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67-610: It consisted of a staff of clergy as well as committees of bishops who discussed and sometimes issued statements on matters of national policy such as education, welfare, and health care. Its successor is the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops . In order to better address challenges posed by World War I , the American Catholic hierarchy in 1917 chose to meet collectively for the first time since 1884. In June, two months after America's entry into

134-580: A doctorate in theology and then a licentiate in canon law . In 1891 he became a privy chamberlain and member of the Pontifical family, having served as a secretary in nunciatures . Entrusted by Leo XIII with the question of the validity of Anglican orders, he led the Holy See to the negative response in September 1896 with the bull Apostolicae curae , of which he was the main architect. On

201-590: A bishop. John Burke was appointed general secretary and Archbishop Hanna was elected to chair an administrative committee whose task he described thus: "The Executive Department has to deal directly with the United States government and its numerous departments on matters that affect Catholic interests." In 1920, the National Catholic Welfare Council established a Bureau of Immigration to assist immigrants in getting established in

268-506: A certain distance from the extensive activities of Umberto Benigni ; in this attitude he was supported by voices from Germany protesting against an "integralist conspiracy". In 1911, Sodalitium Pianum departed of its own volition from the structure of the Secretariat of State. Among Merry del Val's diplomatic achievements was the signing of a concordat with Serbia barely four days before the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand ,

335-674: A diplomat; Rafael, a Roman-Catholic cardinal and Secretary of State to St. Pius X; Pedro, María and Domingo. His elder brother Alfonso was the first Marquess of Merry del Val (b. 1864) and Spanish ambassador to the United Kingdom between 1913 and 1931. Merry del Val lived in England until 1878. His mother's family owned a large villa in Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth . He attended a Jesuit preparatory school in Bournemouth at

402-407: A major conflagration. Merry del Val remained Secretary of State throughout the pontificate of Pius X, but when Pope Benedict XV , an old associate of Rampolla, was elected in the conclave of 1914 , Merry del Val was not reappointed. Benedict XV in fact appointed as his Cardinal Secretary of State, first Domenico Ferrata , who died almost immediately, and then Pietro Gasparri . Thus at the head of

469-538: A member of the administrative board, saw in the Consistorial Congregation's action "a dangerous underhand blow from Boston, aided by Philadelphia, who both realized at our last meeting that they could not control the Bishops of this country and they secured the two chief powers of the Consistorial Congregation, Cardinals De Lai and Del Val [sic] to suppress all common action." Walsh hoped to enlist

536-461: A new pope had been elected only a half-hour before. As Dougherty was leaving Rome, he was handed a decree of the Consistorial Congregation, signed by Cardinal Gaetano De Lai , one of O'Connell's friends, and dated February 25. It ordered the immediate disbanding of the NCWC. In response, the members of the administrative committee of the NCWC immediately petitioned Pope Pius XI to delay publication of

603-477: A pool of three names. The two rejected candidates were the substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State , Giacomo Della Chiesa , and Pietro Gasparri , then serving as the secretary for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs . The preference shown to the youngest and least experienced of the three was interpreted as the first defeat of the Rampolla coalition, and a foreshadowing of what would happen at

670-521: A son of the counts of Torre-Díaz who had established himself as a successful banker under his own firm, Zulueta & Co. The young Rafael was united in matrimony to one of his daughters, Josefina de Zulueta y Willcox, marrying in Madrid on 3 February 1863. Rafael was then sent to London in diplomatic mission. Thus, the couple moved into the house of Josefina's own grandfather, situated on Devonshire Place , 21, where their five children were born: Alfonso, also

737-575: A threatened suppression of the National Catholic Welfare Council due to concerns that it over-centralized power away from the individual bishops, the administrative board decided to rename the organization to be the National Catholic Welfare Conference, with the purpose of advocating reforms in education, immigration, and social action. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops took its present form in July 2001 with

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804-485: A working group to address the "confusion" that could be caused by Catholic politicians who support policies that are against church teaching. On January 20, 2021, the date of President Joe Biden's inauguration, when he became the second Roman Catholic U.S. president, the USCCB sent him a letter authored by President Gómez, which was described as "stinging" by America . While congratulating Biden on his election and stating

871-622: Is said to have accepted his election through Merry del Val's encouragement. Pius X later appointed him as the Cardinal Secretary of State . Merry del Val's writings and example prompted greater popularity for the Litany of Humility , which was for some decades incorrectly attributed to him. He was greatly responsible to restoring the privileges to Hispanic countries, which honor him for the devotions and traditionalist practices he fostered by personally signing and executing their petitions to

938-559: Is tasked with protecting. The Second Amendment does not stand as a barrier to their safety." As of 2021, the USCCB has been in ecumenical discussion with the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America (PCCNA), as well as discussing the possibility of future theological dialogue between Pentecostalism and Catholicism. The USCCB is a member of Christian Churches Together , an Interdenominational fellowship of Christian denominations and organizations in

1005-739: Is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States . Founded in 2001 after the merger of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (USCC), it is composed of all active and retired members of the Catholic hierarchy (i.e., diocesan , coadjutor , and auxiliary bishops and the ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter ) in

1072-811: The Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services . It was sued by the ACLU on the grounds that the directive in some cases caused doctors to refuse treatment of women in an emergency medical situation. In March 2012, regarding the contraception mandate issued as a regulation under the Affordable Care Act , which required that employers who do not support contraception but are not religious institutions per se must cover contraception via their employer-sponsored health insurance . USCCB decided to "continue its 'vigorous opposition to this unjust and illegal mandate'". In June and July 2012,

1139-630: The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, under which nearly 800,000 young people had applied for protection from deportation. At the 2018 biannual meeting that was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USCCB president Cardinal Daniel DiNardo issued a statement criticizing the Trump administration's policies of family separation and denial of asylum to women fleeing domestic violence. The USCCB filed an amicus brief in

1206-704: The Episcopal Conference of the Pacific . The organization is a registered corporation based in Washington, D.C. As with all bishops' conferences , certain decisions and acts of the USCCB must receive the recognitio , or approval, of the Roman dicasteries , which are subject to the immediate and absolute authority of the Pope. As of November 2022 , the president is Timothy Broglio , Archbishop for

1273-650: The Holy Office . A cause for his canonization was opened in 1953 at the behest of Pope Pius XII . He now has the title Servant of God . He was born as Rafael María José Pedro Francisco Borja Domingo Gerardo de la Santísima Trinidad Merry del Val y Zulueta at the Spanish Embassy in London , in the United Kingdom , the second of four sons of a nobleman, Rafael Carlos Merry del Val , secretary to

1340-547: The conclave of 1903 that elected Pope Pius X . By a coincidence, the secretary of the Sacred Consistorial Congregation , who was also the secretary of the College of Cardinals and therefore of the conclave, had died almost at the same time as Leo XIII. In haste, the cardinals chose as his successor Merry del Val, who had been ordained a bishop only three years before. The choice had been made from

1407-670: The American Law Institute (ALI). New Jersey attorney Juan Ryan served as the organization's first president. NRLC held a nationwide meeting of anti-abortion leaders in Chicago in 1970 at Barat College . The following year, NRLC held its first convention at Macalestar College in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1990 the USCCB hired the public relation firm Hill & Knowlton to launch a campaign to persuade Catholics and non-Catholics to oppose abortion rights for women. The USCCB issued

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1474-729: The Austrian heir-apparent, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 plunged Europe into the First World War . Merry del Val recorded that the "breakthrough" in the difficult negotiations with Belgrade came on the Feast of the Sacred Heart . The Pope and his Cardinal Secretary of State were fully aware that war was imminent. Pius X had already warned a departing Brazilian Ambassador a year earlier that Europe would not "get through 1914" without

1541-573: The Bishop was "praying that God grant him wisdom and courage to lead this great nation and that God help him to meet the tests of these times," the letter also expressed concern that his policies "would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender. Of deep concern is the liberty of the Church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences." The letter

1608-903: The Church could not make a declaration in their favor. When the British Catholic diplomat Mark Sykes visited Merry del Val to speak about the same topic, the Cardinal was somewhat more supportive. He told Sykes that the Holy See would look benignly on the project. After the death of Benedict XV (22 January 1922), Merry del Val was retained by Pius XI in the role of Secretary of the Holy Office, which he held until 26 February 1930, when he died unexpectedly in Vatican City , aged 64, during an operation for appendicitis. The funeral took place in St Peter's Basilica on 3 March 1930 and

1675-631: The Church were the two bishops, della Chiesa (now Pope Benedict XV) and Gasparri, who had been leapfrogged by Merry del Val on the eve of the conclave in 1903. But Benedict XV appointed Merry del Val as secretary of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office on 14 October 1914. For a man who had been an exceptionally young Secretary of State, the Congregation was considered a lesser though important assignment. The Pope did not appoint Merry del Val as Prefect, because at

1742-487: The Council. After World War I ended, Burke and Gibbons led a campaign to establish a permanent bishops' council . The issue of prohibition and the threat of federalization of education necessitated a united Catholic response that only an episcopal conference could provide. Thus, on 24 September 1919, ninety-five prelates from eighty-seven of the country's one hundred dioceses came together at The Catholic University;

1809-473: The European war, Paulist Father and Catholic World editor John J. Burke , Catholic University sociology professor William Kerby, Paulist Father Lewis O'Hern, and the former Secretary of Labor, Charles P. Neill , met in Washington, D.C. to formulate an official Catholic response to the war. As the group's spokesman, Burke consulted with Cardinal James Gibbons of Baltimore, who approved an August meeting of

1876-577: The Military Services, USA . The vice president is William E. Lori , Archbishop of Baltimore . The first national organization of Catholic bishops in the United States was founded in 1917 as the National Catholic War Council (NCWC), formed to enable U.S. Catholics to contribute funds for the spiritual care of Catholic servicemen during World War I . In 1919 Pope Benedict XV urged the college of bishops around

1943-457: The National Conference of Catholic Bishops to coordinate information and strategy between developing local and state Catholic anti-abortion groups and is the oldest and the largest national organization against legal abortion in the United States with NRLC affiliates in all 50 states and over 3,000 local chapters nationwide. These NRLC affiliate groups were forming in response to efforts to change abortion laws based on model legislation proposed by

2010-633: The Roman Curia, in charge of the formation of priests who are to serve in the Diplomatic Corps of the Holy See) in 1899. He was appointed Titular Archbishop of Nicaea on 19 April 1900 and consecrated a bishop by Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro , Cardinal Secretary of State of Pope Leo XIII . In 1902 he was the papal representative to the coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra , accompanied by Eugenio Pacelli . He served as secretary of

2077-626: The Spanish legation in London. His mother was Sofia Josefa de Zulueta (died 1925), elder daughter of Pedro José de Zulueta, count of Torre Díaz, of the London bank of Zulueta & Co., and his wife, Sophia Ann Wilcox, who was of English ancestry. The Merrys were originally an Irish Catholic family (the O’Hoolachan family of the County of Connaught) but anglicized their name to Merry in order to avoid

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2144-462: The Supreme Court case of United States v. Rahimi , arguing that protecting the innocent "is a proper consideration" when regulating firearms: As the Church teaches, and this Nation's historical traditions demonstrate, the right to bear arms is not an unqualified license that must leave vulnerable family members to live in fear. Abused victims are precisely the people whom a just government

2211-727: The USCCB promoted a campaign of events called the Fortnight for Freedom to protest government activities that in their view impinged on their religious liberty. On June 12, 2020, a committee praised President Donald Trump 's administration for changing a Department of Health and Human Services ruling regarding discrimination based on gender identity , saying it "will help restore the rights of health care providers—as well as insurers and employers—who decline to perform or cover abortions or 'gender transition' procedures due to ethical or professional objections." The USCCB platform on immigration reform includes: In 2017, Bishop Joe S. Vásquez ,

2278-483: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued an ill-considered statement on the day of President Biden's inauguration. Aside from the fact that there is seemingly no precedent for doing so, the statement, critical of President Biden, came as a surprise to many bishops, who received it just hours before it was released." By April 2021, the working group that was announced by Gómez proposed

2345-780: The United States and the territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands . In the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the bishops in the six dioceses form their own episcopal conference, the Puerto Rican Episcopal Conference . The bishops in U.S. insular areas in the Pacific Ocean ;– the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the territory of American Samoa, and the territory of Guam – are members of

2412-428: The United States. The budget for 2018 was US$ 200 million. Most money is raised through national collections, government grants, and diocesan assessments. The list of presidents of the USCCB, who are elected by their brother bishops, the diocese or archdiocese they led during their tenure, and their dates of service as president: The list of vice-presidents of the USCCB, who are elected by their brother bishops,

2479-508: The United States. The Bureau launched a port assistance program that met incoming ships, helped immigrants through the immigration process and provided loans to them. The bishops, priests, and laymen and women of the National Catholic Welfare Conference (NCWC) became some of the most outspoken critics of US immigration. Pope Benedict XV died on January 22, 1922. Cardinals O'Connell and Dougherty arrived in Rome on February 6, only to learn that

2546-399: The administrative board of the NCWC voted to change the name from "council" to "conference." The National Catholic Welfare Conference was used interchangeably to denote three entities: the administrative board (the term "committee" was also used), the standing secretariat with its departments, and the annual meetings of the hierarchy. Due to the disparate natures of these three entities, there

2613-617: The basis of this bull, Leo XIII confirmed the "nullity" of the "ordinations carried out with the Anglican rite", denying the apostolic succession of Bishops of the Church of England. His continued service in diplomatic posts and in the Roman Curia saw him named Apostolic Delegate to Canada and domestic prelate in 1897 and then president of the Pontifical Academy of Ecclesiastical Nobles (an institution connected to

2680-607: The chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, issued a statement disagreeing with the first Trump travel ban , Executive Order 13769 , which restricted people from several predominantly Muslim nations from entering the US and also imposed a temporary ban on Syrian refugee admissions. Later that year, the USCCB president, vice president, and committee chairmen issued a statement condemning the Trump administration's cancellation of

2747-457: The conclave. According to Merry del Val, during the conclave of 1903 , in which he served in the role of Secretary of the Conclave, Cardinal Jan Puzyna de Kosielsko of Kraków came to see him, demanding to announce his veto against Cardinal Mariano Rampolla in the name of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary . Merry del Val protested and refused even to accept the document, which in

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2814-425: The congregation recommended, among other things, that the meetings of the hierarchy take place less often than every year, that attendance at them be made voluntary, that decisions of the meetings not be binding or construed in any way as emanating from a plenary council , and that the name "council" in the title be changed to something like "committee." In compliance with the Consistorial Congregation's instructions,

2881-500: The consolidation of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the United States Catholic Conference. The initial response of the USCCB to revelations in the 1980s of the sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy was widely criticized both within and outside the church. The reassignment of clergy accused of abuse, in particular, was considered to have allowed the abuse to proliferate. By

2948-515: The decree until they could make a representation in Rome. With the permission of Cardinal Pietro Gasparri , the Cardinal Secretary of State , they then delegated Bishop Joseph Schrembs of Cleveland to take the case personally to Rome. Next, they circularized the trustees of the Catholic University of America and then the entire American hierarchy to support a petition to save the NCWC. Bishop Louis Sebastian Walsh of Portland, Maine,

3015-401: The diocese or archdiocese they led during their tenure, and their dates of service as vice-president: Rafael Merry del Val Rafael Merry del Val y Zulueta , OL (10 October 1865 – 26 February 1930) was a Spanish Catholic bishop, Vatican official, and cardinal . Before becoming a cardinal, he served as the secretary of the papal conclave of 1903 that elected Pope Pius X , who

3082-713: The drafting of a new document addressing the issue of Communion. On March 30, 2021, Bishop Gómez wrote to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), informing the congregation of the USCCB's plans to draft a document regarding Catholic politicians' worthiness to receive Communion. Cardinal Luis Ladaria , prefect of the CDF, replied on May 7, cautioning the USCCB to preserve unity in discussing anti-abortion issues and not to consider that abortion and euthanasia constitute

3149-589: The early 2000s, following an explosion of public scandals and investigations by journalists, the USCCB commissioned the John Jay Report and adopted a Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. Subsequent decades have seen the USCCB grappling with the fallout, which included dozens of court cases resulting in a financial settlements with the victims in excess of $ 3 billion. Numerous dioceses declared bankruptcy in an effort to manage

3216-528: The financial impact. The USCCB continues to publish an annual report on its progress in addressing concerns. During the 2020 George Floyd protests , USCCB president Archbishop José Horacio Gómez issued a statement citing Martin Luther King Jr. 's words that "riots are the language of the unheard". After some conservative bishops were concerned after Gómez congratulated Joe Biden for his election as US president, Gómez announced that he would form

3283-502: The first cardinal elevated by the Pope (a traditional reward to the secretary of a conclave), becoming Cardinal-Priest of Santa Prassede and full Secretary of State, in place of Rampolla, who was moved to the post of Secretary of the Holy Office. The praise which Merry del Val received from the Pope on 11 November 1903, the day he received the cardinal's hat , went as follows: "The good odor of Christ, lord cardinal, that you have spread in every place, even in your temporary dwelling, and

3350-494: The heat of the debate fell onto the floor and was picked back up by Puzyna. Puzyna announced the veto anyway, in the presence of the cardinals gathered in the Sistine Chapel . The College of Cardinals was outraged. Rampolla, according to Merry del Val, actually gained votes after the veto. Yet later, Merry del Val opined to the historian Ludwig von Pastor that Rampolla would never have had a chance of being elected even if

3417-535: The hierarchy. Representatives from sixty-eight dioceses and twenty-seven Catholic societies met at the Catholic University of America and formed the National Catholic War Council , "to study, coordinate, unify and put in operation all Catholic activities incidental to the war." An executive committee, chaired by Cardinal George Mundelein of Chicago, was formed in December 1917, to oversee the work of

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3484-426: The implications of such a large hierarchy meeting on an annual basis. The Consistorial Congregation's decree, moreover, reflected tension between Gasparri, who was supporting the Americans, and those cardinals who wanted a return to the policies of Pope Pius X . Ultimately, the American delegation won the day. On July 4, 1922, the Consistorial Congregation issued a new instruction: the NCWC could remain in existence, but

3551-503: The many works of charity to which you have dedicated yourself constantly in your priestly ministry, especially in this our city of Rome, have won for you, with admiration, universal esteem." From Pascendi Dominici gregis (published in 1907) until 1914, Merry del Val was pro-active in combatting modernism among the clergy, especially the university professors. Nevertheless, he avoided an official canonical acknowledgement of Sodalitium Pianum (in France known as "La Sapinière") and kept

3618-406: The non-territorial Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter (part of Region X). The Eastern Catholic eparchies (dioceses) constitute Region XV. The National Conference of Catholic Bishops had appointed Bishop James T. McHugh during April 1967 to lead the early formation of what was later to become the National Right to Life Committee. The NRLC was itself formed in 1968 under the auspices of

3685-405: The only grave issues of Catholic moral teaching. Ladaria further said that any new provision of the USCCB is required to respect the rights of individual Ordinaries in their diocese and the prerogatives of the Holy See. The dioceses of the United States are grouped into fifteen regions. Fourteen of the regions (numbered I through XIV) are geographically based, for the Latin Catholic dioceses and

3752-513: The organization's function and official status. The Administrative Committee was organized into five departments: The National Catholic Welfare Conference later split into the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and the United States Catholic Conference (USCC). Today it is the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) after both entities were reunified in 2001. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ( USCCB )

3819-405: The persecution of Roman Catholics that the English were wont to carry out. The O’Hoolachan branch from which Rafael descended were Irish merchants who settled in County Waterford in the 18th century before moving to Seville . In Spain, one Rafael Merry (grandfather of His Eminence) married María Trinidad del Val y Gómez de Sevilla, of Aragonese nobility. María Trinidad, the Cardinal's grandmother,

3886-502: The result was the formation of the National Catholic Welfare Council. Archbishop Edward Hanna of San Francisco was elected as the first chairman; he continued as chairman through his retirement in 1935. As chairman, he was responsible for coordinating the American bishops' lobbying efforts and response to the domestic and foreign policies of the government. The Council created five departments: Education, Legislation, Social Action, Lay Organizations, and Press and Publicity, each headed by

3953-414: The same tactics against the Consistorial [Congregation]. It is incredible that Rome does not see the danger of conceding today in order to have to concede much more tomorrow. In Rome, the American delegation learned that the Consistorial Congregation was inclined to accept the attacks of O'Connell and Dougherty against the NCWC because of a concern about a resurgence of Americanism and an anxiety regarding

4020-625: The support of Archbishops Curley of Baltimore and Hayes of New York in the effort to ward off the order to disband. As O'Connell told Cardinal De Lai, he regarded this circularizing of the bishops as a "plebiscite" designed "to annul the force of the decree. The customary maneuver demonstrates again more evidently the wisdom of the decree. Today we are in full 'Democracy, Presbyterianism, and Congregationalism. ' " And now it seems more than ever that this N.C.W.C. shows more clearly that not only does it tend little by little to weaken hierarchical authority and dignity, but also wishes to put into operation

4087-431: The time the Popes themselves were Prefects of the Holy Office . The post of Secretary was then the highest-ranking office in the Dicastery . Merry del Val as secretary was responsible for running the daily affairs of the Holy Office, in which capacity he reportedly explained the Papal policy of non possumus to Theodor Herzl and the emerging movement of Zionism , saying that as long as Jews denied Christ's divinity,

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4154-417: The time the Society was establishing what were to become five parishes and a school. He received his first Holy Communion at Sacred Heart Church on Richmond Hill, and later enrolled at the northern seminary of Ushaw College in County Durham , in northern England. He was ordained a priest on 30 December 1888 after receiving a doctorate in philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University . He later received

4221-448: The veto had not been announced, because the cardinals wanted a new direction after the pontificate of Pope Leo XIII , and Rampolla had been permanently associated with that pontificate. After his election, the new Pope Pius X decreed an automatic excommunication for anyone trying to influence a conclave with a threat or veto. After a two-month trial period, Pius X named Merry del Val pro-Secretary of State. That November he became

4288-472: The world to assist him in promoting the labor reforms first articulated by Pope Leo XIII in Rerum novarum . In response, the U.S. Catholic episcopate organized the National Catholic Welfare Council in 1919. They also created the first Administrative Committee of seven members to manage daily affairs between plenary meetings, with archbishop Edward Joseph Hanna of San Francisco as the first chairman. Headquarters were established in Washington, D.C. After

4355-422: Was an inherent ambiguity with respect to the role that the organization played. On the one hand, it served in a merely consultative role with respect to individual bishops and the Holy See . On the other, it was perceived by the government and the public at large as the official voice of the American bishops. As a result, there was often confusion both within American society and within the church hierarchy regarding

4422-411: Was contested by several bishops, including Cardinal Blase J. Cupich , the archbishop of Chicago, who said the message was drafted without consultation of the USCCB's administrative committee; and described it as an "institutional failure" that the bishops did not harmonize their message prior to its release. In what America called a "rare rebuke," Cupich released two statements, one of which said "Today,

4489-468: Was soon widowed, however, and moved to Madrid as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Isabella II . His father, also named Rafael, studied law before joining the Diplomatic service. One of his first destinations was to the Spanish embassy in Paris during the time of the Second French Empire , during which time he became a close friend of Empress Eugénie de Montijo , herself a Spaniard. It was also during this time that he befriended Pedro José de Zulueta y Madariaga,

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