USCCB announces nominees for chairmen-elect for six standing committees

WASHINGTON (OSV News) -- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced Oct. 6 that the bishops will vote for chairmen-elect for six standing committees during their upcoming 2025 plenary assembly in Baltimore in November.

Each bishop elected at that time will serve for one year as the chairman-elect of his respective committee before starting a three-year term as chairman at the conclusion of the bishops' 2026 plenary assembly.

The nominees for the USCCB Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance are Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob of Milwaukee and Bishop Edward M. Lohse of Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Archbishop Grob is a canon lawyer and was previously a judge with the Court of Appeals of the Province of Chicago (2003 to 2013) during his tenure there as a Chicago archdiocesan priest. Bishop Lohse is a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

For the Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, the nominees are Bishop Daniel J. Felton of Duluth, Minnesota, and Auxiliary Bishop Peter L. Smith of Portland, Oregon.

Both Bishops Felton and Smith have been involved in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue. Bishop Smith is currently a member of the committee.

The nominees for the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis are Bishop Earl K. Fernandes of Columbus, Ohio, and Bishop William A. Wack of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida.

Bishop Fernandes is currently chairman of the USCCB Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs. Bishop Wack is a member of the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations and serves on the USCCB's Working Group on Youth and Young Adults.

For the Committee on International Justice and Peace, the nominees are Metropolitan Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia and Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger of Detroit.

Archbishop Gudziak has led a number of Ukrainian Catholic delegations to Ukraine amid Russia's war on that nation. Archbishop Weisenburger has been outspoken on the situation in Gaza. His archdiocese is in an area of Michigan that includes the largest Arab-American population in the United States, a significant majority of whom are Muslim.

The nominees for the USCCB's Committee on Protection of Children and Young People are Bishop John P. Dolan of Phoenix and Auxiliary Bishop Mark W. O'Connell of Boston.

Bishop Dolan was among those who assisted in developing the bishops' National Catholic Mental Health Campaign. Bishop O'Connell was previously a co-host on the daily radio program "The Good Catholic Life" on WQOM in Boston.

For the Committee for Religious Liberty, the nominees are Archbishop Alexander K. Sample of Portland, Oregon, and Bishop Michael J. Sis of San Angelo, Texas. Archbishop Sample is a canon lawyer, while Bishop Sis is a moral theologian.

The USCCB in its release on the nominees noted that the elections for conference president and vice president will take place at the same meeting. The current president, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, was elected in November 2022 to a three-year term. The current vice president, Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore,
was also elected to a three-year term in 2022. Their terms began when the 2022 plenary assembly in Baltimore ended.

If any of the nominees for committee chairman-elect are elected to either of the top roles, the bishops' Committee on Priorities and Plans will convene to nominate a new candidate for that committee, the USCCB said.