Welcome to Wisdom Wednesday, November 12, as the U.S. bishops hold their fall meeting. The choice of a new president for the U.S. bishops’ conference will be “the most important” moment for U.S. Catholicism since the conclave in May that elected the U.S.-born Pope Leo XIV, said Massimo Faggioli, a church historian and ecclesiology professor. The bishops elected Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley on the third ballot with 128 votes, with Brownsville Bishop Daniel Flores, 109 votes. Flores was then elected as vice-president.
U.S. Bishops elect Coakley
Brian Fraga, writing in National Catholic Reporter, details the election process and the close vote. BCR commentator Michael Sean Winters is blunt on the “The depressing result of the US bishops’ conference presidential election.”
U.S. Bishops – Pre-election Context
Although written prior to the election, the following article provides useful information about the bishops’ meeting. National Catholic Reporter’s Brian Fraga writes, “Amidst a polarizing political climate, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will gather this week in Baltimore to choose new leaders for the conference and discuss matters that include immigration enforcement and the ethical directives for Catholic health care facilities.”
In a column written prior to the election, Columnist Thomas Reese said U.S. bishops must face challenges in the American church and society. “If the bishops could speak with one voice united with the pope, they would project a moral voice worth listening to.” From Religion News Service.
In a pre-election article America Magazine probed the question: How will the church lead under what the New York Times columnist Ross Douthat calls an “imperial presidency.” The questions remain after the election: Will Catholic leadership accommodate or adapt itself to authoritarian power? Or will it offer leadership to give hope, oppose authoritarian abuses and defend human freedom?
A brief pre-election overview of the bishops’ meeting, along with details of live streaming and social media links, can be found from the bishops’ Office of Public Affairs.
The USCCB Office of Public Affairs offered pre-election information. Typically, new releases will be found at this site.
The National Catholic Register and the Catholic News Agency offered brief pre-election biographies of the 10 candidates.
Some pre-election advice comes from The Pillar. (From our “Know your sources” section: What is the Pillar, or rather, who is the Pillar?) The advice: Don’t bet on the bishops’ elections – even though people have been betting on papal conclaves and other church matters as early as the 1400s.
If you are uncertain of what the U.S. bishops have been teaching, the USCCB has a web entry listing news releases related to the protection and promotion of marriage, in vitro fertilization, fertility and other matters.
Bishops, immigrants, and the Trump administration
Two Catholic bishops tied to Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission have voiced criticism of the administration. “It is important that our Catholic detainees are able to receive pastoral care and have access to the sacraments,” Bishop Kevin Rhoades told Religion News Service. “Their religious liberty, part of their human dignity, needs to be respected.”
Some immigrants have made the emotionally fraught decision to give up church attendance. Religion News Service and National Public Radio report that “Fear of deportation keeps Chicago Latino immigrants home from Mass.”
Baptist News Global reports on aggressive plans to deport children, with a call center opening in Nashville. The center — slated to open in June 2026 — “will not protect children but simply make it easier to remove them from the country,” said Michael Lukens, executive director of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights.
Michael Woolf, in the Christian Century, says when he went to protest ICE actions in Chicago, “I did not expect a warm welcome. But nor did I expect to be assaulted by ICE agents, who grabbed my neck and left bruises all over my body . . . .” Woolf quotes Tertullian, “What will be God’s . . . if all things are Caesar’s?” It’s a challenging question at a time when the state is asking us to acquiesce to a secret, unaccountable police force.
UN Climate Change Conference (COP30)
The U.S. Bishops and Catholic Relief Services are asking world leaders to address climate change. In a release from the Office of Public Affairs, they state: “As all of us are impacted, so must we all be responsible for addressing this global challenge.”
“For 30 years, leaders have promised climate action. The Earth has waited in vain.” That statement comes from EARTHBEAT, a project of the National Catholic Reporter, written by Doreen Ajiambo, Africa/Middle East correspondent for Global Sisters Report based in Kenya.
Green Religion and money are in the mix at COP 30 in Brazil, says the Union of Asian News. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is already demanding billions of dollars in extra global funding.
Indigenous People
The remains and stories of Native American students are being reclaimed from a Pennsylvania cemetery. The Associated Press says the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma received 16 of its children, exhumed from a Pennsylvania cemetery, and reburied their small wooden coffins last month in a tribal cemetery in Concho, Oklahoma.
In an act of reparation, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration have returned land to Chippewa Indians in Wisconsin. The report is from National Catholic Reporter.
A Virginia group has filed suit to stop the Kamehameha Schools from serving Native Hawaiians. Students for Fair Admissions claims they violate the civil rights of non-native applicants. The report, from Baptist News Global.
Anglican affairs
The Vatican has signaled it may be open to ecumenical dialogue with the new, conservative breakaway Global Anglican Communion, a move that would upend decades of Catholic-Anglican relations centered on the See of Canterbury. The report, from Baptist News Global.
Meanwhile, writer Danielle Tumminio Hansen at the Christian Century, says, “I celebrate the milestone of the first woman to become archbishop of Canterbury. But I worry there’s a glass cliff waiting for her.”
State matters of national interest
A Black Catholic activist has launched a Senate campaign to unseat Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. The Black Catholic Messenger says 63-year-old Catherine Fleming Bruce is honing in on affordability and the policies of President Trump.
Judges strike down book bans in Texas and in military schools. A report from Baptist News Global.
Pope Leo XIV
Pope Leo has appointed an Augustinian from Nigeria as an official of the Papal household. The National Catholic Register reports the new appointee first met Pope Leo in 2001, when Father Robert Prevost, then prior general of the Augustinians, visited Nigeria.
A new book recounts anecdotes from Pope Leo’s life, including the day he was reported dead. “When people found out, especially the poorest people in the parish, they went to the Augustinian house in tears, newspaper in hand, to offer their condolences,” the book recounted. But to their surprise, it was Prevost himself who opened the door. From the National Catholic Register.
Rome’s cathedral at the Lateran has forever been considered the most important church in all of Christianity, writes Bob Mickens for the Union of Catholic Asian News. But the popes of the last several centuries have allowed St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican to overtake it in prominence in an attempt to maximize the power of the papacy. Dare Leo XIV reverse this trend?
National Catholic Reporter offers “Inside the conclave, Part 1 and Part 2: How an American missionary became Pope Leo XIV.”
2026 Grammy Award nominations
Black Catholic Messenger reports there are “Fan favorites and category mainstays” among the international crop of Catholic-connected Black artists looking to win on music’s biggest night.
Religion Research and Surveys
What role do Americans think God played in the last two presidential elections? In a May 2025 survey, most U.S. adults say God played no role at all, while about a third say recent election results are part of God’s overall plan but don’t necessarily mean God approved of the winner’s policies. Very few say God chose the winners because of their policies, according to Pew Research.
What do Christians think today about supporting or opposing Trump? Pew Research found that 80 percent of U.S. Christians say good Christians can disagree with Trump; 11 percent say opposing Trump is essential to being a good Christian, and seven percent say supporting Trump is essential to being a good Christian.
Seeking guidance
The National Catholic Register answers a reader’s unusual question: Can I celebrate my parents’ anniversary if their marriage is invalid? Does the reader risk causing scandal or compromising his witness to the faith?
Justice Bulletin Board
November is the time to contribute to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. See what Barbara Molinari Quinby has to say how the CCHD funds local community groups that work to change the systems that keep many in poverty. Work is being done to fight poverty at its roots in places that offer inadequate education, tolerate unaffordable housing, and turn away from communities in need.
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