BALTIMORE (OSV News) — Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City and Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, were elected Nov. 11 as president and vice president, respectively, of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The 2025 elections were notable because they marked the first leadership change at the conference since Pope Leo XIV, the U.S.-born pontiff, began his pontificate in May.

Archbishop Coakley, 70, has led the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City since 2011. He was born to John and Mary Coakley in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1955, but the family moved to Kansas 10 years later. He began seminary studies for the Diocese of Wichita in 1978. He has been serving as the USCCB’s secretary.

Archbishop Coakley was elected president on the third round of voting, and Bishop Flores on the first round for the vice presidential election. 

Bishop Flores, 64, has led the Brownsville Diocese since 2010. He entered Holy Trinity Seminary, an institution associated with the University of Dallas, in 1981. 

The new president and vice president succeed the current USCCB president and vice president, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, who will complete their terms at the end of the plenary assembly.

Here’s what else happened at the bishops’ plenary assembly today:

Bishops tell Pope Leo they’ll continue to stand with migrants, defend right to worship freely

In a message to Pope Leo XIV at the start of their fall plenary assembly in Baltimore, the U.S. bishops told the pope that they “will continue to stand with migrants and defend everyone’s right to worship free from intimidation.”

“As shepherds in the United States, we face a growing worldview that is so often at odds with the Gospel mandate to love thy neighbor,” they wrote. “In cities across the United States, our migrant brothers and sisters, many of whom are fellow Catholics, face a culture of fear, hesitant to leave their homes and even to attend church for fear of being randomly harassed or detained.

“Holy Father, please know that the bishops of the United States, united in our concern, will continue to stand with migrants and defend everyone’s right to worship free from intimidation,” the bishops wrote. “We support secure and orderly borders and law enforcement actions in response to dangerous criminal activity, but we cannot remain silent in this challenging hour while the right to worship and the right to due process are undermined.”

Read the full statement here.

New English version of Bible to be called The Catholic American Bible

A new English version of the Bible will be released in 2027 with the name The Catholic American Bible, according to Bishop Steven J. Lopes, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship. 

The translation “is meant to be the common text between the lectionary at Mass, the Scripture that is used in the Liturgy of the Hours and a Bible text that you can have as a physical Bible for your own private prayer and devotion,” Bishop Lopes said. The Latin Church bishops approved the revised New American Bible for liturgical use in 216-4 vote, with three abstentions, in November 2024.

The Catholic American Bible will replace the New American Bible — Revised Edition (NABRE), which was released in March 2011, after 20 years of consultation and revision of the original New American Bible, published in 1970, according to the USCCB. The NABRE is the English translation of Scripture used in the readings at Masses, and the text from the Catholic American Bible will replace the current lectionary.

A Spanish New Testament, La Biblia de la Iglesia en América Nuevo Testamento, is also in the works, with availability for Ash Wednesday 2026.

Bishops’ migration chair calls for solidarity with migrants: ‘Statements alone are not enough’

Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, urged the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to take further steps to show solidarity with migrants in remarks at their annual fall plenary assembly in Baltimore.

Bishop Seitz, who has chaired the conference’s Committee on Migration, said that “since January, the Trump administration has remained committed to the president’s campaign promise of mass deportations.”

His remarks came as a growing number of bishops have acknowledged that some of the Trump administration’s immigration policies risk presenting the church with both practical challenges in administering pastoral support and charitable endeavors, as well as religious liberty challenges.

Read the full story here.

Bishops advance new sainthood cause for ‘Good Samaritan’ Jesuit priest

The U.S. bishops voted overwhelmingly to support the advancement of a canonization cause for Jesuit Father Richard Thomas. The agenda item was presented by Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance. He was joined in the presentation by Bishop Peter Baldacchino of Las Cruces, New Mexico, the diocese in which Father Thomas died on May 8, 2006.

The bishops’ consultation is a necessary step ahead of formally opening a canonization cause.

This milestone in advancing Father Thomas’s cause comes just a month after release of Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic letter, “Dilexi Te,” which outlines the church’s rationale for and record of service to the poor. Father Thomas’ life reflects many of the stories of saints and holy figures to whom Pope Leo’s letter draws attention. Father Thomas is being raised up as a model at the same time that U.S. bishops are drawing attention to the ongoing crisis involving immigrants in the United States.

Kate Scanlon and Michael R. Heinlein of OSV News contributed to this report.