Page 12 - Bob Roller News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

<p class="MsoNormal">I suppose it was fitting, in a depressing kind of way, that the U.S. bishops' conference plenary coincided with former President Donald Trump's announcement he is seeking the presidency in 2024. In both church and state, the future will be dominated by divisiveness and a culture war ethic for the next few years, a result that contradicts the founding mission of both. The future is grim.<o:p></o:p></p>

Gathered in Baltimore, the U.S. bishops heard remarks during the public session of their annual fall general assembly from Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio, and Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, the outgoing president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

<p class="MsoNormal">This year's plenary meeting of the country's Catholic bishops will probably not garner the same attention it did in 2021, when the prelates were expected to debate whether to deny Communion to pro-choice politicians. <o:p></o:p></p>

<p>The U.S. Catholic bishops' conference on Nov. 15 elected Archbishop Timothy Broglio, a former Vatican diplomat who has supported religious exemptions for coronavirus vaccines and has blamed gay priests for the clergy abuse crisis, as their new president.</p> <p>Broglio, who as the archbishop for the Military Services is essentially the nation's chief Catholic chaplain, garnered 138 votes on the third round of voting at the bishops' plenary assembly in Baltimore. He needed 119 votes, a majority of the 237 total votes cast.</p>

<p style="margin-bottom:11px">Two weeks from today, the U.S. bishops will gather in Baltimore for their <a href="https://www.usccb.org/news/2022/us-bishops-meet-nov-14-17-baltimore-wil… plenary meeting</a>. The most important business will be electing a new president and vice president of the conference from a slate of 10 nominees.