by Christine Rousselle

Baltimore, Md., Nov 16, 2021 / 15:28 pm

Members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops elected six new chairmen-elect on Nov. 16 at their Fall General Assembly in Baltimore. The chairmen-elect will serve in the role for one year before assuming the position of “chairman” at the 2022 Fall General Assembly.

Bishop James F. Checchio of Metuchen defeated Archbishop Paul Etienne of Seattle by a vote of 135 to 106 and was declared the new treasurer-elect of the Committee on Budget and Finance.

Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing was elected chairman-elect of the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations over Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver by a vote of 137 to 103.

In the closest election of the day, Bishop Steven Lopes of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter was elected chairman-elect of the Committee of Divine Worship by a single vote, 121 to 120, over Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski of St. Louis.

The bishops elected Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia as the chairman-elect of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development over Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Ill. Gudziak won by a vote of 125 to 116.

Bishop Robert Barron, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, was elected chairman-elect of the Committee of on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth by a vote of 140 to 103. Barron defeated Bishop Edward Burns of Dallas.

Finally, Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso defeated Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami by a vote of 127 to 116 to become the new chairman-elect of the Committee on Migration.

The bishops also elected three of their brother bishops to the board of directors of Catholic Relief Services.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and Bishop Oscar Solis of Salt Lake were re-elected for a second, final term, and Bishop Donald Hying of Madison was elected to the board, as well.