The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) elected a new conference secretary and additional six bishops to committee leadership roles on Wednesday, November 12, during its 2025 Fall Plenary Assembly.
Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Ft. Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, was elected as the new conference secretary, defeating Archbishop James F. Checchio, coadjutor archbishop of New Orleans. He replaces Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, who was elected USCCB president on Tuesday, November 11.
Bishop Rhoades will serve the remainder of Coakley's secretarial term, which goes until November 2027.
Following the election of Rhoades as secretary, the bishops then elected six of their brothers to lead six of the USCCB's standing committees.
Five of the elected bishops will serve for one year as "chairman-elect" of their committees before beginning a three-year term at the start of the Fall 2026 Plenary Assembly. One, Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, Oregon, will immediately begin his term as chairman as the current religious liberty committee chairman was elected conference secretary.
Two candidates were nominated for each role and a winner was elected by simple majority. In the case of a tie, the winner of the election is the person who is older.
Here are the full election results, with the winners underlined.
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Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance
- Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob, Archdiocese of Milwaukee: 113
- Bishop Edward M. Lohse, Diocese of Kalamazoo: 108
Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs
- Bishop Daniel J. Felton, Diocese of Duluth: 83
- Bishop Peter L. Smith, auxiliary bishop, Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon: 139
Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis
- Bishop Earl K. Fernandes, Diocese of Columbus: 106
- Bishop William A. Wack, CSC, Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee: 116
Committee on International Justice and Peace
- Archbishop Borys Gudziak, Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia: 154
- Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger, Archdiocese of Detroit: 68
Committee on Protection of Children and Young People
- Bishop John P. Dolan, Diocese of Phoenix: 106
- Bishop Mark O’Connell, auxiliary bishop, Archdiocese of Boston: 116
Committee for Religious Liberty
- Archbishop Alexander K. Sample, Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon: 111
- Bishop Michael J. Sis, Diocese of San Angelo: 111 (Won tiebreaker, then ceded role to Sample)
