Pope Sets Tone in U.S. by Naming Inclusive Prelate as Chicago Archbishop, by Laurie Goodstein, New York Times (September 20, 2014)

In his first major appointment in the United States, Pope Francis named Bishop Blase J. Cupich of Spokane, Wash., on Saturday to be the next archbishop of Chicago, replacing a combative conservative with a prelate whose pastoral approach to upholding church doctrine is more in keeping with the pope’s inclusive tone.

Bishop Cupich, 65, will be installed on Nov. 18 as the ninth archbishop of Chicago, succeeding Cardinal Francis George, 77, who is ill with cancer. Two years ago, at 75, Cardinal George offered his resignation, as is the church tradition at that age.

Pope Francis’ choice of prelate for Chicago was highly anticipated as a sign of the direction he intends to set for the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. Chicago is the nation’s third-largest Roman Catholic diocese, with 2.3 million members, and its archbishops have often taken leading roles in the American hierarchy.

Bishop Cupich appeared at ease in a news conference on Saturday morning in Chicago, deftly handling questions about whether he would call himself a “moderate” and what message Francis may be trying to send with the selection.

“His priority is not to send a message but a bishop, and that’s what he’s sending you, someone to serve the needs of people,” Bishop Cupich said. “I think he sent a pastor, not a messenger.”

Very early into his prepared remarks he shifted into Spanish, the language of a growing percentage of Chicago’s Catholics, saying they should think of him as “your brother” and relating that his relatives were immigrants. He gave a strong push, in English, for immigration reform, saying, “It’s time for political leaders to put aside their own agendas and to take up this issue.”

Bishop Cupich (pronounced SOO-pitch) has been chairman of the bishops’ committee responding to the sexual abuse crisis, and has at times been unusually forthright in criticizing the church’s record on abuse. He took over the Spokane Diocese in 2010 after it was sued by abuse victims and declared bankruptcy, and it is still embroiled in a legal case over how the bankruptcy was handled.

He spoke out against a referendum on same-sex marriage in Washington State in 2012. But even before Francis became pope, Bishop Cupich and he sounded much alike. Bishop Cupich emphasized care for the poor and dispossessed, and on hot-button moral issues he employed a tone that emphasized respect and dignity for gays and dialogue with those who disagreed with church teaching.

In a pastoral letter before the vote on same-sex marriage, Bishop Cupich wrote that “the Catholic Church has no tolerance for the misuse of this moment to incite hostility towards homosexual persons or promote an agenda that is hateful and disrespectful of their human dignity.”

Some liberal Catholic commentators and groups, like Call to Action, which is based in Chicago, praised the appointment, while some conservatives were a bit wary. They recalled an experience in 2011 when priests and seminarians said Bishop Cupich had urged them not to join protesters planning to hold prayer vigils outside clinics that perform abortions.

In a brief interview on Saturday immediately after the news conference, Bishop Cupich was asked whether his approach to ministry is to emphasize dialogue over confrontation. He said the church should be willing to confront social issues head-on, but also to listen to opponents.

“I’ve learned from people on both sides of any issue,” he said. “So both are needed: dialogue and, I think, confrontation at times. I’m not afraid of that.”

The Rev. John I. Jenkins, president of the University of Notre Dame, said in a statement, “Having first met Bishop Blase Cupich when I was an 18-year-old backpacker in Europe and he was a seminarian in Rome, I can say with confidence that, as archbishop of Chicago, he will be a pastorally dedicated, theologically astute and visionary leader in line with Francis’ transformative papacy.”

Cardinal George, who has served in Chicago since 1997, led the American bishops’ conference in confrontations with the Obama administration over abortion, same-sex marriage and religious liberty. His immediate predecessor, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, a prominent liberal, was also elected president of the American bishops’ conference and galvanized a generation of church leaders to take stands on such issues as economic justice, nuclear weapons and the environment.

As the bishops were gearing up to sue the Obama administration over the contraception mandate in the health care overhaul, Bishop Cupich called for a “return to civility” in an essay he wrote in the Jesuit magazine America.

He wrote that “outrage” over the mandate was “understandable,” and that religious freedom truly was at risk, but warned against letting the situation escalate lest it “bring lasting harm to both the church and the nation, and even worse, disproportionately affect the least among us.”

Blase (pronounced BLAZE) Joseph Cupich was born in Omaha on March 19, 1949, one of nine children and a grandson of Croatian immigrants.

He has a bachelor of arts degree from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, studied in Rome and holds a doctorate in sacred theology from The Catholic University of America in Washington.

He was ordained to the priesthood in 1975 for the Archdiocese of Omaha and worked in parishes and a Catholic high school in Omaha; served as rector of a Catholic college in Columbus, Ohio; and in 1998 was made bishop of Rapid City, S.D., by Pope John Paul II.

After 12 years, Pope Benedict appointed him bishop of the Diocese of Spokane, and he was installed on Sept. 3, 2010.

Bishop Cupich said in the news conference that he was “overwhelmed and very surprised” when he learned of the appointment during a phone call about 10 days ago from the pope’s ambassador to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò. Bishop Cupich told reporters that the populous Chicago Archdiocese was an “enormous upgrade, so to speak,” from Spokane, which has about 100,000 Catholics.

He said the Spokane Diocese bankruptcy, which was initiated by his predecessor, had left “some issues that need to be resolved.” The diocese has filed a malpractice suit against the law firm that handled the bankruptcy, accusing the firm of failing to use a strategy that would have prevented more sexual abuse claims from being filed. So far, about 230 claims have been filed, according to The Spokesman-Review newspaper.

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said it had been disappointed by Bishop Cupich’s record on sexual abuse in Spokane and his role as chairman of the bishops’ committee on child protection.

In an interview with The New York Times in June, Bishop Cupich said he had been reading Francis’ writings on redistribution of wealth, collaborative leadership and leading by listening.

“I’ve always believed in collaboration and consultation, but I guess I’m listening more intently to the voices of people who might not have had the kind of hearing that they should have — people of diverse backgrounds, people with differing opinions,” Bishop Cupich said.

His lifestyle is in keeping with the frugal example that Francis has been setting for bishops. Bishop Cupich said that in Spokane he lives in a room at the seminary and does not own any furniture.

At the news conference on Saturday, Cardinal George, who is undergoing an experimental cancer treatment and is a survivor of polio, expressed confidence in his successor and “relief” that Francis is allowing him to step down.

But the famously intellectual cardinal also shared his mixed feelings. “At one moment you’re the center of everything, and at the next moment,” he said, “you’re not.”