Chicago cardinal elected president of U.S. bishops' conference

Published: 2007-11-13

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Cardinal Francis E. George, who has been the archbishop of Chicago for the past decade, was elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Nov. 13. He is the first cardinal to be elected president of the conference since 1971 when Philadelphia Cardinal John J. Krol held the position. Cardinal George, USCCB vice president for the past three years, received 188 votes, or 85 percent of the votes, on the first ballot during the second day of the bishops' fall general meeting in Baltimore. A Chicago native, 70-year-old Cardinal George assumes the role of president a year after the bishops voted to sharply reduce the number of USCCB committees and downsize the national staff by eliminating about 70 jobs. Before the bishops' elections, opposition to the cardinal's being a presidential candidate came from the Voice of the Faithful, a group pushing for change in the church, and Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP. They cited his failure to immediately remove a Chicago priest from his parish in 2005 despite abuse allegations.

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