By The Associated Press
One of the Catholic cardinals eligible to vote for the next pope previously served as bishop of the Rapid City, South Dakota, diocese.
Blase Cupich, 76, was a close adviser to Pope Francis and served on several Vatican committees. He's considered a moderate, having balanced upholding conservative Catholic teachings on social issues like same-sex marriage and abortion with advocacy for compassionate responses to the affected communities.
Cupich, who inherited clergy sex abuse crises in dioceses he led, helped push reforms to combat the problem. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he was ordained in 1975 and appointed by Pope John Paul II in 1998 as bishop of Rapid City. Benedict transferred him in 2010 to Spokane, Washington. In 2014, Francis — in his first major U.S. appointment as pope — made him archbishop of Chicago, and then cardinal in 2016.
The United States is the home country for 10 of the 133 cardinals eligible to vote for the replacement of Francis, who died April 21 at the age of 88. That's more than any nation except Italy, home to 17 of the electors who gather Wednesday for the Vatican conclave to choose the successor to Francis.
The cardinals will be locked inside the Sistine Chapel, where they vote in secret and silence, a process designed to be both contemplative and free from outside interference. The longest conclave in history lasted nearly three years, but it’s reasonable to assume that this conclave will be much, much shorter.
CURTIS YEE
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