U.S. Bishops to Meet June 14-15 in Indianapolis; Discussions will include Religious Liberty, Immigration, Upcoming Synod

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will gather for their annual Spring General Assembly, June 14-15, in Indianapolis. During the assembly, the full body of bishops will address issues of immigration and refugees, religious freedom at home and abroad as well as health care policy developments. The bishops will also begin consultation on the upcoming Ordinary Synod of Bishops being convened by the Holy Father in 2018. 

Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, New Mexico, chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace, will lead a presentation on religious persecution, genocide and human rights violations in the Middle East. The bishops will receive a briefing from their working group on immigration and hear from outside experts.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap., of Philadelphia, chairman of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, and Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R of Newark, chairman of the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, will lead the discussion on the 2018 Ordinary Synod of Bishops, which will focus on young people, faith and vocational discernment. 

The bishops will also discuss and vote on whether to establish the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty as a permanent USCCB committee. Other items considered for discussion and votes are: the revised Guidelines for the Celebration of the Sacraments with Persons with Disabilities, a collection of blessings in Spanish (the Bendicional: Sexta Parte), and a new translation of the Order of Blessing the Oil of Catechumens and of the Sick and of Consecrating the Chrism.

The Wednesday evening Mass will be moment of prayer and penance for the bishops as they respond to the call from Pope Francis for an international Day of Prayer to pray for the survivors of clerical sex abuse.   

Coverage of the meeting is open to credentialed media. Sessions open to the media will be Wednesday, June 14, and the morning of Thursday, June 15. Media conferences will follow open sessions of the meeting as time allows. Reporters seeking tocover the meeting can download a credential application form at: www.usccb.org/about/public-affairs/upload/application-news-media-credentials.pdfand submit it by June 9 to @emailor mail to:

June Meeting Credentials
Office of Public Affairs
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Washington, DC 20017-1194
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Keywords: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, June meeting, Spring General Assembly, USCCB, president, Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, Bishop Oscar Cantú, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, Synod of Bishops, marriage, family, youth, young adults, Pope Francis, Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, immigration, refugees, sacraments, persons with disabilities, Bendicional, Chrism

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