In move to the right, bishops choose Dolan
In a dramatic break with tradition, U.S. Catholic bishops elected New
York archbishop Timothy Dolan as their next president, choosing a
friendly but assertive leader over the more conciliatory front-runner.
Dolan
defeated Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona, 128 to 111 in the
third and final round of voting. Kicanas has been vice president of the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, traditionally a stepping stone to
the presidency, since 2007, when he defeated Dolan by two votes.
The
election November 16 at the bishops' meeting in Baltimore marks the
first time since the 1960s that a sitting vice president was on the
presidential ballot and lost the election, according to church
historians.
