Community Corner

Former PA Pastor to Lead U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz was elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Tuesday.

Written by Jack Tobias

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, the Schuylkill County native who became a familiar face at Lehigh Valley parishes and as onetime director of the local Catholic Social Agency, was elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Tuesday.

Kurtz, 67, archbishop of Louisville, Ky., succeeds Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York. He was elected at the bishops' fall general assembly in Baltimore.

Kurtz left the Allentown Diocese in 1999 when Pope John Paul II appointed him bishop of Knoxville, Tenn. He has been the archbishop of Louisville since 2007.

Kurtz, the onetime pastor of churches in Bethlehem, Limeport and Catasauqua, has been the conference's vice president since 2010. The new vice president will be Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston. Kurtz and DiNardo will serve three-year terms.

Allentown Bishop John Barres, who is attending the Baltimore assembly, issued the following statement:

"The election of Archbishop Kurtz to this important leadership post by his brother bishops across the country is a point of pride for all of the faithful in the Diocese of Allentown where he served so faithfully for so many years. I look forward to working with Archbishop Kurtz as he serves the conference in its important mission over the next three years."

According to a release on the conference's website, Kurtz was elected president on the first ballot with 125 votes. DiNardo was elected vice president on the third ballot by 147-87 in a runoff vote against Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia.

The president and vice president are elected by a simple majority from a slate of 10 nominees. If no president or vice president is chosen after the second round of voting, a third ballot is taken between only the top two vote-getters on the second ballot, the release said.

A web posting by Reuters news service described Kurtz as "a reliable conservative who is also well-liked, pragmatic and effective."

According to information from the Allentown Diocese, Kurtz was a diocese priest for 27 years. He was born and raised in Mahanoy City and ordained in 1972.

He served as assistant pastor at St. Joseph Church in Limeport and SS. Simon and Jude in Bethlehem; as executive director of the Social Action Bureau; assistant director and later director of the Catholic Social Agency, and board president of Catholic Charities.

He also was pastor of Annunciation B.V.M. Church in Catasauqua and later at Notre Dame of Bethlehem Church.


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