LOUISVILLE (KY)
Courier-Journal

[with video]

Editorial

Congratulations to Louisville Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz on his election as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Archbishop Kurtz takes over during a time of great change in the church, brought about mainly by the election earlier this year of Pope Francis, who has called for the church to turn away from what he has said are “small-minded rules” and to be “ministers of mercy.”

We hope Archbishop Kurtz will take that to heart.

Since arriving in Louisville in 2007, Archbishop Kurtz has pushed the type of doctrinal issues that Pope Francis’ two most recent predecessors — Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI — stood for.

Archbishop Kurtz supported state legislation that would remove civil rights protections from some people, all in the name of “religious freedom,” and has spoken out against federal health care mandates that…