USCCB Spring Meeting in Orlando, June 15-16

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is convening in Orlando for its spring meeting, set to address a wide range of crucial topics. The agenda includes updates on national eucharistic revival efforts, a significant vote on revising the Ethical and Religious Directives for Health Care Services, and the drafting of a new pastoral statement on persons with disabilities in the life of the Church.

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The bishops are meeting in Orlando, Florida.

Highlights

By Catholic Online (California Network)
6/13/2023 (10 months ago)

Published in Living Faith

Keywords: Bishops, USA, Conference, Catholic, Orlando, pastoral

The public meetings of the bishops will span June 15 and 16, following a day of private prayer and fraternal dialogue on June 14. The public session will commence with speeches from Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, and Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the USCCB President from the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, who assumed the role at the fall gathering of the bishops.

One key matter that may spur discussions is the bishops' vote on proceeding with the revision of a section of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, focusing on the relationship between Catholic medical professionals and patients.

According to some reports, this revision aims to align the directives with a March doctrinal note from the bishops. The note emphasizes that "Catholic health care services must not perform interventions, whether surgical or chemical, that aim to transform the sexual characteristics of a human body into those of the opposite sex or take part in the development of such procedures."

The decision on the revision follows the release of a report by the Lepanto Institute, alleging that CommonSpirit Health, the largest Catholic health care system in the U.S., is conducting transgender surgeries and providing hormone-based transgender therapies.

Another important item on the agenda is an update on the National Eucharistic Revival initiative and National Eucharistic Congress by Bishop Andrew Cozzens of the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota. Launched in June 2022 as a three-year initiative, its objective is to "renew the Church by enkindling a living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ in the holy Eucharist."

Having completed its second year, the revival has included eucharistic processions across the country on the feast of Corpus Christi, with a focus on fostering eucharistic devotion at the parish level. Additionally, plans are underway for a two-month National Eucharistic Pilgrimage starting in May 2024, featuring four major pilgrimage routes that will culminate at the National Eucharistic Congress on July 16, 2024, in Indianapolis.
The bishops will also receive an update on the upcoming World Youth Day 2023, scheduled to take place in Lisbon, Portugal, in August.
Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, chair of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, will lead a vote requesting approval for the drafting of a new pastoral statement addressing persons with disabilities in the life of the Church. The statement will likely incorporate advancements in technology, increased autism diagnoses, and changes in the discourse surrounding issues involving persons with disabilities since the bishops' initial pastoral statement on the matter in 1978.

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Furthermore, the bishops will consider advancing the cause of beatification and canonization of the Shreveport Martyrs on the local level. These five French Roman Catholic priests, Fathers Jean Pierre, Isidore A. Quemerais, Jean-Marie Biler, Louis Gergaud, and Francois Le Vezouet, were named Servants of God in December 2020. During the 1873 yellow fever epidemic in Shreveport, Louisiana, Pierre, Quemerais, and Biler stayed behind to care for the sick, while Gergaud and Vezouet traveled to the city for the same purpose, ultimately succumbing to the illness.

Other items on the agenda for the bishops' spring meeting include deliberation on a new national pastoral plan for Hispanic/Latino ministry and a presentation on the Catholic Project's National Study of Catholic Priests by Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing, Michigan, chair of the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations. The study, conducted in October, revealed that burnout and trust issues with bishops were significant concerns among diocesan priests.

Additionally, the bishops will receive an update on the Synod of Bishops taking place from 2021 to 2024, presented by Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas.