U.S. Bishops To Meet June 13-15 In Atlanta, Discuss Domestic And International Religious Freedom

WASHINGTON—The U.S.Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will meet June 13-15, in Atlanta, fortheir annual Spring General Assembly. The bishops will have a two-hour floordiscussion on domestic and international religious freedom. They will also hearan address by Carolyn Woo, Ph.D., the new president and CEO of Catholic ReliefServices (CRS), the official international humanitarian agency of the CatholicChurch in the United States.

Other items on the agenda include:

·A 10-Year Progress Report by theNational Review Board on the Charter forthe Protection of Children and Young People

·Recommendations by the National ReviewBoard from the study, Causes and Context ofSexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2010

·Discussion of a proposal for a specialmessage on Catholic Reflections on Work, Povertyand a Broken Economy

·A report from chairmen of committeescollaborating for the Year of Faith

·A report by Bishop Salvatore Cordileoneof Oakland, California, chairman of the USCCB Subcommittee on the Promotion andDefense of Marriage, on the subcommittee’s work

·A report by Bishop John Wester of SaltLake City, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Communications, on the Task Forcefor Communications

·An update by Bishop George Murry, SJ, ofYoungstown, Ohio, secretary of USCCB, on the development of the 2013-2016strategic plan

·A report from the National AdvisoryCouncil

Coverage of the meeting is open tocredentialed media. Sessions open to the media will be Wednesday, June 13, and themorning of Thursday, June 14. Media conferences will follow open sessions ofthe meeting. Reporters seeking to cover the meeting can download a credentialapplication form at www.usccb.org/about/media-relations/upload/application-news-media-credentials.pdfand submit it by June 1 to @email,fax to (202) 541-3173, or mail to:

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