Nienstedt elected to committee of USCCB, Gregory to serve as president

Washington D.C. - The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops elected Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, Il as president on their first ballot during their annual meeting held in Washington D.C. Bishop Gregory, 53, vice president for the past three years, is the first African-American and the first Catholic convert to be elected president of the U.S. bishops in history.

The bishops also elected bishop William S. Skylstad, 67, of Spokane, WA, as vice president, and Archbishop James P. Kelleher of Kansas City, KS, as treasurer-elect.

Several Minnesota bishops were elected to lead committees including: Archbishop Harry J. Flynn, of St. Paul/Minneapolis who was overwhelmingly elected as chairman of Catholic Relief Services; Bishop Bernard Harrington of Winona, elected to chair the bishops’ education committee; and Bishop John C. Nienstedt, bishop of the Diocese of New Ulm, was elected as chairman of the bishops’ committee on priestly formation.

Bishop Gregory was born Dec. 7, 1947, in Chicago. It was just a few weeks after he enrolled as a sixth-grader at St. Carthage School that Wilton Gregory decided he wanted to become a priest. He first had to become a Catholic, however, which he did by the end of the school year. By the time he was 25, he was ordained a priest. Just 10 years later, he became the youngest bishop in the country. He was installed as an auxiliary bishop for Chicago in 1983.

Bishop Nienstedt, newly elected chair of the committee on priestly formation, was installed as Bishop of the New Ulm diocese, August 6, 2001.

The election was held during the bishops’ November 12-15 fall general meeting, their first as the USCCB, operating under new statues that call for all officers and chairmen to be elected a year in advance of taking office.

Other U.S. Bishops’ Action Items

• Issued a pastoral message "Living With Faith and Hope After Sept. 11."
• Adopted a revised, updated Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities.
• Approved "A Call to solidarity With Africa."
• Approved norms implementing general church law on lay preaching and on Catholics teaching doctrine on radio and tv.
• Revised special liturgical norms for U.S. dioceses.
• Approved a $53.3 million budget for 2002.
• Head a plea from Catholic Relief Services to raise $50 million to aid Afghan refugees.
• Held extensive discussion of new Vatican translation rules for liturgy.