Bishops elect Archbishop Coakley as new USCCB president

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) voted Nov. 11 to elect Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as its new president at the 2025 Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, Maryland. 

He succeeds outgoing USCCB president Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who has served in the position for the usual three-year term.

Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, was elected vice president of the USCCB. 

“Our prayers accompany the newly elected President and Vice President as they embark on a three-year term, committed to advancing the mission of the Church in the United States,” the USCCB X account stated in a post announcing the elections. 

Archbishop Coakley has served as archbishop of Oklahoma City since 2011, according to his archdiocese’s website. He attended Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and was ordained a priest in 1983. He served as a priest in the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas, for 21 years and was appointed bishop of Salina, Kansas, in 2004. He has served on a number of USCCB committees, including those on clergy, consecrated life and vocations; priestly life and ministry; and laity, marriage, family life and youth. In 2023, he wrote a pastoral letter on how to charitably and truthfully accompany persons who experience gender dysphoria, as CatholicVote previously reported. He currently serves on the advisory boards of the Napa Institute, the Pope Paul VI Institute, and the Institute on Religious Life, among others. 

The bishops cast their votes among 10 candidates: Archbishop Coakley;  Bishop Flores, Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota; Archbishop Richard Henning of Boston, Archbishop Nelson Pérez of Philadelphia, Bishop David Malloy of Rockford, Illinois; Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana; Archbishop Charles Thompson, of Indianapolis, Indiana; Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, Oregon; and Archbishop Edward Weisenburger of Detroit. 

The bishops voted three times before a majority vote was reached. In the third round, the bishops voted between Bishop Flores and Archbishop Coakley, who had each received the most votes in the previous two rounds. 

The livestreamed voting record showed that 128 bishops voted for Archbishop Coakley, and Bishop Flores received 109 votes; 271 bishops were eligible to vote.

In the vote for USCCB vice president, Bishop Flores received 119 votes. Bishop Rhoades received 47, the next highest amount. 

The bishops will vote Nov. 12 to elect chairmen for a number of USCCB committees.