November 13, 2025 // Bishop

Bishop Rhoades Elected Secretary of USCCB

OSV NEWS

BALTIMORE (OSV News) – The U.S. bishops elected Bishop Rhoades as the new secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops during their fall plenary assembly on Wednesday, November 12, in Baltimore.

They also elected a successor for Bishop Rhoades as chair of the Committee for Religious Liberty, and selected chairmen-elect for five standing committees.

As secretary, Bishop Rhoades succeeds Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, who was elected president of the USCCB on Tuesday, November 11. According to the USCCB website, the conference secretary serves as chairman of the Committee on Priorities and Plans and keeps minutes of the plenary assemblies and of the meetings of the Administrative Committee.

Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, was elected vice president of the conference. All three – Bishop Rhoades, Archbishop Coakley, and Bishop Flores – will begin their three-year terms at the end of the fall plenary.

Archbishop Coakley was at the end of his three-year term as secretary, having been elected to the post on in 2022.

The bishops then voted for a new chairman to succeed Bishop Rhoades as chair of the religious liberty chair. Two nominees stood for election for what was to have been chairman-elect of that committee, but because Bishop Rhoades was elected USCCB secretary, the spot was for chairman, who will finish the three-year term of Bishop Rhoades, who was picked as chairman-elect at the fall assembly in 2022.

The nominees to replace Bishop Rhoades were Archbishop Alexander K. Sample of Portland, Oregon, and Bishop Michael J. Sis of San Angelo, Texas, and they each received 111 votes.

To break the tie, a standing USCCB rule was invoked that the prelate with the most seniority would win the election. That was interpreted – after a check of the rules governing the bishops’ plenary assembly – as the prelate who was older by birth date. Both Bishop Sis and Archbishop Sample are 65, but the Texas prelate is a few months older, so he got the nod. However, Bishop Sis then rose to withdraw his name, giving the win to Archbishop Sample.

The bishops also chose chairmen-elect for five USCCB committees – from two nominees for each committee.

• For the Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob of Milwaukee won over Bishop Edward M. Lohse of Kalamazoo, Michigan, 113 to 108 votes.
• For the Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, Auxiliary Bishop Peter L. Smith of Portland, Oregon, won over Bishop Daniel J. Felton of Duluth, Minnesota, 139 to 88.
• For the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, Bishop William A. Wack of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, won over Bishop Earl K. Fernandes of Columbus, Ohio, 116 to 106. Bishop Wack is a native of South Bend and a son of Christ the King Parish.
• For the Committee on International Justice and Peace, Metropolitan Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia won over Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger of Detroit, 154 to 68.
• For the Committee on Protection of Children and Young People, Bishop Mark W. O’Connell won over Bishop John P. Dolan of Phoenix, 116 to 106. On October 20, Bishop O’Connell was appointed by Pope Leo XIV to succeed retiring Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger as head of the Diocese of Albany, New York. Bishop O’Connell had been an auxiliary bishop of Boston from 2016 until his new appointment.