president to the presidency.
He said he had no idea what was behind the bishops' third-ballot vote to make him president instead of current vice president Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz. Because a USCCB vice president cannot serve for two consecutive terms under conference rules, Bishop Kicanas was not eligible to run for vice president.
Archbishop Robert J. Carlson offered congratulations to Archbishop Dolan and expressed confidence in his election.
"Archbishop Dolan's deep faith and his practical experience make him an excellent choice for this important leadership position in our Church," Archbishop Carlson said in a statement Nov. 16
Archbishop Dolan will succeed Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago as USCCB president at the close of the bishops' fall general assembly Nov. 15-18 in Baltimore.
The change in the USCCB leadership took just a matter of minutes, thanks to electronic voting. In the first ballot for the presidential election, Bishop Kicanas had a clear lead over Archbishop Dolan, 104 to 84. On the second ballot, Archbishop Dolan pulled ahead of Bishop Kicanas, 118-111. Even so, neither prelate had acquired the majority needed for election.
In a runoff after the other eight candidates for the presidency had been eliminated, Archbishop Dolan won 128 to 111.
The election of Archbishop Dolan, a native of St. Louis, marks the first time since the bishops' conference was reorganized into its current form in 1966 that a sitting vice president who sought the presidency did not win the election. In two elections, circumstances dictated that the vice president did not rise to lead the conference.
In 1974, St. Paul-Minneapolis Coadjutor Archbishop Leo C. Byrne, vice president since 1971, died less than a month before his term ended.
Three years later, Cardinal John J. Carberry of St. Louis as vice president declined to run for the top spot because he was 73 years old and was due to retire before he could complete a three-year term as president.
A sampling of bishops interviewed after the vote suggested the choice of Archbishop Dolan seemed to be more about changing the process of assuming the vice president would be elected president.
Bishop Roger P. Morin of Biloxi, Miss., said it was his sense that "there's been some question as to whether the vice president should automatically be elected ... and that the election was more about that principle."
Archbishop Dolan said amid public criticism in recent weeks of the long-held election process, he suspects bishops had begun to "bristle" a bit at the notion that they were not electing a president on his own merits, but by virtue of the office he'd held for three years.
He added that the vote "was hardly a landslide," and that he doesn't think it was a personal reflection on Bishop Kicanas.
Archbishop Dolan, 60, said he's a bit daunted to be following Cardinal Francis E. George as conference president because of his predecessor's skill in the position. He takes office at the end of the bishops' meeting Nov. 18.
He said several times that he doesn't see the role of president as "bishop of the bishops," but as someone who is there to serve the interests of the bishops.
In an interview with Telecare, the Rockville Centre, N.Y., diocesan television station, Archbishop Dolan called his election "a humbling moment."
"I was very grateful (to be elected). It was unexpected. There were 10 candidates. The posture of the bishops, of course, is you don't really run for office, you run from it," he said with a laugh.
"Our major focus, our major drive is our dioceses," Archbishop Dolan continued." We love the conference. We respect and appreciate it. We are so immersed in our dioceses most of us say we have our hands full at home" yet still offer to do something to help the conference when needed.
Archbishop Dolan joked that he had to make a few promises to gain votes, including providing doughnuts for the coffee break. But, he added, "This is what service to the Church is all about. ... You make yourself available."
The New York archbishop said one regret about his election was having to step down as chairman of the Catholic Relief Services board of directors. As USCCB president, he will appoint his successor.
He said the CRS work had "enhanced my major duties" as archbishop of New York by "calling me beyond" local concerns to the needs of the larger world.
Other positions
For the vice presidency, Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky, the current USCCB treasurer, had a slim lead but not a majority on the first ballot. On the second ballot, he widened his lead -- but again, not by enough to claim a majority. On the third ballot against Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, Archbishop Kurtz won with 141 votes to 97.
Bishop Michael J. Bransfield of Wheeling-Charleston, W.Va., was elected treasurer. While he was not supposed to start until next year, he'll start right away instead with the election of Archbishop Kurtz to the vice presidency.
This year's voting nearly had to be conducted the old-fashioned way -- by a paper ballot. A glitch in the electronic voting system had kept the results from a test vote from appearing on an overhead projector screen in the front of the meeting room.
After a technical fix, the test ballot finally went through without a hitch. A second test ballot did, too, on the question of whether the bishops would play a round of golf between now and the end of the year. The results: 25 yes, 207 no.
To laughter from the assembled bishops, Cardinal George said, "That vote signals the end of the clerical culture."
On the second day of their general assembly, the bishops also elected chairmen-elect for six committees. They will take office in November 2011.
Those elected were:
• Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services as chairman-elect of the Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance by a 136-105 vote over Bishop Randolph R. Calvo of Reno, Nev.
• Bishop Joseph P. McFadden of Harrisburg, Pa., as chairman-elect of the Committee on Catholic Education by a 120-118 vote over Coadjutor Bishop David M. O'Connell of Trenton, N.J.
• Auxiliary Bishop Denis J. Madden of Baltimore, Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, 125-113 over Bishop Ronald W. Gainer of Lexington, Ky.
• Bishop David L. Ricken of Green Bay, Wis., Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, 137-102 over Bishop Paul S. Coakley of Salina, Kan.
• Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien of Baltimore, Committee on International Justice and Peace, 145-93 over Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Bishop R. Daniel Conlon of Steubenville, Ohio, Committee on Child and Youth Protection, 146-92 over Bishop Patrick J. Zurek of Amarillo, Texas.
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