Cardinal Daniel Nicholas DiNardo, the current Archbishop of Galveston-Houston, is a conservative-leaning former president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops who has spoken out strongly in favor of life and for the rights of migrants and refugees.

Born on May 23, 1949, in Steubenville, Ohio, he was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Pittsburgh on July 16, 1977, after completing his education at various institutions, including the Catholic University of America, the Pontifical Gregorian University, and the Patristic Institute Augustinianum.

DiNardo’s ecclesiastical career has been marked by several significant appointments and achievements. He served in various roles in the Diocese of Pittsburgh before working in Rome from 1984 to 1991 as a staff member for the Congregation for Bishops and as director of Villa Stritch, the residence for American clergy living in Rome. In 1997, he was appointed coadjutor bishop of Sioux City, Iowa, and became the bishop of Sioux City in 1998.

In 2004, DiNardo was named coadjutor bishop (later archbishop) of Galveston-Houston, succeeding Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza in 2006. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007, becoming the first cardinal from a diocese in the Southern United States. DiNardo participated as a cardinal-elector in the 2013 papal conclave that elected Pope Francis.

DiNardo has held several leadership positions within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). He served as vice president from 2013 to 2016 and as president from 2016 to 2019.

The American cardinal has faced accusations of mishandling sexual abuse allegations within his archdiocese: these related to two episodes of sexual abuse by a priest in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in 2018. In 2019, he was accused of mishandling an allegation of sexual coercion made against his former vicar general, Msgr. Frank Rossi. In November 2018, CBS News reported that they had spoken to 20 people claiming knowledge of misconduct incidents, none of whom had been contacted by the archdiocese, despite DiNardo’s promise to release a list of accused priests.

However, DiNardo took steps to address the accusations. As well as calling for more transparency in the Church’s handling of such allegations, in January 2019 he released a list of names of 40 priests from the archdiocese with credible allegations of sexual misconduct over the previous 70 years. DiNardo was criticized for allowing a priest named John Keller, who was on the list of credibly accused priests, to offer Mass publicly at his parish the day after the list was released. The cardinal said he “was already scheduled to celebrate” it.

As president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) from 2016 to 2019, DiNardo also faced challenges forced upon him related to the sexual abuse crisis. In 2018, he had to postpone a vote on measures to combat sexual abuse due to instructions from the Vatican, which was seen as a setback in addressing the crisis and an unprecedented interference from the Vatican in such an episcopal meeting.

DiNardo’s positions on various issues have sometimes aligned with and sometimes diverged from those of Pope Francis. He supports the unrestricted right to life, including stricter laws on abortion. Cardinal DiNardo considers abortion to be the preeminent priority for the U.S. Catholic bishops and welcomed the overturning of Roe v. Wade, calling it a “positive” and “necessary step” towards protecting life. On migrant issues, DiNardo aligns with the Pope in favoring more protection and accepting refugees. He is less in agreement with the Pope on climate issues, seeing them as an important but not urgent.

As a participant in the 2015 Synod on the Family, DiNardo was one of 13 cardinals who wrote a letter to Pope Francis ahead of the meeting warning that if the synod focused too heavily on the issue of Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics, it could raise fundamental questions about the Church’s interpretation and application of doctrine. They also cautioned against abandoning key elements of Christian belief and practice in the name of pastoral adaptation, citing the collapse of liberal Protestant churches as a warning.

In November 2023, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo played a significant role in communicating Bishop Joseph Strickland’s controversial removal from the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, and providing some context for the Pope’s decision.