by Helen Hull Hitchcock

“Love for Jesus and His Church must be the passion of our lives!” With these words Archbishop Timothy Dolan began his first presidential address to the bishops of the United States at the beginning of the plenary meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in Baltimore November 14-16.

“You and I have as our sacred duty arising from our intimate sacramental union with Jesus, the Good Shepherd, to love, cherish, care for, protect, unite in truth, love, and faith ... to shepherd ... His Church”, he said. “You and I believe with all our heart and soul that Christ and His Church are one.

“That truth has been passed on to us from our predecessors, the apostles, especially Saint Paul, who learned that equation on the Road to Damascus, who teaches so tenderly that the Church is the bride of Christ, that the Church is the body of Christ, that Christ and His Church are one.”

Archbishop Dolan stressed the urgency of proclaiming this truth, in the face of serious problems, both external and internal: “our most pressing pastoral challenge today is to reclaim that truth, to restore the luster, the credibility, the beauty of the Church ‘ever ancient, ever new’, renewing her as the face of Jesus, just as He is the face of God. Maybe our most urgent pastoral priority is to lead our people to see, meet, hear, and embrace anew Jesus in and through His Church.”

New Nuncio to the United States

The new apostolic nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, whose appointment was announced October 19, was introduced to the assembly at the opening of their meeting. In his address to the bishops, he said, “Despite the many challenges you may encounter today in modern society, the Holy Father is putting great hope in the Church in this country for the future of the Universal Church”.

Archbishop Viganò, 70, succeeds Archbishop Pietro Sambi, who died in July. He has served in the Vatican’s diplomatic service and in the Secretariat of State, and his most recent position was as the second in command of the commission that runs the government of the Vatican city-state.

Religious Liberty

The bishops showed their determination to overcome recently intensified government intrusion into key issues involving religious liberty.

The active response by the bishops to undermining essential moral and ethical principles — external threats to the Church — is most strikingly evidenced by the creation in September of a new Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty, announced by Archbishop Dolan.

Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Connecticut, was named chairman of the new committee.

Other members are Bishop John O. Barres of Allentown; Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap. of Philadelphia; Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville; Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta; Archbishop John C. Nienstedt of St. Paul-Minneapolis; Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix; Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois; Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi of Mobile; Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle; and Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington.

In his address to the USCCB on Monday, November 14, Bishop Lori stressed the need to focus on both “the Church’s teaching on human dignity and religious liberty, a dignity and freedom inscribed on the human heart and revealed fully in Christ” and the “heritage bequeathed by the Founding Fathers: a bold Declaration of Independence that recognizes inherent human rights, ‘endowed by their Creator’; and the Constitution with its Bill of Rights that accords a certain primacy to our freedom to respond to that Creator, in every aspect of our lives, without undue govern- ment interference, along with the indispensable adjuncts of freedom of speech and assembly”.

Bishop Lori called for the active involvement of priests and laity, and thanked his brother bishops for “seeing the urgency of defending religious liberty for our Church and for all believers”, and said that he hopes that “the Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty will be of greatest service to all of us in our dioceses, in our role as teachers, as pastors, as lovers of truth and freedom — as watchmen!”

(Bishop Lori’s complete address is accessible on the USCCB website.)

During a press conference, Archbishop Dolan reported that he had met with President Barack Obama a week before the USCCB meeting. They discussed religious liberty issues in their “off-the-record” conversation, Archbishop Dolan said, and described the meeting as very cordial.

Memorials for Blessed John Paul II and Marianne Cope

As anticipated, the bishops voted overwhelmingly to add an optional memorial for Blessed John Paul II to the liturgical calendar for the United States. His feast will be observed on October 22, the date of his assuming the papacy.

The bishops also voted to add Blessed Marianne Cope (1838-1918) to the official US calendar; though the date for her feast to be observed is not yet determined. Sister Marianne, then superior of the Sisters of St. Francis of Syracuse, New York, went to Hawaii in 1883 to work among lepers with Blessed Damien of Moloka’i, and continued this work long after his death. She was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in May 2005. On December 7, it was announced that a second miracle was accepted by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the final step before a declaration of canonization by the pope, which is expected.

Updates on New Missal

Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Divine Worship (BCDW), presented an update on the use of the new translation of the Roman Missal, which was introduced in US parishes on November 27, the first Sunday of Advent.

Archbishop Aymond reported that revised translations for the blessing of oils used during Holy Week have been delayed, but are expected to be received before Holy Week; and that an interim version of the Eucharistic Prayers for Masses with Children has already been published. (These Eucharistic Prayers, for use only at Masses where the congregation is made up of young children, are not a completely new translation, but they do include the revised translations of the Preface Dialogue, Sanctus, words of institution, Memorial Acclamations, and Concluding Doxology.)

He also responded to questions that have arisen about using the new texts of the Roman Missal for other rites. The responses (e.g., “and with your spirit”), the Confiteor (“I confess”), the Creed, the Lamb of God, and the dismissal are to be used in any other rituals where these occur, even though new translations of these rites have not yet been done. The new Missal collects (opening prayers) are also to be used at funeral Masses, he said.

The new collects may also be used at the end of the Liturgy of the Hours, Archbishop Aymond said, although the collects in the current books may still be used. He also reported that the status of the Liturgy of the Hours is under discussion by the committee — including use of the Grail Psalms and other scripture translations.

In response to a question from Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Houston about administering Holy Communion in nursing homes, where some older people may have difficulties in making the proper responses, Archbishop Aymond said that “the guideline is to use the new translation, but pastoral practice may dictate [being] more flexible on that in certain circumstances”.

In response to a question from Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs about very elderly priests continuing to use the 1974 translation, Archbishop Aymond replied “that it must be most extraordinary for a bishop to give that permission, and the Mass should not be celebrated publicly”. He said that any bishop who is thinking about this should check with Monsignor Rick Hilgartner at the BCDW Secretariat, who “will be able to provide some further direction for you. But it should be seen as a very serious exception”.

Archbishop Aymond said that a summary of the points he made will be sent to bishops, and that “we are expecting very soon to have from the Holy See a decree stating all of this. We have received this verbally, but we do expect that there will be a decree coming very soon”.

Anglican Ordinariate Developments

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Washington, DC, announced that the new Anglican Ordinariate will be established for the United States on January 1, 2012, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, at which time the leader of the ordinariate (who may be either a priest or bishop) will be named. Cardinal Wuerl heads the USCCB ad hoc committee on the Ordinariate, designated to lead efforts in the United States to receive Anglican groups into the Catholic Church, allowing them to retain some elements of Anglican liturgical practices. It stems from the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, issued by Pope Benedict XVI in November 2009, which authorized the creation of “ordinariates”, geographic regions similar to dioceses but typically national in scope, similar to the Archdiocese for the Military.

Cardinal Wuerl also announced that Bishop Kevin Vann of Fort Worth was appointed by the Vatican as Ecclesiastical Delegate for the “Pastoral Provision”, through which married Anglican priests become diocesan priests in the Catholic Church. The “Pastoral Provision” was created by the Holy See in 1980, under the jurisdiction of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Pastoral Provision is separate from the ordinariate, although they will work closely together.

There are currently several parishes that have been established under the terms of the Pastoral Provision, which at that time envisioned admitting both individuals (to be re-ordained as Catholic priests) and groups that “may retain certain elements of the Anglican liturgy”.

In the light of the creation of the ordinariate, further clarifications about these matters will doubtless soon be forthcoming.

Other Actions

Other items on the bishops’ packed two-day agenda included reports on the Conference’s restructuring plans, setting priorities for coming years, reviewing financial plans, and election of new USCCB committee members. (Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle was chosen as USCCB Secretary-elect, to assume office after the 2012 November meeting.)

The bishops also established a Subcommittee on Health Care issues, which will serve under the Committee on Doctrine. They were informed about the new activities that have been initiated for strengthening marriage (notably online resources on the USCCB web site). In addition to the press conferences following the main sessions, a special press conference was held to report on Project Rachel, the post-abortion healing ministry that is now overseen by the USCCB Pro-life Activities Committee.

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Helen Hull Hitchcock and Susan Benofy attended all sessions of the USCCB conference that were open to the press.