TX Cardinal Chosen to Be New Head of US Bishops

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BALTIMORE (ChurchMilitant.com) - The U.S. bishops have elected Cdl. Daniel DiNardo of the Galveston-Houston, Texas archdiocese to be their new president.

DiNardo served as vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for three years, and will succeed Abp. Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky. Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, California has been elected vice president. It's customary for the vice president of the USCCB to be chosen as president, which means Gomez may become the first Latino president of the U.S. bishops in three years' time.

Among other notable picks, Bp. Robert Barron has been elected chair of the USCCB's Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis.

DiNardo was among 13 cardinals who signed an open letter to Pope Francis last year objecting to the organization of the Synod on the Family, and cautioning the Pope to allow greater transparency in the discussions. The Pope reportedly rejected the cardinals' suggestions.

ChurchMilitant.com reported last year that DiNardo allowed the funeral Mass of a public Planned Parenthood organizer and gay "marriage" advocate at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart — in direct contradiction to canon 1184, which prohibits funeral Masses for "manifest sinners" in order to avoid "public scandal of the faithful."

The obituary for Lisa Benitez read that she "excelled in her career raising funds for charitable causes as an Event Coordinator/Manager for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast" and was a "Founding Member of Planned Parenthood Young Leaders."

The archdiocese also allowed the funeral Mass of an openly gay man. The obituary in the Houston Chronicle for Paul-David Phy, who was buried from St. Michael Catholic Church, described him as a "man of great generosity, pride, and faith" who is "survived by his beloved husband Christopher Victor Lemus of Tampa, Florida."

Although ChurchMilitant.com reached out multiple times to the Galveston-Houston archdiocese for comment, we received no response from the cardinal.

DiNardo also permitted his co-cathedral to be used by a female Methodist bishop to "ordain" a female pro-abortion minister. When ChurchMilitant.com contacted the archdiocese for comment, we were told it was an ecumenical gesture on their part and that DiNardo was fully in agreement with it.

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