U.S. Bishops General Assembly — November 12-15 

The public sessions of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) 2012  November General Assembly in Baltimore concluded on November 14.  You can catch up on the bishops' actions at the meeting by reviewing video-on-demand of the public sessions and reading through the tweets below. You will also find links to related USCCB  news releases and coverage from Catholic News Service on this page. Links to the agenda, speeches, votes and other material are  posted in the right hand column of this page.

Latest News Releases & CNS Coverage

Bishops urged to broaden support for national collections

By Dennis Sadowski
Catholic News Service

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- A decline in diocesan participation in national collections has cost programs benefiting from the collections about $8.7 million since 2009, statistics from the Office of National Collections at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops show.

- FULL STORY

Bishops agree work should begin on revision of Liturgy of the Hours

By Patricia Zapor
Catholic News Service

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Just a year after U.S. Catholics began using the new English translation of the Roman Missal at Masses, the bishops agreed Nov. 13 to have work begin on a revision of the Liturgy of the Hours

- FULL STORY

USCCB moves to develop comprehensive public affairs strategy

By Dennis Sadowski
Catholic News Service

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- In an effort to strengthen its communications and public relations efforts, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved the hiring of a director of public affairs as efforts begin to reorganize the conference's Communications Department. The position would work to unify messages on the activities and stances of the USCCB -- not individual dioceses or bishops -- and better carry out church campaigns related to the new evangelization, said Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, USCCB president.

- FULL STORY

Bishops approve $220 million budget, add military services collection

By Dennis Sadowski
Catholic News Service

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a 2013 budget of $220.4 million and agreed to add a national collection for the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services.

The vote was 200-24 with nine abstentions on the budget. The budget for 2013 represents a 1.3 percent increase from 2012. The new collection for the military archdiocese would begin in 2013. Under the plan, the collection would be taken voluntarily in parishes every three years.

- FULL STORY

Bishops approve exhortation encouraging greater use of penance

By Mark Pattison
Catholic News Service

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- The U.S. bishops Nov. 13 overwhelmingly approved an exhortation encouraging Catholics to take advantage of the sacrament of penance, also known as reconciliation.

The vote, which required approval of two-thirds of the bishops, was 236-1.

The text was prepared by the bishops' Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, chaired by Bishop David L. Ricken of Green Bay, Wis.

-FULL STORY

US bishops endorse sainthood cause of Catholic Worker's Dorothy Day

By Mark Pattison
Catholic News Service

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- The U.S. bishops, on a voice vote, endorsed the sainthood cause of Dorothy Day, the co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement, who was famously quoted as saying, "Don't call me a saint. I don't want to be dismissed so easily." The endorsement came at the end of a canonically required consultation that took place Nov. 13, the second day of the bishops' annual fall general assembly in Baltimore. - FULL STORY

Proposed economic message fails; opponents say more consultation needed

By Patricia Zapor
Catholic News Service

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- The U.S. bishops' effort to send a pastoral message of hope in trying economic times came up short of the votes needed Nov. 13, after concerns were raised about its limitations, its expedited process and whether it actually was something that they would use to reach out to people. With the vote of 134 to 85 and nine abstentions falling short of the 152 needed for the two-thirds required for passage, "The Hope of the Gospel in Difficult Times: A Pastoral Message on Work, Poverty and the Economy" was set aside on the second day of the bishops' annual fall general assembly in Baltimore.

- FULL STORY

Bishops Adopt Message on Confession, 2013-2016 Strategic Plan, Approve Canonical Step for Dorothy Day Sainthood Cause

BALTIMORE—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a message inviting Catholics to more frequent participation in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, approved their 2013-1016 strategic plan, and advanced the canonization cause of Dorothy Day during their annual Fall General Assembly in Baltimore, November 13.

- NEWS RELEASE

U.S. Bishops’ Migration Chairman Urges President Obama And Congress To Enact Comprehensive Immigration Reform

BALTIMORE— Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, chairman of USCCB's Committee on Migration, urged President Barack Obama and the newly elected Congress to work together to enact comprehensive immigration reform. Archbishop Gomez issued the statement during the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Fall General Assembly, November 13 in Baltimore.

- NEWS RELEASE

CCHD's Bernardin New Leadership Award winner keeps Christ at the center

By Dennis Sadowski
Catholic News Service

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- For Stanford University history major Karl Kumodzi, when injustice cries out Christians have a responsibility to act.

From aiding "unhoused" people in Palo Alto, Calif., where Stanford is located, to working with his mother in Las Vegas to establish a foundation to help educate Togolese students, Kumodzi finds that working to overcome the unpleasantness of injustice is what Catholics are called to do.

A refugee from Togo as a year-old child with his political activist mother in 1993, Kumodzi said it is God who sets the agenda in his life.

For his work, Kumodzi, 20, was honored by the U.S. bishops' Catholic Campaign for Human Development Nov. 12 with the Cardinal Joseph Bernardin New Leadership Award during the U.S. bishops' annual fall general assembly in Baltimore.

The award, named for the late Chicago cardinal, has been presented annually since 1998 to a young adult working to empower others and respond to injustice in his or her community.

- FULL STORY

Committees to prepare document on bishops' use of new technologies

By Dennis Sadowski
Catholic News Servic
e

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- The chairmen of four U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' committees will begin work soon on drafting a document that reiterates the teaching authority of local bishops while urging them to use new technologies to share Catholic theology. The end result is expected to complement a 20-year-old document on the teaching authority of diocesan bishops, said Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, chairman of the bishops' Committee on Doctrine.

The bishops Nov. 12 agreed in a voice vote to the appointment of a working group that includes the chairmen of the committees on doctrine, evangelization and catechesis, and canonical affairs and church governance to draft the document. No timeline for development of the document was announced.

- FULL STORY

Bishops Approve Document On Preaching, New Collection For Military, 2013 Budget At General Assembly

BALTIMORE—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) adopted a new document of preaching, "Preaching the Mystery of Faith: The Sunday Homily," and voted to create a new National Collection to support the Archdiocese of Military Services at their annual Fall General Assembly in Baltimore, November 13.

- NEWS RELEASE

Archbishop says US church must 'redouble' efforts on marriage issue

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Just shy of a week after laws permitting same-sex marriage passed in three states and voters in a fourth rejected an amendment to define marriage as a union of one man and one woman, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone said, "Tuesday was a disappointing day for marriage."

The chairman of the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage told the U.S. bishops Nov. 12 at their annual fall general assembly in Baltimore that traditional marriage also faces probable challenges on the judicial front.

- FULL STORY

Efforts to promote religious liberty will not end, archbishop says

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- The work of defending religious liberty will continue more robustly and without end in the face of growing challenges, said the chairman of the U.S. bishops' Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty.

Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, told his fellow bishops during the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that "whatever setbacks or challenges in the efforts to defend religious liberty we may be experiencing, we're going to stay the course."

- FULL STORY

Bishops Vote for New Treasurer, USCCB Committee Chairmen and CRS Board Members at General Meeting

BALTIMORE—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops chose a new treasurer-elect, along with the chairmen-elect of five committees and new members of the board of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) as the bishops met for their November 12-15 Fall General Assembly.

- NEWS RELEASE

Cardinal challenges bishops to undergo their own conversion, renewal

BALTIMORE (CNS) --Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. bishops' conference, challenged his brother bishops to undergo their own conversion and renewal.

One characteristic of this renewal is the sacrament of penance, Cardinal Dolan said.

- FULL STORY

US bishops, Catholic bloggers discuss how tweets, blogs help evangelize

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- A group of U.S. bishops and Catholic bloggers discussed -- and tweeted about -- how to use social media to spread the Gospel message during a Nov. 11 session prior to the start of the U.S. bishops' annual general assembly in Baltimore.

In the nearly three-hour session, the group of two dozen bishops and even more bloggers talked about the challenges in keeping up with the all-pervasive social media but also acknowledged the absolute necessity of doing so in order to reach people and connect them more deeply with their faith -- or put simply: to evangelize.

- FULL STORY

Report Finds Catholics Active in Social Media, Room to Grow for Church’s Online Presence

BALTIMORE—Sixty-two percent of adult U.S. Catholics, representing an estimated 36.2 million people, have a profile on Facebook; 58 percent of Catholics age 30 and under share content such as pictures, articles and comments at least once a week on social media; and nearly a third of all surveyed said they would like their pastors and bishops to blog, according to a newly-released study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University.

- NEWS RELEASE

Bishops To Vote On Canonical Step For Dorothy Day Canonization

WASHINGTON—The U.S. bishops will engage in a canonical consultation regarding the cause for canonization of Dorothy Day, a pacifist and convert to Catholicism from New York City.

This consultation will take place during the bishops' General Assembly November 12-15 in Baltimore.

Dorothy Day dedicated her life fighting for justice for the homeless in New York City and was co-founder the Catholic Worker Movement. 

- NEWS RELEASE

Internal matters top agenda of bishops' fall assembly in Baltimore

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Statements on preaching and ways that bishops can respond using new technologies to modern-day challenges to their teaching authority are among the items the U.S. bishops will consider when they gather in Baltimore for their annual fall assembly. Set for Nov. 12-15, the assembly also will consider a statement on work and the economy proposed by the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development as a way to raise the profile of growing poverty and the struggles that unemployed people are experiencing.

- FULL STORY

Bishops to consider new document on preaching at fall meeting

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- "My dad used to say, 'I know what happened 2,000 years ago. I need to know how to live my life today.'" These words, from Archbishop Robert J. Carlson of St. Louis, get to the heart of a new proposed document on preaching to be considered by the U.S. bishops at the fall general meeting in November. The document, "Preaching the Mystery of Faith: The Sunday Homily," encourages preachers to connect the Sunday homily with people's daily lives.

- FULL STORY