On Sept. 20, 2014 Pope Francis named Bishop
Blase Cupich, 65, to be the new archbishop of
Chicago. Before this appointment he was the
Bishop of Spokane, Washington, and he is
considered a “moderate” within the Church. But
when asked about “moderate”, he said “I am
going to try to be attentive to what the Lord
wants. Maybe if there is moderation in that, then
maybe I’m a moderate.” The archdioceses of
Chicago, Boston, New York and Washington are
the most politically potent posts in the American
church. Chicago has 350 parishes and 2.2 million
Catholics. Bishop Cupich replaces Cardinal
Francis George, 77, a doctrinal and cultural
conservative who is struggling with a recurrence
of bladder cancer, and who at the age of 75
offered his resignation, as all bishops must.
Cupich has been a courageous voice inside the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops against a
culture-war approach to evangelization and
politics that pushes many away from the Gospel.
He has spoken out about the church’s failures
during the sex abuse crisis, including against
bishops who “failed to put children first.” He
emphasized dialogue rather than confrontation
with the Obama administration over the
contraception mandate in the Affordable Care
Act. Asked about his priorities for the American
church he said “our outreach to the poor, the
participation of laity in the liturgical life of the
church, the vitality of the new immigrant groups,
the heroism of parents who sacrifice for their
children because of their faith, and the continuing
witness of priests and religious women. In
Spokane, WA he was known for reaching out to a
largely unchurched population and for promoting
the church’s social justice teachings in a region
suffering from the effects of the recession. In
naming Bishop Cupich, the Pope has sent the
strongest possible hint that he wants the
American church to move in his direction, but
Bishop Cupich plays down that idea and say he
thinks “Pope Francis sent a pastor, not a
message.”
Sources: Washington Post, Religion News.com