(RNS) — In agenda-setting speeches for the beginning of their terms as leaders of the U.S. Catholic Church on Wednesday (June 10), Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley, the new president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, Pope Leo XIV’s new diplomatic representative in the U.S., emphasized their unity with the pope and each other as they tackled some of the church’s most pressing problems.
During Pope Francis’ pontificate, the conference did not always appear to prioritize his keystone initiatives, particularly around environmental teaching and dialogue known as synodality. As church observers watched closely to see what kind of posture the new U.S. leaders might take toward Leo’s papacy, Coakley’s repeated citations of the first U.S.-born pope and references to his teachings may be signaling a closer relationship between the Vatican and U.S. church, though the meeting’s public agenda does not include any sessions dedicated to artificial intelligence or Leo’s first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas.”
“ Today, in an age of constant flux, of forced migration, polarization, disruptions, climatic and economic upheavals, artificial intelligence, and wars,” Coakley said during his presidential address to the conference, “to restore hope in such a time as this, the truth of Christ must be proclaimed all …
