USCCB - (Office of Media Relations) - 21 New Members Are Announced for the U.S. Catholic Bishops' National Advisory Council

21 New Members Are Announced for the U.S. Catholic Bishops' National Advisory Council

WASHINGTON (January 7, 1999)--Twenty-one new members have been added to the Catholic Bishops' National Advisory Council, a 63-member body which meets semi-annually to review documentation and offer recommendations concerning matters before the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and the United States Catholic Conference (USCC).

Joining the Council from the membership of the NCCB Administrative Committee and the USCC Administrative Board for a three-year term are Bishop Joseph H. Hart, Bishop of Cheyenne, WY, and Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago, IL.

Joining the Council as a representative of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious is Sister Kathleen Pruitt, CSJP, of Bellevue, WA.

New diocesan priest representatives, elected to four-year terms, are: Reverend Timothy F. Babcock, Rochester, MI; Reverend Monsignor W. Ronald Jameson, Washington, DC; Reverend Richard E. Zajac, Buffalo, NY.

From the thirteen regions of the Conference, those having regional elections in 1998 have announced the following new lay men and women representatives who will serve a four-year term: Region V: Sidney Shaw of Lexington, KY, and Patty Gaines of Brentwood, TN; Region IX: Duane J. Gross of Omaha, NE, and Betty Frommelt of Dubuque, IA; Region XII: Kevin Saunders of Bend, OR, and Julie French of Scobey, MT; Region XIII: Ernest D. Tsosie, Jr. of Window Rock, AZ, and Barbara C. Kozeliski of Gallup, NM.

In the At-Large category, at-large members, representing all categories of membership, are appointed by a selection committee of the National Advisory Council from names proposed by the bishops of the 193 dioceses. These individuals are selected to provide an occupational, ethnic and regional balance to the Council. New at-large members to the Council are Sharan A. Benton, Louisville, KY; Ramon Fragozo, Roscoe, IL; Melissa A. Gorman, Springfield, PA; Gladys M. Mu�oz, Traverse City, MI; Deacon Lee Pico, Cheyenne, WY; Mariette Rodriguez, Philadelphia, PA; Sidney S. Simmons, II, Jacksonville, FL.

The 1999 officers of the Council are Reverend John E. MacInnis, Brighton, MA, Chairperson; Mrs. Mary Jeffcoat, Charleston, SC, Chairperson-Elect; Mrs. Adele G. Salerno, Milford, OH, Secretary; Deacon Ronald R. Ealey, Wichita, KS, Internal Affairs; Mr. Henry W. Dwyer, Floral Park, NY, Reactive Chairperson; Mrs. Olga C. Islas, San Jose, CA, Proactive Chairperson. The past Chairperson of the Council is Mrs. Helen Boettcher of Evansville, IN.