US Catholic bishops elect Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley as conference president

In their first conference election since the ascendance of an American pope, U.S. Catholic bishops have narrowly chosen Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley, the ecclesiastical adviser for a powerful group of conservative Catholics, as their new president. Their vice president will be Brownsville, Texas, Bishop Daniel Flores, a border bishop and key voice on immigration.

As the secretary of the USCCB since 2022 and the most senior member of leadership young enough to take the presidency, Coakley had been considered the favorite.

Coakley, appointed archbishop by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010, is well known for his outspoken opposition to capital punishment, as well as abortion. His most recent pastoral letter opposed gender-affirming care and the “transgender movement.” He was formerly the chairman of Catholic Relief Services, the bishops’ international development organization. He was elected by the USCCB to represent them at Pope Francis’ Synod on Synodality in addition to the U.S. bishops chosen by Francis.

Religion & Politics

Photos of the Week: World's largest Orthodox church, Dev Deepawali

People wait to pray at the altar of the National Cathedral in Bucharest, Romania. The world's largest Orthodox church has a height of 410 feet and an interior capacity of 5,000 worshippers. Construction began in 2010, with costs currently amounting to a reported $313 million, while some work remains to be completed. (RNS photo/Alexandra Radu)

In Opinion

And finally, Sitting atop fridge to protest SNAP cuts, faith leader models Jesus' 'proximity' to the poor

Terence Lester, wearing a black hoodie and a beanie, sat atop a tall, black curbside refrigerator in the Atlanta suburb of College Park, Georgia, on a sunny Tuesday afternoon in November in hopes of bringing attention to the 42 million Americans who rely on SNAP benefits.

The empty fridge is symbolic of the deprivation and hunger of those impacted by the steep cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the United States’ largest food aid program. Lester, an ordained minister and founder of the nonprofit Love Beyond Walls, said the organization has received more than 1,000 calls in the past month requesting food assistance. As a person of faith, he sees politicians’ apathy toward impoverished communities as deeply unethical.

“Most people who make decisions politically are not necessarily proximate to the community, and the distance between policy and community creates the stigma and the exclusionary practices that we see,” Lester told RNS in a video call from the top of the refrigerator. “No solution that we’ve ever created has come without us being proximate to people. That is at the core of how Jesus showed up.”

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