BALTIMORE — Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services was elected Nov. 15 to a three-year term as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops during the bishops’ fall general assembly in Baltimore.
The native of suburban Cleveland was chosen from a slate of 10 nominees, winning with 138 votes.
In subsequent voting, Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore was elected to serve a three-year term as conference vice president. He was elected on the third ballot by 143-96 in a runoff with Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana.
Under USCCB bylaws, the vice president is elected from the remaining nine candidates.
The two top officers begin their terms at the conclusion of the fall assembly Nov. 17.
Archbishop Broglio, 70, worked in the Vatican diplomatic corps before being named the head of the military archdiocese in 2007. He has served as conference secretary for the past three years.
The prelate has been an advocate for members of the U.S. military around the world. He regularly visits U.S. service members as part of his responsibilities in leading the archdiocese. Archbishop Broglio also has been an advocate for pro-life causes.
Because Archbishop Broglio is conference secretary, the bishops planned to vote Nov. 16 for his replacement. Likewise, Archbishop Lori, 71, is chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities and his successor will be voted on after the election of conference secretary.
Archbishop Broglio has served as chairman of the bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace and their Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance and as a member of the Task Force for the 2013 Special Assembly.
He also served on the committees for Religious Freedom and International Justice and Peace and the subcommittees for the Defense of Marriage and Health Care.
He was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Cleveland in 1977. In the Vatican diplomatic corps, he served as secretary in the apostolic nunciature in Ivory Coast and later in Paraguay. From 1990 to 2001 he was chief of cabinet to Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state under St. John Paul II and desk officer for Central America.
In 2001, he was named nuncio to the Dominican Republic and apostolic delegate to Puerto Rico.
Archbishop Lori was appointed the 16th archbishop of Baltimore by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.
He is the former chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Doctrine and its Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty. He began a three-year term as the bishops’ pro-life chairman at the end of the USCCB’s 2021 fall assembly.
Archbishop Lori is chancellor and chairman of the board of St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, chancellor of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Maryland, and past chairman of the board of trustees of The Catholic University of America in Washington.
He also is currently supreme chaplain of the Knights of Columbus.
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, he was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Washington in 1977 in St. Matthew Cathedral in Washington. His first assignment was as associate pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Landover, Maryland. Then he served as secretary to Washington Cardinal James A. Hickey as well as chancellor, moderator of the curia and vicar general.
In 1995, Archbishop Lori was ordained as an auxiliary bishop of Washington. In 2001, he was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut.
In other voting Nov. 15, bishops were elected for three episcopal seats on the board of Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops’ overseas relief and development agency.
Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer of Atlanta was elected to his first term to the CRS board, while Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, and Bishop Anthony B. Taylor of Little Rock, Arkansas, were reelected for a second term.
