VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter
Tom Roberts | Jul. 7, 2016
In yet one more sign of his growing confidence in the archbishop of Chicago, Pope Francis appointed Blase Cupich to the Vatican Congregation for Bishops, the office that proposes candidates for the episcopacy.
The announcement, made July 7, means the congregation retains two Americans. The other is Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, D.C. The Cupich appointment comes just weeks after American Cardinal William Levada left the congregation. Levada turned 80 in June.
The turnover of American personnel on the congregation during the past few years is significant for several reasons. First, the congregation is, aside from the pope, perhaps the most important link in the chain of creating bishops. Soon after his election, Francis removed two Americans — Cardinal Justin Rigali and Cardinal Raymond Burke — from the congregation. Both men were major players in constituting the American episcopacy during the papacy of Benedict XVI. Rigali also previously served as secretary of the congregation.
Many of the bishops appointed during that era formed the core of “culture warrior” bishops who kept such issues as opposing same-sex marriage, the contraception mandate of the Affordable Care Act, as well as religious liberty foremost on the agenda of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The tone of the conference in recent years has become heavily legalistic both in terms of pastoral approach within the church and in battling in court over civil matters.
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