Top photo caption: A prelate prepares to vote June 16, 2023, during the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ spring plenary assembly in Orlando, Fla. The USCCB’s 2026 spring assembly will be held in Orlando June 10-12, with public sessions scheduled for June 10 and 11. OSV News photo/Bob Roller
By Gina Christian, OSV News
OSV News – The nation’s Catholic bishops have a full agenda for their annual spring meeting, with topics including safe environment protocols, sainthood causes, the Synod on Synodality and the consecration of the U.S. to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will gather June 10-12 for a spring plenary assembly in Orlando, Florida.
The public sessions of the meeting, which will take place June 10 and 11, will be livestreamed through the USCCB’s website at usccb.org, according to a May 18 press release issued by the conference.
Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City will open the public sessions with his first address as USCCB president, having been elected during the conference’s annual fall meeting in November 2025.
Also addressing the bishops will be Archbishop Gabriele G. Caccia, who was appointed as papal nuncio to the U.S. in March, having previously served as the Holy See’s permanent observer to the United Nations. Archbishop Caccia succeeded Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who turned 80 in January and had served in the post since 2016.
The USCCB noted in its release that the agenda for the June assembly “has not yet been finalized and is subject to change,” but stated that votes are expected on several action items.
Among those items are a revision to the USCCB’s “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” adopted in 2002 as a number of clerical abuse scandals emerged. Commonly called the Dallas Charter, the document lays out a comprehensive set of procedures for addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy, and includes guidelines for reconciliation, healing, accountability and prevention of abuse.
Without specifying the proposed revision, the USCCB said in its release that the agenda item regards “elements of the Charter that the bishops have determined are in need of improvement or further development.”
The revision would “align with the Charter’s original intention of safeguarding minors,” while affirming the USCCB’s “continued commitment” to preventing abuse and providing mechanisms to respond to allegations, said the release.
The USCCB said its Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People – which is chaired by Bishop Barry C. Knestout of Richmond, Virginia – seeks “to balance its care of and sensitivity to victim-survivors, with an awareness of due-process, the rights of the accused,” and “pertinent aspects” of canon law and other key documents on handling clergy abuse allegations.
The press release cited in particular “Vox Estis Lux Mundi” (“You are the light of the world”), Pope Francis’ motu proprio outlining global legal procedures for how the Church should deal with clergy sexual abuse, including incidents involving vulnerable adults and procedures for investigating bishops.
In addition, the bishops will consider the potential charter revisions in light of the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s June 2022 Vademecum, or guidebook for bishops, on procedures for handling clergy abuse cases.
Also on the agenda are episcopal consultations for two canonization causes: that of Msgr. Joseph Francis Buh, a 19th-century Slovenian missionary priest who ministered to the Ojibwe people of northern Minnesota; and John Rick Miller, a 20th-century American businessman who founded For the Love of God Worldwide, a private association of the faithful promoting consecration to God through the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
The consultations are part of the Church’s established process for sainthood evaluations. If approval of the Holy See is obtained following the consultations, the diocesan bishop can convene a diocesan tribunal to examine more fully the life of the candidate.
The USCCB Committee on Divine Worship will round out the agenda’s action items, presenting portions from two texts for consideration: a new edition of the Lectionary for Mass, which provides the Scripture readings and psalm for each day’s liturgy; and the 2025 Roman Missal-Liturgy of the Hours Supplement.
At the USCCB’s November meeting, Bishop Steven J. Lopes, chair of the Committee on Divine Worship, announced that the Vatican had approved a new edition of the Liturgy of the Hours, the Church’s ancient daily liturgical prayer that blends Scripture, sacred texts and hymns for worship at various hours.
The spring assembly will also include updates on a number of additional issues, said the USCCB in its release.
The bishops will discuss the implementation and evaluation of the Synod on Synodality, as well as feedback from their November dialogues on “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” the USCCB’s teaching document on the political responsibility of Catholics.
In addition, they will explore the 25th anniversary of the implementation of “Ex Corde Ecclesia,” St. John Paul II’s apostolic constitution on Catholic universities.
Discussions will also examine Catholic prison ministry; the USCCB’s involvement with the Intercontinental Guadalupan Novena honoring the 500th anniversary of the Marian apparitions in what is now Mexico City; and World Youth Day 2027, which will take place in Seoul, South Korea.
Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X @GinaJesseReina.
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