(LifeSiteNews) — Portland, Oregon, Archbishop Alexander Sample has been elected the new chairman of the U.S. Bishops Conference’s Committee for Religious Liberty.
Archbishop Sample is known for his support of the Traditional Latin Mass. In 2018, His Excellency offered the Latin Mass while assisted by priests from the Fraternal Society of St. Peter at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.
His Excellency has also defended the Church’s moral teachings on transgenderism, abortion, marriage, and other issues. In 2016, he issued a pastoral letter warning against “troublesome misuses” of Amoris Laetitia that he said “do not correspond with the Church’s teaching tradition.”
Archbishop Sample’s election was atypical in that he tied Bishop Michael Sis of San Angelo, Texas, with 111 votes. Initially, USCCB officials wanted a second ballot to resolve the issue, but San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone interjected, noting that the same thing had happened to him in 2018 when he and Bishop John Doerfler tied for the chairmanship of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth. Archbishop Cordileone eventually assumed the role based on seniority.
Outgoing USCCB president Archbishop Timothy Broglio acknowledged Archbishop Cordileone’s remarks and announced that Bishop Sis was to fill the role given his age.
At that point, Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe spoke up seeking clarification if age or episcopal seniority was the determining factor, as Archbishop Sample has been a bishop longer than Sis. Sis was eventually given the role but stood up and announced he was withdrawing his name from consideration, making Archbishop Sample the new chairman.
The Oregon prelate will succeed Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana. Bishop Rhoades was elected as the new secretary of the USCCB this week. Archbishop Sample begins his one-year term as chairman-elect before assuming the full three years of the role.
His role comes with an added level of significance given that the Trump White House established its own Religious Liberty Commission earlier this year. Archbishop Cordileone, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, and Minnesota Bishop Robert Barron are members of the commission.
Archbishop Edward Weisenburger of Detroit, who has been in the news lately due to cracking down on the Latin Mass in his archdiocese, lost to Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia in a landslide 154-68 vote for the chairmanship of the Committee on International Justice and Peace.
Other results of the USCCB’s elections this week include Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob as chairman of the Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance; Portland Auxiliary Bishop Peter Smith as chairman of the Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs; Florida Bishop William Wack, CSC, as the chairman of the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis; and Boston Auxiliary Bishop Mark O’Connell as chair of the Committee on Protection of Children and Young People.
After three rounds of voting on Tuesday, the bishops named Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, who was the favorite heading in, as their new president. Brownsville, Texas, Bishop Daniel Flores was selected as vice president. While Archbishop Coakley is generally regarded as a more conservative pick, Flores is seen as more of a toss-up, having been named one of 12 bishops to sit on the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod on Synodality. He also attended the Synod in the Vatican in 2024 and sat at the same table as Cardinal Robert Prevost and pro-LGBT priest James Martin, among others. In 2016, he claimed that deportation policies represent “formal cooperation with an intrinsic evil — not unlike driving someone to an abortion clinic.”
The last four presidents of the USCCB include Archbishop Timothy Broglio (2022-2025), Archbishop José Gomez (2019-2022), Cardinal Daniel DiNardo (2016-2019), and Archbishop Joseph Kurtz (2013-2016). The last four vice presidents of the USCCB include Archbishop William Lori (2022-2025), Archbishop Allen Vigneron (2019-2022), Archbishop José Gomez (2016-2019) and Cardinal Daniel DiNardo (2013-2016).
