US bishops to elect new leaders, mark abuse reform milestone U.S. Catholic bishops began their fall meeting Monday, with an agenda that includes the election of new leaders — a vote that may signal whether they want to be more closely aligned with Pope Francis ‘ agenda or not.Several of the 10 candidates to be the next president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are part of its powerful conservative wing, and have not fully embraced some of the pope’s priorities, such as focusing more on the marginalized than on culture-war battles.The USCCB also will be marking the 20th anniversary of its adoption of policies designed to root out sexual abuse and abusers in the priesthood — measures adopted amid the white-hot scandals of 2002 when The Boston Globe exposed widespread abuse and cover-up.It remains to be seen if the bishops will make another apology for the sex abuse crisis during the meeting, but they have a time of prayer and reflection in observance of the charter’s 20th anniversary scheduled.“We remain firm with Pope Francis’ commitment, ‘that everything possible must be done to rid the Church of the scourge of the sexual abuse of minors and to open pathways of reconciliation and healing for those who were abused.’” But David Clohessy, a longtime leader in the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, isn’t among those calling for a new apology: “All the apologies on Earth don’t keep a single kid safe."