USCCB Spring Assembly 2019

As the 2020 election season heats up, leaders of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opened their annual fall meeting (Nov. 11-13) in Baltimore, Maryland, by calling on clerics to be "courteous" to combat political polarization and to advocate for certain public policies, such as legislation that could limit gun violence.

The U.S. bishops Nov. 12 adopted the sixth edition of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Program of Priestly Formation for U.S. dioceses and religious orders.

Representatives of lay organizations expressed caution over the steps taken by U.S. bishops to boost accountability and transparency in dealing with clergy sexual abuse, saying future actions by the bishops will determine how successful the initiatives ultimately will be.

While the sex abuse crisis consumed the June meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore, prelates who work on the border, such as Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, have been facing a different crisis also involving children. 

Finally, 17 years to the month after a major clergy sex scandal forced them to crack down on priests who abuse children, the Catholic bishops of the United States have set up a system designed — at least in theory — to hold their own feet to the fire if they cover up abuse.

As the U.S. bishops met in Baltimore for their spring general assembly, social media users had the opportunity to pose questions to bishops the evenings of June 11 and June 12 via the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Facebook Live sessions.

The U.S. bishops June 12 gave a provisional OK to development of a new set of strategic priorities to guide the work of their conference from 2021 through 2024.

Distinctly Catholic: The U.S. bishops' conference, as predicted, passed the implementing documents, but perhaps at the next meeting, the bishops can consider how they can overcome the polarization within the flock that is fed by the media as well as by other sources.

A nationwide third-party system for receiving confidential reports of "certain complaints" against bishops took a step closer to being implemented during the spring general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The fallout from the sex abuse crisis is still the top priority at the U.S. bishops' spring assembly, while a question for the future arises: How to win back millennial nones?

Distinctly Catholic: Barron is a master at apologetics, but apologetics is not evangelization and, in fact, to the degree the Catholic Church highlights his brand of apologetics, I will predict our efforts at evangelization will be stillborn.

Although the U.S. bishops' spring assembly in Baltimore was mostly devoted to responding to the sexual abuse crisis in the church, the bishops also considered something described as the second-most important issue currently facing U.S. church leaders: How to get religiously unaffiliated, or "nones," particularly young people, back to the Catholic Church.

A small group of protesters critical of the U.S. bishops' efforts to enact reforms in their handling of sexual abuse cases gathered outside the Baltimore hotel where they conduct their general meeting.

The U.S. bishops' quadrennial document that provides guidance to voters on Catholic social teaching during a presidential election year won't change for 2020 but will be supplemented by a brief letter and four 90-second videos that reflect the teaching of Pope Francis.

During their June 11-13 meeting in Baltimore, the U.S. bishops are looking at what the U.S. church teaches its adult members about the death penalty and they will vote about adding a revised passage to the U.S. Catechism for Adults about this.

Distinctly Catholic: It is shocking that there was apparently no effort to build a consensus among the bishops before they got to Baltimore. It is past time for new leadership at the bishops' conference.

The U.S. bishops approved a revised national directory on formation and ministry for permanent deacons June 12, the second day of their June 11-13 spring general assembly in Baltimore.

The U.S. bishops are scheduled to vote on a plan to implement the "motu proprio" "Vos Estis Lux Mundi" ("You are the light of the world") issued in May by Pope Francis to help the Catholic Church safeguard its members from abuse and hold its leaders accountable.

National Review Board chairman Francesco Cesareo offered the U.S. bishops meeting in Baltimore a series of recommendations that he said will strengthen the church's response to the ongoing clergy sexual abuse crisis

The U.S. bishops are set to vote on a 10-point statement, "Affirming Our Episcopal Commitments," in which the bishops hope to regain "the trust of the people of God."

The U.S. bishops are set to consider an updating of texts last changed in 2003 for the ordination of clergy.

The U.S. bishops overwhelmingly approved a measure that would enable bishops to apply restrictions in the life and ministry of retired bishops accused of sexual abuse or who failed to take necessary measures to prevent abuse.

Recalling "dissent'" last November over the Vatican's request that the bishops postpone voting on agenda items related to the clergy sexual abuse crisis, Archbishop Christophe Pierre reminded them that "unity prevails over conflict."

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops numbers and a 2016 survey's deeper dive give a picture of American church leadership.

The right-leaning U.S. bishops' conference reflects two papacies in which most appointments included an orthodoxy litmus test. That isn't undone in just six years of a more moderate papacy like that of Francis.

Distinctly Catholic: When the U.S. bishops gather for their annual meeting in Baltimore next week and work out implementing the Vatican's norms on handling sex abuse, they also must get on record with defending immigrants.