VATICAN CITY/UNITED STATES
Religion News Service
David Gibson | August 7, 2015
(RNS) Pope Francis is set to name Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich, viewed as one of his top allies in the American hierarchy, as a special delegate to a Vatican summit on family issues in October that is shaping up as a key test of the pontiff’s efforts to reform the Catholic Church.
The appointment was first reported Friday (Aug. 7) by Catholic News Agency. It was confirmed by other church sources.
The church officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the news was not official, also said Francis was going to appoint another U.S. bishop to the synod. The sources said it would be Youngstown, Ohio, Bishop George Murry. Murry is a Jesuit like Francis and one of a handful of African-American bishops.
If these appointments are confirmed, it means Francis will have passed over more conservative candidates such as San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, an outspoken culture warrior and the U.S. hierarchy’s point man in the fight against gay marriage.
When the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops last November elected a four-person slate of delegates to the global meeting of bishops, called a synod, they also chose Cordileone and Cupich as the two alternates.
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