U.S. Bishops vote for USCCB secretary and committee chairmen at fall plenary assembly

BALTIMORE — Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, was elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops during the Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore. Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore was elected as USCCB vice president. They succeed Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles and Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit, who concluded their terms as conference president and vice president, respectively.

Archbishop Broglio has served as the conference secretary since 2019, a position that he will vacate upon assuming the presidency. Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City has replaced him in  that role. 

Archbishop Broglio was elected president with 138-99 votes over Archbishop Lori in a runoff on the third ballot. Archbishop Lori was elected vice president on the third ballot by 143-96 votes in a runoff vote against Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend. The president and vice president are elected by a simple majority from the same slate of 10 nominees. If no president or vice president is chosen after the second round of voting, a third ballot is a run-off between the two bishops who received the most votes on the second ballot. Both bishops will assume their new offices for a three-year term after the adjournment of this year’s USCCB Plenary Assembly.

Archbishop Lori had been serving as chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities. Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, has taken over that role and will serve out the remainder of Archbishop Lori’s elected term through November 2024.