DETROIT (MI)
Detroit Free Press
By Patricia Montemurri
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer
When the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops gathers in Baltimore Monday, the clash between Pope Francis’ gentle, welcoming brand of religion and the bishops’ hard-line push against issues such as abortion and gay marriage will lurk in the background.
The four-day meeting is the first gathering of the bishops since Pope Francis’ widely-publicized comments in September, in which he said Catholic officials should not be “obsessed” with deeply controversial issues such as gay marriage and abortion and should instead emphasize helping poor and disadvantaged people.
Howthe pope’s tone will be promoted is not on the conference agenda, but futurestances from the bishops group likely will be found in who is elected to leadership posts during the conference. Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron, 65, is among the 10 nominees for the group’s president and vice president.
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