The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) gathered for its Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, November 11-13.
USCCB Elects Archbishop Paul Coakley as President, Bishop Daniel Flores as Vice President – Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City was elected as president, and Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville was elected as vice president of the USCCB. They succeed Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, the Archbishop for the Military Services, USA, and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, who are concluding their terms as Conference president and vice president, respectively. Read more here.
Migrant Accompaniment – Bishop Mark Seitz, chair of the USCCB Committee on Migration, announced the USCCB is launching an initiative called “You Are Not Alone” to focus on providing accompaniment to migrants who are at risk of being deported.
The initiative, which was inspired by similar efforts in Catholic dioceses throughout the country, will focus on four key areas: emergency and family support, accompaniment and pastoral care, communication of Church teaching, and solidarity through prayer and public witness. You can read more here.
In addition, the bishops issued a Special Message addressing their concern for the evolving situation impacting immigrants in the United States. It marked the first time in twelve years that the USCCB invoked this particularly urgent way of speaking as a body of bishops. The full message can be found here.
Bishops to Consecrate U.S. to Sacred Heart of Jesus – The USCCB approved the consecration of the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 2026 to accompany the country’s 250th anniversary.
The bishops voted “to entrust our nation to the love and care of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.” Devoting the nation is an opportunity “to remind everyone of our task to serve our nation by perfecting the temporal order with the spirit of the Gospel as taught by the Second Vatican Council,” Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, said. You can read more here.
Bishops Approve Updates to ERDs – The USCCB approved the seventh edition of the “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services” (ERDs). The ERDs provide ethical standards for health care based on Church teaching and provide authoritative guidance on moral issues in Catholic health care. The update builds on prior guidance from the USCCB’s Committee on Doctrine, which prohibited surgical or chemical interventions for so-called “gender-affirming care”. You can read more here.