US bishops approve 4-yr strategic plan, elect President, support migrants

(Vatican Radio) The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) are holding their annual Fall General Assembly in Baltimore, Maryland.

On the first day of the assembly, US bishops approved a strategic 5 point plan for the next 4 years, elected a new president and vice-president, and approved the canonical consultation of four causes for beatification and canonization.

Pope Francis sent a video message to the USCCB on occasion of their assembly for the upcoming ‘Fifth National Hispanic Pastoral Encuentro’. Click here to view the video.

Strategic Plan 2017-2020

The United States’ bishops approved the 4-year plan under the theme ‘Encountering the Mercy of Christ and Accompanying His People with Joy’.

Five points make up the strategic plan of 2017-2020 with the goal of ‘offering a sustained and compelling witness to the power of Christ’s love in the world’.

The first priority is ‘Evangelization’, calling Catholics to ‘open wide the doors to Christ through missionary discipleship and personal encounter’.

‘Family and marriage’ is second with the goal of ‘encourage and heal families and inspire Catholics to embrace the sacrament of matrimony’.

Third, ‘Human life and dignity: to uphold the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death with special concern for the poor and vulnerable’.

Fourth, ‘Vocations and ongoing formation: to encourage vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life, and provide meaningful ongoing formation to clergy, religious and lay ministers’.

Finally, the bishops agreed to promote the important value of ‘Religious freedom: to promote and defend the freedom to serve, witness, and worship’.

The strategic plan reads, ‘Through this work, we will encounter our brothers and sisters wherever they may be along life’s journey, offer them love and support, and in turn, meet Jesus himself who will fortify each one of us for our own journey’.

It goes into effect January 2017.

New President and Vice-President

Also on the first day of their assembly, the US bishops also elected Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston as President of the USCCB. He had previously served as the conference’s Vice-President.

Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles was elected as the new Vice-President.

Saints and immigrants

Among other items, the USCCB approved the canonical consultation of four causes for beatification and canonization: Julia Greeley, Sister Blandina Segale, S.C., Fr. Patrick Ryan, and Fr. Bernard Quinn.

They also supported a post-election statement given by Bishop Eusebio Elizondo, auxiliary bishop of Seattle, and chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, telling “our brothers and sisters who come to the country seeking a better life: ‘We are with you’”.

The document says, “We would first like to congratulate President-elect Donald J. Trump and give our support for all efforts to work together to promote the common good, especially those to protect the most vulnerable among us.”

It goes on to affirm, “We stand ready to work with a new administration to continue to ensure that refugees are humanely welcomed without sacrificing our security or our core values as Americans. A duty to welcome and protect newcomers, particularly refugees, is an integral part of our mission to help our neighbors in need.”