UNITED STATES
Whispers in the Loggia

For everything that was different about this week’s Baltimore Plenary, there was a bit of deja vu in the air… well, besides Archbishop Allen Vigneron being denied the Divine Worship chair for the fourth straight time – now an apparent custom of the bench, going all the way back to 2005.

In one of this week’s great surprises, for the second time running, Archbishop Charles Chaput was the runner-up for a seat in the USCCB’s topmost leadership. The result made for a rather striking contrast to this meeting’s run-up as, going into the sessions, many felt this was his protege’s hour, with the votes accordingly to swing – beyond being head of the largest diocese these shores have ever known, Archbishop José Gomez had become the first Hispanic in recent memory to make the USCCB’s presidential slate, and the choice of the Mexican-born…