This week an OSV News contingent attended the U.S. Bishops’ Fall Plenary Assembly — if you’re short on time you can read our summary of what happened, and I’ve linked all our coverage below if you really want to dive into what the bishops talked about. Oftentimes the meetings of bishops feel like inside baseball, but they do give a barometer of what’s going on in the church at large.
I found our interview with the USCCB president to be the most interesting, since (among other things) it dives into why the bishops have public meetings unlike other bishops’ conferences, and the challenges of having them. Archbishop Broglio also talked about the U.S. elections, life issues, synodality and more.
Beyond the U.S. bishops’ meeting, we also covered a lot of ground this week on the national and international news fronts — top headlines are below, and you can find even more on our website OSVNews.com and on our social media @OSVNews.
Megan Marley
Digital Editor
P.S.: Enjoy reading this roundup? Sign up to receive our emails here.
What it takes to be a military chaplain: ‘It’s a call within a call,’ says priest
VETERANS DAY: A small group of priests serve one of the largest archdioceses in the United States. But their parish could be as far away as a military base in Japan, or be confined to serving on a warship. Father Marcel Taillon, as the vocations director for the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, knows firsthand the huge task that serving 1.8 million Catholics spread across the world requires.
BLACK CATHOLIC HISTORY MONTH:Missionary religious sister reflects with joy on her 70 years of serving in Uganda, US
FLORIDA: After hurricanes comes the hard part for displaced Floridians
LOUISIANA: Federal judge blocks Louisiana law requiring public schools to post Ten Commandments
TEXAS: Traditional Latin Mass will no longer be celebrated at cathedral in Tyler, Texas
With synod in mind, US bishops focus on advancing core mission priorities
WEEK OVERVIEW: An overview of this year’s fall general assembly of the U.S. bishops, which follows the conclusion of the global Synod on Synodality.
INTERVIEW: USCCB President: Living the virtues, listening and dialogue are vital to church, society
OPENING MASS: US bishops in Baltimore urged to beg for wisdom ‘to help those entrusted to our care’
Nov 12, 2024
DAY 1 WRAP: US bishops’ assembly focuses on the heart of Jesus after church events, election year
OPENING REMARKS: Nuncio, USCCB president reflect on Eucharistic congress, synodality, duty to proclaim Gospel
CHAIR ELECTIONS: US bishops elect Archbishop Hebda as treasurer-elect, five new committee chairs
SAINTHOOD CAUSES: Sainthood causes for Benedictine sister and disabilities education advocate get US bishops’ approval
PRESS BRIEFING: Bishops stress standing for dignity of human life following presidential election
SYNOD: U.S. bishops to consider creating task force for synodal implementation
Nov. 13, 2024
DAY 2 WRAP: Bishops focus on migration, human dignity and creation on Day 2 of assembly’s public sessions
CATECHESIS: Bishops hear update on plans to implement ministry of lay catechist set forth by pope
LAUDATO SI’: Meatless Fridays back? US bishops discuss ways to celebrate 10 years of ‘Laudato Si”
GENDER: 2024 Vatican document shaping USCCB resources on gender theory, love, human person
BISHOP: Ousted Texas bishop attacks Pope Francis, accuses US bishops of silence amid ‘false messages’
Republicans secure majority of US House seats and expected to control US Senate
U.S. ELECTIONS: Republicans secured a majority of the U.S. House of Representatives, according to a Nov. 12 projection by data provider Decision Desk HQ, giving President-elect Donald Trump a governing majority as he begins his second term in January.
WHITE HOUSE: Biden meets with Trump, his predecessor and successor, at White House
VICE-PRESIDENCY: How will JD Vance’s newly found Catholic faith affect his vice presidential role?
Experts: Church must better educate Catholics about IVF moral objections, alternatives
In vitro fertilization is a topic that received significant national attention during the past election season as candidates made it a policy issue. A costly, but widely accepted option in society for conceiving children through artificial means, IVF also involves significant moral and ethical concerns. The Catholic Church teaches the use of IVF is morally impermissible — and that’s something that’s not generally known or understood among American Catholics.
Red Wednesday to put Christian persecution in the spotlight
This coming Nov. 20 will mark “Red Wednesday,” a commemoration held annually by Aid to the Church in Need to highlight the fact that today one in seven Christians face extreme hostility, violence and repression because of their faith in Christ.
NICARAGUA: Nicaragua expels bishops’ conference’s president
PRIESTS: In Singapore, Spain and Poland Catholic communities in shock after attacks on priests
Notre Dame de Paris returns to her cathedral
Miraculously missed by burning beams falling from the roof on April 15, 2019, and waiting for five years to make it back to Notre Dame Cathedral, the 14th-century statue of the Virgin of Paris made it back home Nov. 15, accompanied by thousands of Parisians praying, singing and lighting candles as they walked their Virgin to Paris’ most iconic church, restored after the fire.
BRITAIN: British bishops will pray in front of Blessed Sacrament ahead of assisted suicide vote
CUBA: Caritas in Cuba brings ‘love and solidarity’ to victims of back-to-back earthquake, hurricane
UNITED NATIONS: COP 29: Sustainable climate financing needed for vulnerable nations, say Catholic relief experts
An unfailing treasure 60 years later: ‘Lumen Gentium’ and the universal call to holiness
CATHOLIC HISTORY: The dogmatic constitution from the Second Vatican Council, entitled “Lumen Gentium,” promulgated 60 years ago on Nov. 21, 1964, sets forth the nature and mission of the church. It begins by naming Jesus as the “Light of the Nations” (“Lumen Gentium”) and head of the church, which is his body and includes all the faithful, both the visible society on earth and the spiritual community in heaven.
Vatican bank head, experts promote faith-consistent investment funds
CNS ROME: Catholic institutions and individuals have hundreds of millions of dollars to invest but have almost no investment funds tailored to ensuring their money goes only to companies that respect Catholic moral and social teaching, said the head of the Vatican bank.
PAPAL HOUSEHOLD: Italian Capuchin succeeds Cardinal Cantalamessa as papal preacher
SAFEGUARDING CONFERENCE: Perpetrators of abuse are clever; vigilance is critical, speakers say
WEDNESDAY AUDIENCE: Devotion to Mary leads people to Jesus, to helping others, pope says
NOV. 17 WORLD DAY OF THE POOR: Vatican’s World Day of the Poor features medical care, lunch with pope
No white smoke, lay voters and the say of the king — how the Anglican leader is elected
There will be no white smoke nor a first blessing from the balcony. The election of the new leader of the world’s 85 million Anglicans won’t be similar to the Roman Catholic conclave, but King Charles III will have his say.
WELBY: Head of Anglican Communion resigns over failures in dealing with ‘abhorrent’ abuse case
Fear, trust and walking through the valley of the shadow of death
SPIRITUAL CLASSICS REVISITED: Reflecting on the simple and powerful insights on suffering and death provided by a priest trapped in Soviet Russia in “He Leadeth Me.”
