Members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops from around the country gathered virtually June 16-18 for their spring general assembly. The public sessions of the general assembly, the votes (and tallies) of the action items, news updates, texts of addresses and presentations, and other materials were made available via livestream.
WATCH VIDEO OF ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS: USCCB website or Facebook
Earlier this year, the bishop-members of the USCCB voted to approve the convocation of this year’s June meeting in a virtual format in light of the challenges posed to meeting in person with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2021 assembly began with an address by the papal nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Christophe Pierre. The plenary also heard from USCCB President Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles as he addressed the assembly.
Assembly Proceedings:
The meeting agenda included votes on nine action items:
View the full agenda here.
Read Assembly news and updates here.
View action item outcomes here.
Regarding action item #7 – The motion to approve the Committee on Doctrine’s request to move forward with the drafting of a formal statement on the meaning of the Eucharist in the life of the Church:
During the Assembly, the U.S. bishops spent several hours debating belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist among American Catholics and voted to approve the drafting of a teaching document to examine the “meaning of the Eucharist in the life of the church.” There was also additional discussion during proceedings on June 18 regarding a Eucharistic revival initiative.
The motion to approve the Committee on Doctrine’s request to draft a document on the Eucharist passed as follows: 168 bishops voted in favor, 55 against, with 6 abstentions.
Read more:
Bishop Rhoades: ‘There’s a great need to better understand Eucharist’s centrality’ (Catholic News Service via Our Sunday Visitor, June 21, 2021)
Q&A from the USCCB on the drafting of the document on the meaning of the Eucharist in the life of the Church
(English | Spanish)
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The body of bishops meets typically twice a year for a General Assembly to transact business and address matters of concern within its civil and canonical mandates. The assembly will be conducted in public and made available online via live stream as well as live-Tweeted. Decisions normally require a two-thirds majority vote of those bishops present and voting. Decisions are decided by a voice vote but can also be done with a written ballot. Electronic means can also be used to record votes, which are available to each bishop.
Additional resources:
Review the bishops’ proceedings from the fall 2020 general assembly (November 2020)
