Despite risks, Iraqis want Pope Francis to go ahead with visit
- Mar 4, 2021
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has canceled the U.S. bishops’ spring general assembly that was planned for June 10-12 in Detroit.
The gathering of U.S. bishops June 11-13 in Baltimore was anything but business as usual.
Representatives of lay organizations expressed caution over the steps taken by U.S. bishops to boost accountability and transparency in dealing with clergy sexual abuse, saying future actions by the bishops will determine how successful the initiatives ultimately will be.
The U.S. bishops voted June 13 to revise what the U.S. Church teaches its adult members about the death penalty in a passage on the issue in the U.S. Catechism for Adults.
Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, along with Bishop Timothy L. Doherty of Lafayette, chairman of the bishops’ Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People, and Bishop Barry C. Knestout of Richmond, Virginia, met with three survivors of clergy sexual abuse late June 12.
The U.S. bishops, after being consulted about the sainthood cause of a man who, except for service in World War II, spent his life in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, gave vocal assent June 12 for the Diocese of Marquette to continue to pursue the cause.
The U.S. bishops are slated to vote on whether to approve a revised national directory on formation and ministry for permanent deacons during their June 11-13 meeting in Baltimore.