BALTIMORE — In a pivotal decision, U.S. Catholic bishops have elected Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City as their new president, signaling a continued commitment to conservative values during the era of President Donald Trump’s second term.
This election highlights the bishops’ staunch priorities, as Coakley, a prominent figure known for his conservative stance, takes the helm. Despite this ideological stance, the bishops are also advocating for more compassionate immigration policies from the current administration.
Coakley’s ascension to the presidency was anticipated given his previous role as secretary, the third-highest position in the conference, since 2022. He emerged victorious after three rounds of voting against Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, who was subsequently appointed as vice president.
Archbishop Coakley has been a notable advisor to the Napa Institute, an influential group within conservative Catholic circles. His alignment with conservative voices was evident in 2018 when he supported Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, a vocal critic of Pope Francis. Viganò was later excommunicated for his divisive positions.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has frequently found itself at odds with the Vatican’s inclusive and progressive direction under the late Pope Francis. His successor, Pope Leo XIV, who shares a similar focus on issues such as poverty, environmental concerns, and marginalized communities, may find Coakley’s election a source of tension.
Steven Millies, a professor of public theology at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, suggests that Coakley’s leadership could intensify these existing tensions with Pope Leo, posing challenges for the church’s future direction.
“In the long conflict between many U.S. bishops and Francis that Leo inherits, this is not a de-escalating step,” he said.
Half the 10 candidates on the ballot came from the conservative wing of the conference. The difference is more in style than substance. Most U.S. Catholic bishops are reliably conservative on social issues, but some – like Coakley – place more emphasis on opposing abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.
The candidates were nominated by their fellow bishops, and Coakley succeeds the outgoing leader, Military Services Archbishop Timothy Broglio, for a three-year term. The current vice president, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, was too close to the mandatory retirement age of 75 to assume the top spot.
Coakley edged out a well-known conservative on the ballot, Bishop Robert Barron of Minnesota’s Winona-Rochester diocese, whose popular Word on Fire ministry has made him a Catholic media star.
In defeating Flores, Coakley won over another strong contender, who some Catholic insiders thought could help unify U.S. bishops and work well with the Vatican. Flores has been the U.S. bishops’ leader in the Vatican’s synod process to modernize the church. As a Latino leading a diocese along the U.S.-Mexico border, he supports traditional Catholic doctrine on abortion and LGBTQ issues and is outspoken in his defense of migrants.
Flores will be eligible for the top post in three years. His election as vice president indicates that the U.S. conference “may eventually, cautiously open itself to the church’s new horizons,” said David Gibson, director of Fordham University’s Center on Religion and Culture.
The bishops are crafting a statement on immigration during the annual fall meeting. On many issues, they appear as divided and polarized as their country, but on immigration, even the most conservative Catholic leaders stand on the side of migrants.
The question is how strongly the whole body plans to speak about the Trump administration’s harsh immigration tactics.
Fear of immigration enforcement has suppressed Mass attendance at some parishes. Local clerics are fighting to administer sacraments to detained immigrants. U.S. Catholic bishops shuttered their longstanding refugee resettlement program after the Trump administration halted federal funding for resettlement aid.
“On the political front, you know for decades the U.S. bishops have been advocating for comprehensive immigration reform,” Bishop Kevin Rhoades, of Indiana’s Fort Wayne-South Bend diocese, said during a news conference.
Rhoades serves on Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, and he leads the bishops’ committee on religious liberty. He said bishops are very concerned about detained migrants receiving pastoral care and the sacraments.
“That’s an issue of the right to worship,” he said. “One doesn’t lose that right when one is detained, whether one is documented or undocumented.”
The bishops sent a letter to Pope Leo from their meeting, saying they “will continue to stand with migrants and defend everyone’s right to worship free from intimidation.”
The letter continued, “We support secure and orderly borders and law enforcement actions in response to dangerous criminal activity, but we cannot remain silent in this challenging hour while the right to worship and the right to due process are undermined.”
Pope Leo recently called for “deep reflection” in the United States about the treatment of migrants held in detention, saying that “many people who have lived for years and years and years, never causing problems, have been deeply affected by what is going on right now.”
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