WASHINGTON (CNS) – The U.S. bishops will consider whether to approve a new introductory note and a limited revision of their quadrennial statement on political responsibility during their Nov. 16-19 fall general assembly in Baltimore, Md.
The statement, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” is reissued every four years and takes into account the latest issues taking center stage in the political arena. The document, which in general calls for Catholic voters to consider the common good when going to the polls, has been released before every presidential election for almost four decades.
What a U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) news release described as “a limited revision” and new introductory note for “Faithful Citizenship” were prepared by a working group led by Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, vice president of the USCCB.
The bishops also will discuss and vote on a proposed formal statement on pornography, “Create in Me a Clean Heart: A Pastoral Response to Pornography.” The bishops had given their approval a few years ago to craft a statement on the subject.
They are scheduled to discuss and vote on a proposal to take up a one-time national collection to fund the completion of the Trinity Dome in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. No structural work is needed, but shrine officials have been in planning meetings about the ornamentation of the mosaics on the underside of the dome, visible from within the shrine.
Three canonization causes also will go before the bishops for the canonical consultation required to advance their causes:
- Father Aloysius Ellacuria was a 20th-century Claretian Missionary priest from the Basque region of Spain who spent much of his priestly ministry in the American Southwest. He was regarded as a mystic who urged spreading the message of Our Lady of Fatima.
- Sister Ida Peterfy was the Slovak-Hungarian-born founder of the Society Devoted to the Sacred Heart.
- Antonio Cuipa, who along with more than 80 “companions,” was martyred for the faith in colonial Florida between 1549 and 1706.a