Louisville, Ky., Jul 23, 2019 / 09:01 am
Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville has stepped down from leading the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' religious liberty committee as he undergoes treatment for bladder cancer.
Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, Massachusetts, has been appointed as his replacement and will serve as acting chair of the committee until the November 2019 General Assembly meeting.
"We are praying for Archbishop Kurtz, especially as he undergoes an intense treatment plan at Duke Cancer Institute over these next several weeks and months," said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the U.S. bishops' conference, in a July 23 statement released by the conference.
"I very much appreciate Bishop McManus's agreeing to step into this chairmanship role and lead the important work of the Committee for Religious Liberty," he added.