Online: U.S. Bishops elect Sample and Smith to lead two committees

Catholic bishops made national headlines last month when they issued a “special pastoral report on immigration” on Nov. 12, but some of their other actions generated fewer – but still important – headlines. During their annual fall meeting, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops elected Portland’s Archbishop Alexander K. Sample and Auxiliary Bishop Peter L. Smith to lead committees. And at least one opinion piece observed that the bishops seemed to be moving away from the teachings of Vatican II. 

The bishops chose Smith to lead their Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.

Initially, Sample and Bishop Michael Sis of San Angelo each received 111 votes, tying for the position as leader of the Committee on Religious Liberty. Catholic News recounted all of the ensuing drama and debate, but ultimately, Sis agreed to step down. 

In other business, the bishops approved the revised text of their "authoritative guidance” for Catholic health care institutions. The revisions hold that such facilities in the United States will  “not provide gender-affirming medical treatment to transgender patients.” 

While many Catholics approved of the bishops’ recent moves, Michael Sean Winters, political consultant for the National Catholic Reporter, observed that the bishops seemed divided and that “Gallicanism” is alive and well in the congress.

“Gallicanism was the mistaken, and repeatedly condemned, idea that the national church should predominate over the universal, that Rome could be ignored when it suited the political interests of key prelates,” Winters wrote. The bishops have not been consistent in addressing a number of issues, he continued.

Winters heralded Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio, who closed the fall meeting with a call for the bishops to reembrace Vatican II and join Pope Leo in his commitment to a universal church bound together on the same path forward. 

"The Council is not behind us,” Pierre said. “It stands before us, the map for our journey. To the questions with which we began — where have we been and where are we going? — the deepest ecclesial answer is this: We are a Church rooted in the grace of the Second Vatican Council; a Church still receiving and embodying its vision; a Church sent forth in unity, as disciples and shepherds, bringing hope, joy, and mercy to the world."