Fall Assembly of U.S. Bishops Convenes with a Call to Love Jesus and His Church

Archbishop Dolan offers his first Presidential address to USCCB

"You and I have as our sacred duty, arising from our intimate sacramental union with Jesus, the Good Shepherd, to love, cherish, care for, protect, unite in truth, love, and faith . . .to shepherd . . .His Church." Archbishop Timothy Dolan, President, USCCB

BALTIMORE, MD (Catholic Online) - Archbishop Timothy Dolan called the Fall 2011 General Assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), to order on Monday and set the tone for the entire conference with his first address as their President.

His opening words to the assembly, which runs through Wednesday, were those from Blessed John Paul II, "Love for Jesus and His Church must be the passion of our lives!"

This sentence punctuated his address several times in which he encouraged his brother bishops concerning their role as shepherds of the Church.

"Perhaps, brethren, our most pressing pastoral challenge today is to reclaim that truth, to restore the luster, the credibility, the beauty of the Church 'ever ancient, ever new,' renewing her as the face of Jesus, just as He is the face of God. Maybe our most urgent pastoral priority is to lead our people to see, meet, hear and embrace anew Jesus in and through His Church."

The archbishop of New York saw their role as reminding the world that Christ and His Church are One and inseparable. This is hard, he indicated, since we are living in what may be a post-ecclesial era.

This is an era where Christians are leaning toward "a King but not the kingdom," "a spiritual family with God as my father, as long as I'm the only child, and 'spirituality' without religion."

He said that in inviting the world to see Jesus and His Church as one, they must first "resist the temptation to approach the Church as merely a system of organizational energy and support that requires maintenance."

"The Church is Jesus," he said, "teaching, healing, saving, serving, inviting; Jesus often 'bruised, derided, cursed, defiled.'

"The Church is a communio, a supernatural family. Most of us, praise God, are born into it, as we are into our human families. So, the Church is in our spiritual DNA. The Church is our home, our family. God calls us to be His children, saved by our oldest brother, Jesus, in a supernatural family called the Church."

Acknowledging the trials and scandals that the Catholic Church has had to endure, he also stated, "since we are a spiritual family, we should hardly be surprised that the Church has troubles, problems . . . to use the talk-show vocabulary, that our supernatural family has some 'dysfunction.'"

He went on to say indicate that the world wants us to forget every area of Catholic teaching, save one - that we are sinners. "We profess it, too," the Archbishop stated. "With contrition and deep regret, we acknowledge that the members of the Church -- starting with us -- are sinners!

"The sinfulness of the members of the Church reminds us precisely how much we need the Church. The sinfulness of her members is never an excuse, but a plea, to place ourselves at His wounded side on Calvary from which flows the sacramental life of the Church."

The entirety of Archbishop Timothy Dolan's address, which is well-worth reading, has been published on Catholic Online.

A report by Bishop Kevin Rhoades, from the Committee of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, announced, among other things, the establishing of a new website for Catholics who are seeking reliable information on what the Catholic Church teaches about marriage. At www.marriageuniqueforareason.org such resources are available as an extensive FAQ section on the meaning of marriage, a compilation of Catholic teaching on marriage, a blog, and videos, "Made for Each Other" and "Made for Life."

The site, which was launched by the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, and invites visitors to subscribe to the blog. Portions of the site will be translated into Spanish.

The first day's agenda also contained a very important address from Bishop William Lori of the Diocese of Bridgeport and newly appointed chair for the Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty.

Bishop Lori briefed the bishops on the issues we are currently facing in America when it comes to religious liberty and the serious nature of the trends we are experiencing. Among them is a broadening and editorializing of the so-called establishment rule where, as Lori explained, we are seeing the establishment of "unreligion" as the new norm.

The bishop made it clear that the work of this committee is among the most important and timely areas the conference needs to address.

During a news conference that followed the morning session, questions were asked of both Bishop Lori and Archbishop Dolan concerning the initiatives for religious liberty. Reporters were also interested to hear how Archbishop Dolan's recent meeting with President Obama went and whether religious liberty entered into the discussion.

The archbishop said that he discussed a number of issues with the president at the November 8 meeting and that he listened seriously and intently. Dolan indicated that he left the Oval office "a bit more at peace than when I entered" with regard to religious liberty.

New members of that ad hoc committee include Bishop John O. Barres of Allentown, Pennsylvania; Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap. of Philadelphia; Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas; Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta; Archbishop John C. Nienstedt of St. Paul-Minneapolis; Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix; Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield in Illinois, Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi of Mobile, Alabama; Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle and Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington.

The following elections took place:

·Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle for secretary-elect/chairman of the Committee on Priorities and Plans

·Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City for chairman-elect of the Committee on Communications

·Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsvile, Texas for chairman-elect of the Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church

·Archbishop John Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis for chairman-elect of the Committee on Doctrine.

·Archbishop Dennis Schnurr of Cincinnati for chairman-elect of the Committee on National Collections

·Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston for chairman-elect of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities

·Bishop Richard Pates of Des Moines, Iowa for chairman of International Justice and Peace

The bishops also elected Bishop Joseph Pepe of Las Vegas and Bishop Anthony Taylor of Little Rock, Arkansas to the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) Board.

They elected Archbishop George Lucas of Omaha, Nebraska, Bishop Flores, Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City and Bishop Martin Holley, auxiliary bishop of Washington, to the Catholic Relief Services Board (CRS).

Tomorrow's agenda will include a report on the New Missal, which begins use on the First Sunday of Advent, and a report from His Eminence Cardinal Donald Wuerl on the proposed Anglican Ordinariate in America.

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Randy Sly is the Associate Editor of Catholic Online and the CEO/Associate Publisher for the Northern Virginia Local Edition of Catholic Online (http://virginia.catholic.org). He is a former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church who laid aside that ministry to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church. 

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