Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, a seasoned communicator viewed as a staunch defender of the right to life, was elected chair of the U.S. bishops’ pro-life committee Wednesday.
The bishops, meeting in Baltimore for their annual fall assembly, chose Bishop Burbidge over Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City, Mo., by a vote of 174-63.
The pro-life chair was one of several high-profile leadership decisions the bishops made this week. Taken together, the moves signal that there will be no dramatic policy shifts within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for the next several years.
Nov. 15, by wide margins, the bishops elected a new conference president and vice president: Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori, whom Bishop Burbidge will succeed as chair of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
Both Broglio, 70, and Archbishop Lori, 71, will serve three-year terms, commencing after the bishops’ meeting ends Thursday.
In other key elections Wednesday, Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul S. Coakley was elected USCCB secretary over Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark (130-104), and Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind., was tabbed as the next chair of the Committee for Religious Liberty over San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone (165-77).
In other USCCB committee chair election results:
- Canonical Affairs and Church Governance: Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., 147-91, over Bishop Alfred A. Schlert of Allentown, Pa.
- Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs: Bishop Joseph C. Bambera of Scranton, Pa., 128-111, over Bishop Peter L. Smith of Portland, Ore.
- Evangelization and Catechesis: Indianapolis Archbishop Charles Thompson, 149-90, over Bishop William D. Byrne of Springfield, Mass.
- International Justice and Peace: Bishop W. Elias Zaidan of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon, 148-95, over Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson J. Perez
- Protection of Children and Young People: Bishop Barry C. Knestout of Richmond, 127-114, over Bishop Elias R. Lorenzo, OSB, auxiliary bishop of the Newark Archdiocese
Burbidge, 65, who has led the Arlington Diocese since December 2016, is regarded as an experienced teacher of the faith who has not shied away from weighing in on hot-button issues, including abortion.
“Bishop Burbidge has been outspoken in his commitment to making pro-life issues a centerpiece of the activities in the Arlington diocese and the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Olivia Gans Turner, president of Virginia Society for Human Life, said in a statement to CNA.
“I have had the pleasure to know Bishop Burbidge since he was bishop of Raleigh,” she continued. “We met while we were both speaking at multiple pro-life events there. I knew he would bring that same dedication and compassion to protecting all innocent human life with him to Virginia.
“It has been exciting to see him expand pro-life efforts in Northern Virginia. Pro-lifers of every faith and no faith congratulate him,” Turner added. “The USCCB has made a good selection for this important position.”
Jeff Caruso, executive director of the Virginia Catholic Conference, called Bishop Burbidge “a joyful and energetic leader for life.”
“His dedication to evangelizing the dignity of every life and working for the protection and care of unborn children, their mothers, and their families resonates with clarity and conviction in the Diocese of Arlington, in Virginia, and well beyond,” he said in a statement to CNA. “I was excited to learn that he has been elected to chair the USCCB’s pro-life committee.”
In August 2021, Bishop Burbidge was the first U.S. bishop to publish a catechetical resource on church teaching related to transgenderism, calling for charity while also discouraging practices such as gender “transitioning” and using gendered pronouns disconnected from someone’s sex.
In May, he said that San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone’s instruction to his local priests to withhold Holy Communion from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., because of her longstanding and public pro-abortion advocacy, would be respected in the Arlington diocese.
In October, Bishop Burbidge addressed U.S. President Joe Biden’s stated intention to codify a national right to abortion should Democrats win control of Congress, saying, “The role of Congress is to pass laws that serve the common good — and yet this priority of the president only brings about pain and death.”
Bishop Burbidge fills the chairmanship that Archbishop Lori is vacating due to his new role as USCCB vice president. Bishop Burbidge will serve the remaining two years of Archbishop Lori’s term.
The other chairs elected Wednesday will serve as chairmen-elect of their respective committees for one year, beginning at the conclusion of this week’s assembly. After that they will serve three-year terms as chairs.
Jonah McKeown and Joe Bukuras contributed to this story.
