The new president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said Monday the biggest task ahead for the clergy is to stem the mass exodus of Roman Catholics.
New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who was elected last week, cited studies that said one-third of Americans born and baptized Catholics have left the fold in recent years.
However, to stop the mass transfer to other religions or sects, Dolan admitted the clergy must first set its house on order.
While exerting efforts to prevent the exodus, the archbishop maintained Roman Catholic Church officials would not be gagged on controversial social issues such as abortion, gay marriages and immigration.
The study showed that only 50 percent of young Catholics marry in church, while Sunday mass attendance had gone down to 35 percent from 78 percent in the 1960s.
He rued that people would rather fall in line for a clothing line sale than hear mass.
Dolan won Nov. 17 on a vote of 128 to 111, defeating Tucson Bishop Gerald Kicanas, who was the incumbent conference vice president.
His victory made history because the sitting VP normally is voted as the next president of the conference.
However, Kicanas was weighed down by criticisms of how he handled the case of a priest
accused of molesting more than a dozen boys.
Dolan will be conference president for three years.
The new VP is Louisville Archbishop Joseph Kurtz.
SIC: AHN/USA
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