UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
Michael Sean Winters | Nov. 3, 2014 Distinctly Catholic
Next week, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops will gather for their annual fall plenary in Baltimore. This will be their second full meeting since the election of Pope Francis and their first full meeting since the Holy Father gave us a particular glimpse of his vision for the Church in Evangelii Gaudium, as well as the first meeting since the recently concluded Synod on the Family.
The Holy Father has called the Church to become less self-referential, to go out to the peripheries of life, especially to the poor and the marginalized, so as to encounter Christ. His simplicity of life and the sheer authenticity of his words and gestures have electrified the world. Yet, the response to the exciting moment in the life of the Church from the staff at the USCCB might charitably be described as underwhelming.
Today, however, I wish to discuss what I perceive as the internal problems of the USCCB. This might seem in conflict with the pope’s vision, a bit too self-referential, but I would point out that Pope Francis is also setting about to reform the curia, which is a self-referential task as well. In the event, reforms in both organizations are badly needed.
In February 2011, George Weigel published an article in First Things entitled “The End of the Bernardin Era.” The article followed the unprecedented defeat of the incumbent Vice President of the USCCB, Bishop Gerald Kicanas, in his bid for the conference presidency. Cardinal Timothy Dolan was elected to the top spot. And, the bishops selected Msgr. Ronny Jenkins as the new conference General Secretary. At the time, many people at the USCCB were hopeful about Jenkins’ selection.
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