Archbishop Coakley, Bishop Flores elected as USCCB president, vice president

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City and Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, were elected Nov. 11 as president and vice president, respectively, of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The 2025 elections were notable because they marked the first leadership change at the conference since Pope Leo XIV, the U.S.-born pontiff, began his pontificate in May.

Archbishop Coakley, 70, has led the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City since 2011. He was born to John and Mary Coakley in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1955, but the family moved to Kansas 10 years later. He began seminary studies for the Diocese of Wichita in 1978. He has been serving as the USCCB's secretary.

Bishop Flores, 64, was born to Fernando Javier Flores and Lydia Dilley Flores in 1961 in Palacios, Texas.

Archbishop Coakley was elected president on the third round of voting, and Bishop Flores on the first round for the vice presidential election. He entered Holy Trinity Seminary, an institution associated with the University of Dallas, in 1981. He has led the Brownsville Diocese since 2010.

The new president and vice president succeed the current USCCB president and vice president, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, who will complete their terms at the end of the plenary assembly.