Gulf Pine Catholic

Volume 39 No. 5 www.biloxidiocese.org October 29, 2021 Catholic Debate, vote on proposed eucharistic document will top U.S. bishops’ agenda BY JULIE ASHER Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When the U.S. bishops gather for their fall assem- bly in Baltimore Nov. 15-18, it will be the first in-person meeting of the full body of bishops since November 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the bishops’ June 2020 spring meeting, and their November 2020 fall assembly and June 2021 spring meeting were both held in a vir- tual format. Topping the meeting’s agenda with be debate and votes on a proposed doc- ument on the Eucharist, “The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church,” and on a eucharistic revival initiative. During their spring meeting this past June, 75% of the U.S. bishops approved the drafting of a document, addressed to all Catholic faithful, on eucharis- tic coherence. Part of the impetus for the bishops’ work on this document and a eucharistic revival to increase Catholics’ understanding and awareness of the Eucharist was a Pew study in the fall of 2019 that showed just 30% of Catholics “have what we might call a proper understand- ing of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist.” The eucharistic revival would launch on the feast of Corpus Christi in June 2022. The three-year effort will include events on the diocesan level such as eucharistic processions around the country along with adoration and prayer. In 2023, the emphasis will be on parishes with resources available at the parish level to increase Catholics’ understanding of what the Eucharist really means. This would culminate in a National Eucharistic Congress in the summer of 2024. The Baltimore assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will begin with an address by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, papal nuncio to the United States. The bishops also will hear from Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the USCCB. The agenda also includes a report to the bishops from the National Advisory Council, a group created by the USCCB that is comprised of religious and laypeople primarily for consultation on action items and informa- tion reports presented to the bishops’ Administrative Committee. Other action items on the agenda requiring debate and a vote will be an update of the “Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines” ; a proposal to add St. Teresa of Kolkata to the “Proper Calendar for the Dioceses of the United States” as an optional memorial Sept. 5; a resolu- tion on diocesan financial reporting; new English and Spanish versions of the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults; a translation of “Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery Outside Mass” ; “National Statutes for the Catechumenate” in English and Spanish; and the USCCB’s 2022 budget. During the assembly, the bishops also will vote for a treasurer-elect for the USCCB, as well as chairmen-elect of five standing committees: Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations; Divine Worship; Domestic Justice and Human Development; Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth; and Migration. The bishops elected will serve for one year as “elect” before beginning their three-year terms in their respective posts at the conclusion of the 2022 fall general assembly. There also will be voting for board members for Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops’ overseas relief and development agency, and the election of a new USCCB general secretary. Father Michael J.K. Fuller, who was an associate general secretary, is cur- rently interim general secretary. Archbishop Gomez named him to the post in July when Msgr. Jeffrey D. Burrill resigned. Also scheduled to take place will be a consultation of the bishops on the sainthood causes of Charlene Marie Richard and Auguste Robert “Nonco” Pelafigue. Both have the title of “Servant of God” and were from the Diocese of Lafayette, LA, where Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel has officially opened their sainthood causes. Charlene, a young Cajun girl who died of leukemia in 1959 at age 12, is regarded by many in south Louisiana and beyond as a saint, saying her intercession has result- ed in miracles in their lives. She is known as “The little Cajun saint.” Pelafigue was born in France and from the time he was almost two years old, he lived in Arnaudville, Louisiana. He died on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus June 6, 1977. He is known for his decades of min- istry in the League of Sacred Heart, Apostleship of Prayer -- which is now called the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network . The 2007 Vatican document “Sanctorum Mater” requires the diocesan bishop promoting a sainthood cause to consult with the body of bishops on the advis- ability of pursuing the cause. Other items to be presented and discussed at the bish- ops’ assembly include: SEE BISHOPS FALLASSEMBLY AGENDA, PAGE 6 Several bishops pray during a Nov. 12, 2018, session of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ fall general assembly in Baltimore. CNS photo/Kevin Lamarque, Reuter