ROME — The United States Bishops have elected military Archbishop Timothy Broglio as president of the Bishops’ conference, a conservative known for his defense of religious freedom and his support for Trump’s ban on transgender soldiers in the armed forces.
Broglio, who is despised by the Catholic left, received 138 votes in the third round of voting at the bishops’ plenary meeting in Baltimore, well over the 119 votes needed to be elected.
Baltimore Archbishop William Lori, another conservative known especially for his pro-life activity, finished second in the presidential vote, and was subsequently elected vice president in a separate round.
Many commentators on the election suggested it would be an important bellwether indicating whether the U.S. bishops would promote a Francis-style prelate prioritizing immigration, climate change, and attacks on the free market or a more traditional leader focusing on eternal salvation, evangelization, and the Church’s moral teaching.
Archbishop Timothy Broglio conducts an Easter Sunday Mass in an empty sanctuary at Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Sunday, April 12, 2020. Due to COVID-19 social distancing guidelines the Catholic Church is live streaming their mass to the faithful. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
During the coronavirus pandemic, Broglio declared that Catholic military personnel could refuse the mandated vaccine on religious grounds.
“No one should be forced to receive a COVID-19 vaccine if it would violate the sanctity of his or her conscience,” the archbishop said in a statement, noting that while it is morally permissible for Catholics to receive the vaccines, this does not bar individual Catholics from determining otherwise in their cases.
In 2017, Broglio defended President Trump’s reinstatement of a policy disqualifying transgender individuals from military service, noting that “gender ideology undermines basic Christian anthropology.”
The archbishop said the presence of transgender persons could prove “a detriment to military readiness,” but suggested that the underlying issue goes even deeper.
Broglio went on to state that “gender ideology undermines basic Christian anthropology by defining the person as a disembodied mind and the body as a mere instrument.”
The archbishop has been sharply criticized by the left for pointing out that over 80 percent of victims of clerical sexual abuse in the United States have been males, suggesting that homosexuality has been a significant factor underlying much of the abuse.
Broglio has served as military chaplain since 2008 and prior to that served as the Vatican’s nuncio to the Dominican Republic and its delegate to Puerto Rico from 2001 to 2008.