He served as chairman of the board of directors of Catholic Relief Services (in which capacity he visited Ethiopia and India) until his election as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and he remains a member of the Board of Trustees of The Catholic University of America.
Ia menjabat sebagai ketua dewan direksi dari Catholic Relief Services (di mana dalam kapasitas itu ia mengunjungi Ethiopia dan India) sampai pemilihannya sebagai presiden dari Konferensi Uskup Katolik Amerika Serikat, dan dia tetap menjadi anggota Dewan Pengawas The Catholic University of America.