Blase Cupich named Chicago archbishop

The Spokesman-Review
September 20, 2014

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/sep/20/blase-cupich-named-chicago-archbishop/

Bishop Blase Cupich

Catholic Bishop of Spokane Blase Cupich will be the next archbishop of Chicago, the Associated Press is reporting.

It’s a major step for the 65-year-old Cupich, who came to Spokane four years ago to rebuild a diocese struggling in the aftermath of bankruptcy.

Chicago has 2.2 million Catholics – making it the third-largest archdiocese in the country. The Spokane diocese has about 90,000 parishioners.

Cupich will succeed Cardinal Francis George, according to a person with knowledge of the selection, who spoke to the Associated Press Friday on condition of anonymity because the person wasn’t authorized to speak publicly. George, 77, has been battling cancer. He was bishop of Yakima before being named to the Chicago post.

The Archdiocese of Chicago has scheduled a news conference for this morning. A spokeswoman for the archdiocese would not comment. Cupich did not return a phone message left Friday evening.

Cupich has taken bold steps since his arrival in Spokane, including filing a major malpractice lawsuit against the diocese’s own bankruptcy lawyers. That case is bound for trial in February. He is considered a tough leader related to the Catholic Church’s response to sex abuse scandal as an early advocate for zero tolerance. When he was installed as bishop in Spokane, he spoke of the need for the church to address the disgust and anger over the abuse scandal.

Pope Francis’ choice for Chicago has been closely watched as his first major appointment in the U.S., and the clearest indication yet of the direction he will steer American church leaders. Cupich is considered a pragmatist and a moderate leader who is not among U.S. Roman Catholic bishops who have taken a harder line on hot-button topics. Francis has called the church’s focus on abortion, marriage and contraception narrow and said it was driving people away.

Cupich did actively oppose same-sex marriage when it was considered and ultimately approved by Washington voters in 2012.

“Redefining marriage is a step backward in the progress that has been made over the past century by the international community in protecting the rights of children,” Cupich said in an op-ed that appeared in The Spokesman-Review.

Cupich has 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 30,000-feet-level of ideas, he challenges policymakers 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 policymakers need to know the smell of the sheep.”

Cupich, a native of Omaha, Nebraska, was ordained a priest in 1975 and came to Spokane in September 2010 after serving as the bishop of the Diocese of Rapid City, South Dakota, for 12 years. He holds degrees from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

He was warmly welcomed in Spokane by many Catholics eager for a strategist to resolve lingering bankruptcy issues. He followed retiring Bishop William Skylstad, who was regarded as a gentle leader.