U.S Catholic Bishops to Elect its First Hispanic President

Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez, a 67-year-old immigrant from Mexico, is expected to be elected as the next president of the U.S. Catholic Bishops. If Cardinal Gomez will win, he will be the first Hispanic president in the U.S. Catholic Bishops. The election will be next week in Baltimore where one of the core issues to be discussed is the clergy abuse scandal.

Cardinal Gomez is the incumbent vice president of the conference and traditionally it is a springboard in going towards presidency. He is considered a practical-minded, conservative, but an outspoken person when it comes to the immigration policy that would include path for citizenship for illegal immigrants.

Gomez wrote a powerful blog post condemning white supremacy after a gunman targeted Mexicans that killed 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. He also stated that Spanish was spoken in North America before English was.

In an article from Federal News Network, Gomez said that men and women do not become less human, and less child of God if they are undocumented. However, in a nation where white supremacy is dominant it is often heard from the migrants on how they are treated as if they are beneath.

Meanwhile, the three-day opening of the U.S. Catholic Bishop's Conference on Monday will end the three-year presidential term of Cardinal Daniel DiNardo. Moreover, he is the incumbent cardinal from Galveston-Houston.

In the recent two national assemblies that DiNardo presided over, they persist on discussing clergy sex abuse and their tentative response to it following the verdict of Cardinal George Pell in relation to child molestation. During the assembly, they also discussed the establishment of a third-party that would report abuse or misconduct of bishops.

There will also be many changes in the process of priestly formation. Amidst the sex-abuse related cases of the priests, they decided to increase the focus of the psychological evaluation of seminarians and applicants to reduce the likelihood of ordaining priests who are prone to sexual misconduct.

The bishops are also expected to develop a comprehensive vision for Latino or Hispanic ministry in the next few years. 37 percent of the U.S. Catholics are Hispanics but they are no longer the majority Catholic-group anymore. According to the recent Pew Research Survey, 47 percent of the Hispanics is U.S. call themselves Catholics which is 10 percent lower in 2009.

With the election of new president, there is also a need to elect vice-president and there are nine nominees in the position. These nominees are San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki, Oklahoma Archbishop Paul Coackley and Milwaukee Bishop Jerome Listecki. However, there are bishops who are strong allies of the Pope but not included in the list and they are Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, Newark Cardinal Joseph Tobin, and San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy.

According to The Crux, the bishops will face challenges in electing president as they are seeking to improve their relationship with the Vatican. Aside from the election of the highest post, they will also be electing new chairmen of six committees during the meeting.

These committees are Canonical Affairs and Church Governance Committees, Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, Evangelization and Catechesis, International Justice and Peace, Protection of Children and Young People and Religious Liberty Committee.

Read more: Hispanic immigrant in line to lead US Catholic bishops and U.S. bishops have their plates full during next week's USCCB meeting