Chicago archbishops are usually elevated to cardinal and are therefore eligible to vote for the next pope.
In his first major appointment in the U.S., Pope Francis today appointed Spokane’s Bishop Blase Cupich to be archbiship of Chicago. As the next archbishop of Chicago, Blasé Cupich signals a shift in tone in one of the most important posts in the U.S. church. Bishop Cupich has called for civility in the culture wars. He will replace the very ill Archbishop George, a staunch opponent of abortion and gay marriage.
Cupich, like Pope Francis, has called for a “return to civility.” The appointment is seen as the clearest indication yet of the direction in which the Pope wants to steer American church leaders.
Like the Pope, Kucich is a Jesuit. In a 2012 essay in the Jesuit magazine, Cupich said that the outrage to the Affordable Care Act’s rules for employees working for Church business was understandable; threats and condemnations have a limited impact. “We should never stop talking to one another.”
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