Cupich appointment could upend conservative dominance of US hierarchy

Cupich appointment could upend conservative dominance of US hierarchy

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David Gibson Religion News Service  |  Sep. 20, 2014

The appointment of Bishop Blase Cupich, a prelate closely identified with the Catholic Church’s progressive wing, to succeed Cardinal Francis George could upend decades of conservative dominance of the American hierarchy.
Cupich, 65, will succeed Cardinal Francis George, a doctrinal and cultural conservative who has headed one of the American church’s pre-eminent dioceses since 1997. In that time he became a vocal leader among the bishops and earned a reputation as a feisty culture warrior in line with the Vatican of the late St. John Paul II and retired Pope Benedict XVI.