Brief History of the Subcommittee

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Commission on Certification and Accreditation (USCCB/CCA) was established under a mandate by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) in 1982, and incorporated as a programmatic accrediting agency to accredit clinical pastoral education and ministry formation programs and approve certification standards and procedures in 1983. Since its foundation, the USCCB/CCA accredited clinical pastoral education programs. In 1995, it also began to accredit ministry formation programs.

In addition, since its foundation, the USCCB/CCA also approved the certification standards and procedures submitted by national organizations of ecclesial ministers. Beginning in 1993, the Commission started reviewing the certification standards and procedures of specialized ecclesial ministers submitted by arch/diocesan offices. In 2004, the commission approved the first state-wide certification standards and procedures submitted by the Minnesota Catholic Education Association, for the certification of catechetical and youth ministry leaders in six arch/dioceses in the state of Minnesota.

After a study commissioned by the USCCB to review the history and role of the separately incorporated commission was completed, it was determined that there was no longer a need for commission to accredit programs to remain separate from the Conference itself. Thus, the current Subcommittee on Certification for Ecclesial Ministry and Service was established under a mandate by the USCCB in 2011, succeeding the separately established USCCB/CCA. Therefore, the separately incorporated commission voted to dissolve in December 2011.

The USCCB established the new subcommittee within the Committee on Catholic Education in 2012, with the understanding that it would no longer accredit clinical pastoral education and ministry formation programs, but focus now on the role of approving the certification standards and procedures for the certification of ecclesial ministers in both institutional (chaplains, campus ministers, etc.) and parish (DRE’s, youth ministers, etc.) settings. The reason for this change was because accreditation is an academic function and best able to be handled by other appropriate Catholic and academic accrediting institutions. 

A more detailed history of the USCCB/CCA and the subcommittee with respect to the development of professional ministry standards in collaboration with national ministry support organizations can be found in the book Transforming Ministry Formation, edited by Edward P. Hahnenberg, Marti R. Jewell, and Theodore James Whapham (Paulist Press, 2021).

By determination of the USCCB Administrative Committee in its vote of March 14, 2023, the work of the subcommittee will come to a conclusion on June 30, 2023.

USCCB Committees Represented on the Subcommittee over its lifetime:

  • Committee on Catholic Education, home committee
  • Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations
  • Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church
  • Committee on Communications
  • Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis
  • Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth

Past Members of the Subcommittee over its lifetime:

  • Most. Rev. John M. Quinn, former chairman
  • Most. Rev. Gerald F. Kicanas, former chairman
  • Most Rev. John Barres
  • Most Rev. François Beyrouti
  • Most. Rev. Earl Boyea
  • Most. Rev. Oscar Cantú
  • Most. Rev. Arturo Cepeda
  • Most Rev. Christopher Coyne
  • Most Rev. James R. Golka
  • Most Rev. Alfred Hughes
  • Most. Rev. John McIntyre
  • Most. Rev. George Rassas
  • Most Rev. Robert Reed
  • Most Rev. Jorge Rodríguez
  • Most Rev. Michael Saporito

Past Consultants of the Subcommittee over its lifetime:

  • Very Rev. James J. Greenfield, OSFS
  • Rev. Wayne Cavalier, OP
  • Dr. Linda Couri
  • Sr. Angela Gannon
  • Dr. H. Richard McCord
  • Dr. Dorothy Mensah-Aggrey
  • Sr. Maria Teresa Montes Lara, OP
  • Dr. David Lichter
  • Dr. C. Vanessa White

Past Staff of the Subcommittee over its lifetime:

  • Dr. Harry Dudley
  • Dr. Marc DelMonico