UNITED STATES
Wall Street Journal
Pope Francis on Saturday named Bishop Blase Cupich, a moderate who has called for civility in the culture wars, as the next archbishop of Chicago. Bishop Cupich will succeed 77-year-old Cardinal Francis George, who has been battling cancer and has said he believes the disease will end his life, in November. The Archdiocese of Chicago serves 2.3 million parishioners and is the third-largest diocese in the country.
–The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Experience
Bishop Cupich was ordained to priesthood in 1975 for the Archdiocese of Omaha, Neb., and was installed to his current post of Bishop of Spokane in 2010. He also served as Bishop of Rapid City, S.D. In the 1980s, he worked on the staff of the Vatican embassy in Washington.
Gay Marriage
He has repeatedly underscored the church’s stance that marriage should be between a man and a woman. But he has also condemned violence and bullying that has led some gay teens to suicide.
Sex-Abuse Scandal
He served as chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ child protection committee and in 2010 wrote about lessons bishops had learned from sex-abuse scandal in the Catholic weekly magazine America. “Catholics have been hurt by the moral failings of some priests, but they have been hurt and angered even more by bishops who failed to put children first,” he wrote.
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