Dolan Is Surprise Choice to Lead U.S. Bishops' Conference

A surprise for who?

This is a vote for a more ebullient, self-confident orthodoxy. The bishops bypassed their longstanding custom of automatically promoting the vice president. This is a seismic shift for the Church in the USA, the dawning of a new day.

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Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Tue, November 16, 2010 -- 10:28 AM ET
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Dolan Is Surprise Choice to Lead U.S. Bishops' Group

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York was elected president
of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops at a
meeting in Baltimore on Tuesday, defeating the conference's
sitting vice president, Gerlad Kicanas of Tucson. It was the
first time since the 1960s that a vice president was on the
ballot for president and lost, the Associated Press reported.
Archbishop Dolan, who was notably omitted from a list of
newly elevated cardinals last month, won 54 percent of the
vote to 46 percent for Bishop Kicanas in the third round of
voting.

Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com?emc=na

Photo: Bishop Robert F. Vasa left, congratulated Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan after Dolan was elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Tuesday in Baltimore. Tom Grenchik, Maryland native and the US Bishops' lay pro-life leader, is visible background center.

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Published: November 16, 2010