As you can see, Archbishop-elect Wenski is getting most of the coverage on these pages-most of that is because he is my bishop. However, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, also made another appointment on these shores this morning. Our German Shepherd appointed Bishop Thomas Paprocki, Auxiliary of the Archdiocese of Chicago, as Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield, IL. Here’s what Rocco had to say over at Whispers.

At the helm of the 160,000-member Springfield church — but a fraction of the 800,000-member Chitown vicariate he now oversees — Paprocki succeeds now-Archbishop George Lucas, who was promoted to Omaha last June.

He might be celebrated on the legal listservs for his skills with books and folks alike, but among a far bigger crowd at home in Chicagoland, the prelate dubbed “Papo” has racked up a following as the polyglot, marathon-running hockey devotee who occasionally tends practice goal for the Blackhawks, keeps his car littered with Nickelback and Linkin Park CDs to discern his next round of Confirmation homilies… and above all, is known for a particular devotion to Coldplay. (…hence the earlier clip… that said, those who interpreted the video as “pop rock” and reached the conclusion that way were pretty clever.)

A rare breed of spirit, style and substance — and, along the same lines, a favored son of Joseph Bernardin and Francis George both — despite his junior status, Paprocki famously bested Archbishop Raymond Burke for the chair of the USCCB Committee on Canonical Affairs at the 2007 November Plenary, outscoring the now-”chief justice” by a margin of 3-to-2 (138-95). Lest anyone presumes a deviance from Burke-style orthodoxy, however, the bench’s lead jurist dropped some jaws at the bishops’ 2008 meeting by raising the specter of shuttering Catholic hospitals nationwide were the incendiary Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) — then a top-shelf fear of the bishops in the wake of President Obama’s election — to become law. At last year’s Fall Classic, the canonical chair made another memorable turn, reading from Code in pitch-perfect Latin — the most extensive exposure the mother-tongue’s had on the Floor in memory.

Early this evening, Cardinal Francis George, Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) released the following statement regarding the current health care reform bill up for consideration by the Congress of the United States (COTUS). The bill, in its current language, does not address the issues raised by the Bishops over the last several months. (Emphasis mine)

The Catholic Bishops of the United States have long and consistently advocated for the reform of the American health care system. Their experience in health care and in Catholic parishes has acquainted them with the anguish of mothers who are unable to afford prenatal care, of families unable to ensure quality care for their children, and of those who cannot obtain insurance because of preexisting conditions.

Throughout the discussion on health care over the last year, the bishops have advocated a bipartisan approach to solving our national health care needs. They have urged that all who are sick, injured or in need receive necessary and appropriate medical assistance, and that no one be deliberately killed through an expansion of federal funding of abortion itself or of insurance plans that cover abortion. These are the provisions of the long standing Hyde amendment, passed annually in every federal bill appropriating funds for health care; and surveys show that this legislation reflects the will of the majority of our fellow citizens. The American people and the Catholic bishops have been promised that, in any final bill, no federal funds would be used for abortion and that the legal status quo would be respected.