Transformation of the USCCB into a Government NGO

As the U.S. Catholic bishops meet in Baltimore this week and prepare to elect a new president of their conference, the organization is going through a major transition in its activities.
That transition, and how the bishops decide to address it, could shine a light on the type of leaders they will choose to guide the organization through the coming years.
At the root of this are the several different functions which the USCCB takes on as an organization.
As a consortium of America’s diocesan bishops, the conference is sometimes perceived to function as something between a mega-diocese and a mini-Vatican — though in reality it has decidedly less canonical authority than either of them.
In that sense, the conference sponsors spiritual initiatives like the National Eucharistic Revival, prepares catechetical materials, approves translations of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours, and the Bible for use in the U.S., and it issues documents and guidance on Catholic doctrine.
Second, the conference …