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USA: Pope appoints new archbishop of Chicago


Chicago's Archbishop-elect Blase J Cupich

Chicago's Archbishop-elect Blase J Cupich

Pope Francis has named Bishop Blase J Cupich, head of the Diocese of Spokane, Washington State, to succeed Cardinal Francis E George as archbishop of Chicago.

Bishop Cupich was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1949, to a Croatian immigrant family. He earned his bachelor’s in philosoph and holds a doctorate in sacred theology from The Catholic University of America in Washington.

He was ordained to the priesthood in 1975 for the Archdiocese of Omaha and worked in parishes and a Catholic high school in Omaha; served as rector of a Catholic college in Columbus, Ohio; and in 1998 was made bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, by Pope John Paul II. After 12 years, Pope Benedict appointed him bishop of the Diocese of Spokane,where he was installed on 3 September 2010.

The 65-year-old bishop is a member of various committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, including the Subcommittee on the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, the National Collections Committee and the Subcommittee on the Translation of Scripture Text.

He has been chairman of the bishops’ committee responding to the sexual abuse crisis. He took over the Spokane Diocese in 2010 after it was sued by abuse victims and declared bankruptcy, and it is still embroiled in a legal case over how the bankruptcy was handled.

Bishop Cupich has always emphasized care for the poor and dispossessed, and had a conciliatory approach to those who disagree with church teaching. In a pastoral letter before the vote on same-sex marriage, Bishop Cupich wrote that “the Catholic Church has no tolerance for the misuse of this moment to incite hostility towards homosexual persons or promote an agenda that is hateful and disrespectful of their human dignity.”

During a press conference on Saturday morning in Chicago, reporters asked whether he called himself a “moderate” and what message Francis may be trying to send by choosing him. Bishop Cupich answered: “His priority is not to send a message but a bishop, and that’s what he’s sending you, someone to serve the needs of people.. I think he sent a pastor, not a messenger.”

Bishop Cupich gave much of his address in Spanish, telling people they should think of him as their brother. He said his own relatives were immigrants and called for immigration reform saying: “It’s time for political leaders to put aside their own agendas and to take up this issue.”

With 2.3 million members, and a growing Hispanic community, Chicago is America's third-largest Catholic diocese.

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