The Making of the President: And the Nominees Are....

With 17 Days to go until the Fall Classic -- that is, the USCCB November Meeting in Baltimore -- in keeping with custom, hot off the press is the list of contenders for the plenary's marquee agenda-item: the election of the bench's presidency, to serve a term of three years.

In the body's invariable practice since its constitution in 1966, a vice-president who won't reach the retirement age of 75 during the next three years is elevated to the presidency, so barring the unforeseen, all expectations point to the ascent of the incumbent VP, Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, to the top post.

Once the presidential election is completed, the #2 is then chosen from the remaining nine candidates.

In alphabetical order, the nominees are....

Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans, 60
Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, 68
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap, of Denver, 66
Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York, 60
Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, 69
Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, 64
Bishop George Murry, SJ, of Youngstown, 62
Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien of Baltimore, 71
Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit, 61
Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, 58

If the body's tradition of the last decade holds, keep in mind that the cycle renders this a "conservative year" for the VP slot.

For more, an extended analysis on the state of leadership in the conference ran here some weeks back. And lest anyone's interested in comparisons, here's the 2007 Slate -- five nominees have returned this time, four are making their first appearance among the Big Ten, and being absent last time as he hadn't been in a decade, Chaput returns to the list.

The vote takes place early on the plenary's final public day, Tuesday the 16th. With November quickly upon us, more preview to come -- as always, stay tuned.

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