2011 June - General Assembly

Bishops to Vote on Physician-Assisted Suicide Document at Seattle Meeting; Statement Says Practice Does Not Advance Compassion, Choices

WASHINGTON (June 1, 2011)—The U.S. bishops will debate and vote on a document on physician-assisted suicide at their Spring General Assembly, June 15-17, in Seattle. The document, To Live Each Day with Dignity, will be the first statement on assisted suicide by the full body of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Bishops to Vote on Revision of Charter at June Meeting in Seattle

WASHINGTON (May 24, 2011)—The U.S. bishops will vote on revisions of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People at their meeting in Seattle, June 15-17. The Charter was adopted by the U.S. bishops in 2002 in response to the crisis of sexual abuse of minors by clerics. It was revised previously in 2005. The proposed revisions would bring the Charter into line with the most recent Vatican instructions in this area, including specifically mentioning child pornography as a crime against church law and holding that abuse of someone who habitually lacks reason, for example, someone with mental retardation, is equivalent to child abuse.