In a dramatic break with tradition, U.S. Catholic bishops on Tuesday (Nov. 16) elected New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan as their next president, choosing a friendly but assertive leader over the more conciliatory front-runner.
Dolan defeated Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., 128 to 111 in the third and final round of voting. Kicanas has been vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, traditionally a stepping stone to the presidency, since 2007, when he defeated Dolan by two votes.
Tuesday’s election marks the first time since the 1960s that a sitting vice president was on the presidential ballot and lost the election, according to church historians.
Noting that two conservative candidates led the voting for vice president, observers said the elections show that the bishops’conference is moving sharply to the right — with consequences not only for Catholics but also for politicians who court a crucial swing vote.
Hooray! More for the “social justice”, “progressive Christians” to cry about.
[url=http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/nov/10111502.html ]The “Rainbow Sash” group had endorsed the liberal Kicanas[/url]:
[blockquote] In a rare moment of agreement with the orthodox Catholic community, the Rainbow Sash Movement said that they support Kicanas precisely because of the bishop’s soft stance on the issues of abortion and gay ‘marriage.’
“Bishop Kicanas understands that Bishops are privately changing their position because input is bubbling up from the pews of our parishes in support of such issues as Gay Marriage, and Pro Choice,†they wrote.
Though Kicanas has publicly supported the teaching of the Church on marriage, Rainbow Sash says they believe his views will “evolve.†In the meantime, though, the group believes that Kicanas is the perfect bishop to “be a reasonable public voice and face for the country’s Catholic bishops.â€[/blockquote]
The vote is a great sign that–unlike some other churches–the Catholic Church is not going to morally collapse to win favor with those who basically have no use for traditional Christian moral teachings and doctrines passed down through the centuries from Christ and His apostles.
Deo gratias! I think we are seeing here some of the fruits of the long, slow process of re-filling the ranks of the Episcopate with orthodox men begun under John Paul II and continued by Benedict. What havoc wild bishops have wreaked over the past half century!
There is a non-ideological explanation for the vote, too. As several bishops observed, the Archbishop of New York sits in the media capital of America and is guaranteed to provide high national visibility for the Conference. The Bishop of Tucson, not so much.
RE: “sits in the media capital of America and is guaranteed to provide high national visibility for the Conference . . . ”
Yes, no doubt that explains this second time in history that “a sitting vice president was on the presidential ballot and lost the election.”