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By CAROL ZIMMERMANN
Catholic News Service
BALTIMORE - On the agenda for the U.S. bishops' Nov. 11-13 meeting in Bal- timore were elections and discussions of key challenges in the church and the na- tion. Unlike recent previous meetings, their response to the clergy abuse crisis was mentioned but was not the primary focus. On the second day of the meeting, Nov. 12, the bishops elected Archbishop Jos H. Gomez of Los Angeles to a three-year term as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Arch- bishop Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit as conference vice president. Archbishop Gomez, the first Latino to be elected to this role, was chosen with 176 votes from a slate of 10 nominees. He has been USCCB vice president for the past three years and his new role begins at the end of the Baltimore gathering. Among the other votes Nov. 12, the action item that received the most discussion was about new materials to complement "Forming Con- sciences for Faithful Citizen- ship," their long-standing guide to help Catholics form their consciences in public life, including voting. The bishops voted to approve the additions. The second day of bishops' meeting coincided with oral arguments at the Supreme Court over the fate of the De- ferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA and bishops at the Baltimore meeting spoke up in defense of DACA recipi- ents on the floor and in in- terviews with Catholic News Service. Bishops also heard a wide- ranging report on immigra- tion Nov. 12 which included updates of policy, how pro- grams to resettle refugees, including those run by the Catholic Church have closed or reduced activity because the administration has moved to close the country's doors to those seeking refuge, and efforts on the border to help asylum cases. The bishops' second day of meetings also included a presentation of the pope's document "Christus Vivit," which was issued following the 2018 Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vo- cational Discernment. Arch- bishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia and Bishop Frank J. Caggiano of Bridge- port, Connecticut, collabo- rated on the presentation, which included two young adults. The bishops also heard that a new "pastoral frame- work for marriage and fam- ily life" should be ready for a vote by the U.S. bishops by next November at the lat- est, according to Archbish- op Chaput of Philadelphia, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Laity, Mar- riage, Family Life and Youth. He said the document might be ready for a vote when the bishops meet in June 2020 but stressed that it is not a "plan," since it is intended to be applied within parishes and dioceses. On the first day of the meeting Nov. 11, the bish- ops raised pressing issues that included the priesthood shortage, gun violence, young people leaving the church and the need to provide sup- port services for pregnant women. Archbishop Christophe Pierre, papal nuncio to the United States, mentioned some of these challenges in his opening remarks, along with the need to welcome migrants and fight racism. He also urged the bishops not just to focus on the chal- lenges before them but to consider how they could further develop collegiality and collaboration with one another. In his final address as president of the U.S. Con- ference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston told his fellow bishops that it has been "an honor to serve you, even in the difficult times." The 70-year-old prelate thanked the bishops, whom he called brothers, for the past three years and was thanked by them in return when the group gave him a standing ovation at the end of his nine-minute presen- tation. "Let's begin anew," he said, at the close of his ad- dress, veering away from pre- pared remarks, and quoting St. Augustine. The cardinal, who suffered a mild stroke earlier this year, did not elaborate on specifics of the abuse crisis in the church, particularly highlighted this past year, but spoke of the bishops' continued work of transpar- ency related to dealing with the crisis. He said the abuse measures adopted by U.S. bishops at their meeting last June are "only a beginning. More needs to be done." At the start of the meet- ing, Bishop Earl A. Boyea of Lansing, Michigan, asked for an update on the Vatican's report on the McCarrick sit- uation, which many of the bishops, by voice vote, also said they wanted to hear. In a brief presentation, Boston Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley told the bishops the Vatican has not yet pub- lished a report about its in- vestigation of now-defrocked former U.S. Cardinal Theo- dore E. McCarrick, but a re- port could be ready by Christ- mas, or in the new year. In another vote, the bish- ops voted overwhelmingly on a revised set of strategic priorities to take them into the next decade. They also discussed upcoming votes during their gathering, such as news materials to comple- ment "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship," their long-standing guide to help Catholics form their con- sciences in public life, includ- ing voting. By MARK PATTISON
Catholic News Service
BALTIMORE - The bishop's ministry and mis- sion, and how he forges com- munion, was the message in Archbishop Christophe Pierre's address to the U.S. bishops Nov. 11 in Baltimore. The "ad limina" reports submitted to the Vatican in advance of U.S. bishops' meetings with Pope Francis and curial officials - indeed, a handful of bishops were already in Rome for these visits - "provide a clear pic- ture of how the church in the United States is carrying out its mission," said Archbishop Pierre, the Vatican's nuncio to the United States. He mentioned "but a few" - in his words - of the chal- lenges bishops face as they gathered in Baltimore for their fall general meeting: "demographic changes; grow- ing numbers of religiously unaffiliated people; the need to engage young people and to build a culture of vocations; welcoming and integration of migrants, especially His- panics; continuing the fight against all forms of racism; and defending and accompa- nying the human family." Archbishop Pierre said, "Each of us exercises his own specific episcopal ministry, but we also try to work to- gether in a spirit of collegi- ality as an episcopal body. What are the strengths of this episcopal body, and how is the body serving the needs of the people entrusted to our pastoral care?" He suggested collegiality and collaboration as an ap- proach. "Do you find that you share experiences with brother bishops?" Archbishop Pierre asked. "It is always edifying to find younger bish- ops discovering a 'mentor' among the more senior bish- ops, or to hear of how 'more experienced bishops' have taken the opportunity to share some of their wisdom and experience with younger bishops in a fraternal way." Such "collective wisdom," he added, leads to the no- tion of communion. "As the 'ad limina' visits are upon us, it is good to reflect on the ways in which we exer- cise our communion with the Holy Father and with the wider church," Archbishop Pierre said. The U.S. bishops' visits "ad limina apostolorum" - to the threshold of the apos- tles - began Nov. 4 with a group from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. "The pope has empha- sized certain themes: mercy, closeness to the people, dis- cernment accompaniment, a spirit of hospitality toward migrants, and dialogue with those of other cultures and religions," the papal nuncio told the bishops gathered in Baltimore. "Do you believe that these are gradually be- coming part of the mindset of your clergy and people?" Archbishop Pierre said the question is particularly apt as, while Pope Francis has been emphasizing mercy, "paradoxically, people are be- coming more and more judg- mental and less willing to forgive, as witnessed by the polarization gripping this na- tion." Bishops can reflect on communion with the pope in a theological way, he added, but "we ought to examine it practically, namely by mea- suring to what extent we as individual and our local churches have received the magisterium of Pope Fran- cis," he added. "By now, 'Evangelii Gaud- ium' ('The Joy of the Gospel') should be the framework for efforts at evangelization," he continued. "Adopting its mis- sionary impulse and being in a permanent state of mis- sion might represent tangible signs of communion with the Holy Father, for it would show the reception and im- plementation of his teach- ing as the key to missionary evangelization." Communion also is key between bishop and priest, he said. With more priests from other nations serving in dioceses, "we must investi- gate how this has affected or is affecting the presbyterate within our respective dioces- es," Archbishop Pierre said. "Many priests are say- ing they no longer know one another; others, due to the priest shortage, are forced to live in isolation manag- ing multiple parishes," he said. "Our episcopal minis- try demands that we act as bridges for our priests, atten- tive to their life and health, spiritual well-being and their sense of priestly identity and fraternity." He asked the U.S. bishops: "Are we still zealous for the things of the Lord? While energy levels may diminish with age, hopefully our love for God and his people has in- creased, along with our grati- tude for the grace of the call."
Bishops address issues of church,
society
At their fall meeting, bishops examine a wide range of challenges
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Nuncio asks bishops to examine their ministry
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