CHICAGO (IL)
MyNextFone
A look at Chicago’s incoming, outgoing archbishops.
BISHOP BLASE CUPICH
BORN: March 19, 1949, in Omaha, Nebraska.
EDUCATION: Cupich holds degrees in philosophy and theology and is a graduate of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
PASTORAL ASSIGNMENTS: Cupich was ordained a priest in 1975 in Omaha, where he served as an associate pastor, a high school instructor and director of the Office for Divine Worship at the archdiocese. In the 1980s, he worked on the staff of the Vatican embassy in Washington. He was appointed bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, in 1998, and served there until 2010, when he was appointed to Spokane, Washington.
Cupich also served as chairman of the U.S. bishops’ child protection committee at the height of the clergy sex abuse crisis and as church leaders were putting in place a toughened policy on disciplining guilty priests.
PRIORITIES: When he takes over as head of Chicago’s more than 2.2 million Catholics on Nov. 18, Cupich says his priority is simply to be attentive to what’s already happening in the diocese, noting that “God is already at work in the lives of people” here. He’s described as a moderate and has called for civility in the culture wars. But he says it’s wrong to think of his appointment as a strong signal from Pope Francis about the direction he wants to steer American church leaders. “I think he sent a pastor, not a message,” Cupich says.
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