International News

Liturgy Items Dominate Bishops’ Slate

WASHINGTON (CNS) – Liturgical matters will take center stage on the agenda of action items at the fall general meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), to be held Nov. 10-13 in Baltimore.

There will be five liturgical items up for consideration. All are subject to amendments from bishops. All but one require approval of two-thirds of the bishops, followed by final approval from the Vatican.

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., who is president of the USCCB, will deliver his first presidential address. He was elected to a three-year term last November. Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the U.S, also will address the assembly.

During the meeting, the bishops will choose a new secretary-elect for the USCCB and vote for the chairmen-elect of five committees.

A number of presentations will be made, including one on underserved communities and Catholic schools and another on a recent pilgrimage of prayer for peace in the Holy Land.

The liturgical items up for consideration:

• A revised translation of the ritual book “Dedication of a Church and Altar,” used whenever a new church is built or when a new altar is made.

• A first-ever official English translation of the ritual book “Exorcisms and Related Supplication,” revised after Vatican Council II.

• A supplement to the Liturgy of the Hours of an English translation of the prayers used for the feast days of saints who have been added to the general calendar since 1984.

• Modifications to the Revised Grail Psalms, originally approved in 2010 by the Vatican.

The fifth liturgy-related item would authorize rewriting for later approval guidelines from its 1995 document “Guidelines for the Celebration of the Sacraments with Persons with Disabilities.”

Other items to be addressed include the 2015 USCCB budget, the 2016 diocesan assessment and a proposal to proceed on a revision to the “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services.”