When Pope Francis called for a worldwide consultation of lay Catholics about their concerns as part of the Synod on Synodality, U.S. bishops responded less than enthusiastically. Instead, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops put its time, effort and money into a national programme called the Eucharistic Revival. It was not impossible to do both Read more
We are now in the “between time”—when we can reflect on the synthesis of the first session, and prepare ourselves for the second session. I anticipate that the secretariat for the synod and the synod office of the [U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops] will be sending some resource material for us to use with our Read more
Trans Catholics in the US say they’re having a hard time retaining their faith. Apart from a small number of individual parishes, transgender people are kept outside the community. Even the US Conference of Catholic Bishops rejects the concept of gender transition. Trans people also face rebukes from fellow Catholics, which drives them away. One Read more
Catholics have taken to Twitter to share personal stories of their church experiences, and many of the tales are not positive. A Twitter account was initially created as a parody of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. But it has taken on a new meaning with two invitations for Catholics. In one tweet, it asked Read more
Less than three months after the formation of a controversial working group to deal with President Joe Biden, the nation’s Catholic bishops have disbanded the group, which produced a public rupture among the U.S. hierarchy in its approach toward the nation’s second Catholic president. According to two bishops familiar with the process, the work of Read more
In a year when most meetings have switched to an online format, the fall assembly of the U.S. bishops was no exception. The Nov. 16-17 virtual meeting involved about 300 bishops on Zoom and many viewers watching the livestreamed public portions. The two days of discussions went off without a hitch, save for the occasional Read more
Washington D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory will be the first black American cardinal. He was one of 13 new cardinals announced by Pope Francis at the end of his Angelus address on October 25th. Nine of the new appointees are under the age of 80. They will be eligible to vote in a papal conclave along Read more
Lay advisers to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) want the Holy See to be more open about former archbishop Theodore McCarrick. They want the USCCB to ask for all the relevant documents and the results of diocesan and archdiocesan investigations about McCarrick to be released. Both the National Advisory Council to the US Read more
US Catholic bishops are calling for legislative action for Dreamers. Dreamers are undocumented migrants who arrived in the US as children. Bishop Joe Vásquez says the US Catholic Bishops conference supports the bipartisan “Uniting and Securing America” (USA) Act of 2018 as it is currently written. Vásquez chairs the conference’s Committee on Migration. The Act Read more
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is praising the change to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Affordable Care Act healthcare mandate regarding funding contraception. The USCCB says the change is a “return to common sense, long-standing federal practice, and peaceful coexistence between church and state.” The change provides “a Read more