AP: New Chicago Archbishop Selected

By Jay Levine
CBS Chicago
September 19, 2014

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/09/19/chicago-archdiocese-schedules-news-conference-for-saturday-about-cardinal/

(CBS) —  The Associated Press has learned Bishop Blase Cupich of Spokane, Wash. will be the next Chicago archbishop, replacing Francis Cardinal George, the news agency reported Friday.

A person with knowledge of the selection spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person wasn’t authorized to speak publicly. The Archdiocese of Chicago has scheduled a news conference Saturday, but will not comment.

Pope Francis’ choice for Chicago has been closely watched. It is his first major U.S. appointment and the clearest sign yet of the direction he hopes to steer American church leaders.

Cupich is a moderate and is not among the U.S. Roman Catholic bishops who take a culture warrior approach on hot-button topics. Francis says the church should emphasize mercy over divisive social issues.

Cupich, 65, is from Omaha, Neb. and was ordained there in 1975, according to the Spokane Diocese website. He was installed as the Bishop of Spokane in September 2010.

Cardinal George turned 75 two years ago and offered his resignation, as required. Back May, he asked the Papal Nuncio to begin the search for a replacement due to a recurrence of cancer.

The Pope’s choice, if the Associated Press is correct, is a real stunner, for a number of reasons, CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports.

First, the selection came so quickly, just four months after the search began. Second, Cupich is not already an archbishop. Third, he has no ties to Chicago or the Midwest and was on no public list of potential successors to the Cardinal.

The Cardinal recently began a new form a treatment for his cancer at the University of Chicago Hospital. The Cardinal has continued a full schedule while being treated, and some thought he’d be left in his post until after his 78th birthday, in January.

An official from the Diocese of Spokane said he could not comment.

The Archdiocese of Chicago serves 2.2 million parishioners and is the third-largest diocese in the country. Chicago archbishops are usually elevated to cardinal and are therefore eligible to vote for the next pope.

The Chicago church has long been considered a flagship of American Catholicism, sparking lay movements of national influence and producing archbishops who shape national debate. Before George, the head of the archdiocese was Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, a hero to Catholics who place equal importance on issues such as abortion and poverty.

In a 2012 essay in the Jesuit magazine America, Cupich said the U.S. bishops “rightly objected” to the original narrow religious exemption in President Barack Obama’s requirement that employers provide health insurance that covers contraception. But Cupich called for a “return to civility” in conversations about religious liberty and society.

“While the outrage to the (government) decision was understandable, in the long run threats and condemnations have a limited impact,” Cupich said. “We should never stop talking to one another.”

Cupich has also defended Francis’ views on the economy and emphasis on fighting poverty, which some Catholics and others have criticized as naive and against capitalism.

“Instead of approaching life from the 30-thousand-feet level of ideas, he challenges policy makers and elected officials — indeed all of us —  to experience the life of everyday and real people,” Cupich said at a conference last June on the Catholic case against libertarianism. “Much like he told religious leaders, Francis is saying that politicians and policy makers need to know the smell of the sheep.”