The US counts 10 cardinals among the many 133 eligible to vote for the successor to Pope Francis, together with two from the tri-state space.
Solely 4 of the American electors actively function archbishops within the U.S.: Timothy Dolan of New York, Blase Cupich of Chicago, Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, and Robert McElroy of Washington. Two are retired archbishops: Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston and Wilton Gregory of Washington.
The opposite 4 have had lengthy Vatican service: Robert Prevost, James Michael Harvey, Raymond Burke and Kevin Farrell.
With its 10 cardinals representing, america has the second-most of any nation behind Italy, residence to 17 of the electors who gathering for the Vatican conclave.
Profiles of the cardinal electors:
Timothy Dolan
Dolan, 75, has been archbishop of New York since 2009. He beforehand served practically seven years as archbishop of Milwaukee. He grew up in Missouri, the place he was ordained in 1976. Amongst different duties, Dolan was chairman of Catholic Aid Companies and served a time period as president of the USCCB. In 2012, Benedict appointed him a cardinal. Dolan is extensively considered as conservative, writing a 2018 Wall Avenue Journal column headlined “The Democrats Abandon Catholics.” But in 2023, he wrote a letter of welcome to a convention at Fordham College celebrating outreach applications aimed toward LGBTQ+ Catholics.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York spoke to reporters, together with Information 4’s David Ushery, in The Vatican in regards to the upcoming conclave to pick out the subsequent pope.
Joseph Tobin
Tobin, 72, is archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, and a veteran of the Vatican paperwork who speaks 5 languages. The Detroit native was ordained in 1978 and earned grasp’s levels in non secular training and divinity at Mount St. Alphonsus Seminary in Esopus, New York. Benedict appointed Tobin in 2010 as secretary of the Vatican’s workplace overseeing non secular orders. Tobin reportedly ruffled feathers by searching for to fix its frayed ties with U.S. nuns dealing with complaints they’d grow to be too liberal. Benedict appointed Tobin archbishop of Indianapolis in 2012. Francis made him cardinal and archbishop of Newark in 2016. Tobin welcomed Syrian refugees to Indiana regardless of opposition from then-Gov. Mike Pence. He has a welcoming stance towards LGBTQ+ folks.
Raymond Burke
Burke, 76, a staunch Catholic traditionalist, usually clashed with the extra reform-minded Francis. Born in Wisconsin, he was a bishop there earlier than turning into archbishop of St. Louis from 2004 to 2008. Pope Benedict XVI made Burke a cardinal in 2010, after he appointed him prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican’s excessive court docket. After Francis eliminated him from that submit in 2014, he made Burke the cardinal patron of the Knights of Malta, a prestigious however restricted function. There, too, Burke and Francis clashed over a governance disaster on the chivalric order; Francis pushed him apart. Burke has been outspoken in saying Catholic politicians should not take Communion in the event that they help abortion rights.
Blase Cupich
Cupich, 76, archbishop of Chicago, was a shut adviser to Francis and served on a number of Vatican committees. He is thought of a average, having balanced upholding conservative Catholic teachings on social points like same-sex marriage and abortion with advocacy for compassionate responses to the affected communities. Cupich, who inherited clergy intercourse abuse crises in dioceses he led, helped push reforms to fight the issue. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he was ordained in 1975 and appointed by Pope John Paul II in 1998 as bishop of Fast Metropolis, South Dakota. Benedict transferred him in 2010 to Spokane, Washington. In 2014, Francis — in his first main U.S. appointment as pope — made him archbishop of Chicago, after which cardinal in 2016.
Daniel DiNardo
DiNardo, 75, retired this yr as archbishop of Galveston-Houston — the fifth-largest U.S. diocese, with 1.7 million Catholics. DiNardo was ordained in his native Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1977. He earned levels from Catholic universities in Washington and Rome and labored within the Vatican workplace overseeing appointments of bishops. He served as bishop of Sioux Metropolis, Iowa, earlier than shifting to Houston in 2004. DiNardo was named a cardinal in 2007 by Benedict. He was president of the U.S. Convention of Catholic Bishops from 2016 to 2019 — a tumultuous time when the USCCB confronted allegations of coverups of sexual abuse by clergymen. DiNardo shared Francis’ robust help for migrants whereas defending conventional church teachings on sexuality.
Kevin Farrell
Farrell, 77, was chosen by Francis in 2019 as the camerlengo, the Vatican official who runs the Holy See after the dying of a pope and earlier than the election of one other. Farrell was born in Dublin in 1947, entered the Legionaries of Christ non secular order in 1966 and was ordained a priest in 1978. He left six years later — earlier than revelations that its founder was a pedophile — and have become a priest within the Washington Archdiocese. He labored in a number of parishes and helped handle the archdiocese’s funds. He turned auxiliary bishop of Washington in 2001 and served below ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick earlier than turning into bishop of Dallas in 2007.
Wilton Gregory
Francis tapped Gregory to guide the Archdiocese of Washington in 2019 and made him the primary Black cardinal from the U.S. in 2020. Gregory, 77, retired this yr from main the distinguished archdiocese, which he shepherded via vital turmoil. Its two earlier leaders, McCarrick and Cardinal Donald Wuerl, have been implicated in a brand new wave of the clergy intercourse abuse scandal. Gregory has supported social justice and solidarity with immigrants. He drew discover for his comparatively inclusive method for LGBTQ+ Catholics. He informed an LGBTQ+ group in January: “I apologize for my own lack of courage to bring healing and hope, and I ask forgiveness.” Gregory was born in Chicago and ordained there in 1973, serving as auxiliary bishop starting in 1983. After 11 years as bishop in Belleville, Illinois, he was appointed in 2004 by John Paul II to be archbishop of Atlanta.
James Michael Harvey
Harvey, 76, has pursued a protracted profession on the Vatican, initially as a diplomat and extra lately as supervisor of the papal family. Born in Milwaukee, he studied at seminary there earlier than finishing his formation in Rome. He was ordained by Pope Paul VI in Rome in 1975 and entered the Holy See’s diplomatic service in 1980. John Paul II appointed Harvey prefect of the Papal Family in 1998, managing the pope’s official actions. Benedict made him a cardinal in 2012.
Robert McElroy
Francis named McElroy archbishop of Washington in January, tapping one among his most progressive allies to go the Catholic Church within the U.S. capital at the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second time period. McElroy criticized Trump’s threats of mass deportations of immigrants as “incompatible with Catholic doctrine.” Francis appointed McElroy bishop of San Diego in 2015 and elevated him to cardinal in 2022. McElroy, 71, was one of some U.S. bishops assailing a marketing campaign to exclude Catholic politicians who help abortion rights from Communion. He has additionally expressed help for larger LGBTQ+ inclusion within the church. A local San Franciscan, McElroy obtained a bachelor’s diploma from Harvard, a grasp’s diploma and doctorate from Stanford, and a doctorate from the Gregorian College in Rome.
Robert Francis Prevost
The Chicago-born Prevost, 69, is prefect of the Vatican’s highly effective dicastery for bishops, in command of vetting nominations for bishops around the globe. He has in depth expertise in Peru, first as a missionary after which archbishop. Francis had an eye fixed on him for years, sending him to run the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2014. He held that place till 2023, when Francis introduced him to Rome for his present function.
