Last month I attended our annual meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Each November the U.S. bishops gather in Baltimore to discuss the state of the Church in our country. Baltimore is an appropriate place to come together since it is our nation’s oldest diocese. This is the traditional place for our bishops to meet. Older Americans would remember the “Baltimore Catechism” which was widely used in the 1940s and 1950s. Its name reflects that it was written by the bishops at a Baltimore meeting.
It was our first in-person meeting after two years of meeting by Zoom because of COVID. Being together lifted spirits. There was a historic moment which also lifted spirits. Archbishop Elphidoros, Chairman of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States, accepted the invitation to address our gathering. The Archbishop heads the Greek Orthodox churches in the US. The fact that he would come to our assembly and speak to us would have been unthinkable not that long ago.
One of the great blessings and changes of the Second Vatican Council was the call for a new understanding between Catholics and other Christians. The documents and the spirit of the Council have been powerful instruments of the Holy Spirit. In 1964 a dialog of respect and understanding was initiated by Pope Paul VI and the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople when they met in Jerusalem. The following year these two leaders lifted the mutual excommunications that the Pope and Patriarch had made more than 1,000 years before. Before the Council no Orthodox bishop had been invited to the USCCB and probably no Orthodox bishop would have agreed to come. I felt privileged to be present for this moving occasion and to see this fruit of the spirit of the Council. May the 20th century, which the Council made the beginning of dialog, now lead into the 21st century which may be a time of unity.
There were many other significant moments at the USCCB meeting, too many to summarize here, but allow me to comment on the document on the Eucharist which was the action of the Conference which received the most attention.
Some people expected the document to pertain to public officials and legislate who could or could not receive the Eucharist. The document could never have done that. Despite what some people may think, the USCCB is not a congress or a legislature. It cannot pass rules which bind bishops. Each bishop, as a successor of the Apostles, is independent of the other bishops and is answerable only to the successor of St. Peter, the Pope. No bishop can tell another bishop who in his diocese may or may not receive Holy Communion. Only the local bishop makes that decision. The USCCB has no authority to impose rules on another bishop.
Sometimes people see pictures of the bishops gathered in a meeting and it looks like a legislature. The impression may be that the bishops are there to vote on rules. Bishops do not view themselves as politicians. Bishops are pastors whose concern is the salvation of souls. I wish everyone could have seen how we opened our meeting. On the first morning of the meeting we had a two-hour Holy Hour with prayer, adoration and confessions. We began as pastors praying for ourselves and our people.
Our document on the Eucharist was not intended to set rules. It is a document to state clearly the teaching of the Church of the Real Presence of Eucharist — that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. It is His Body; it is His Blood.
The document is intended to foster in our country what we began in our archdiocese in November 2020. Our archdiocese had a Year of the Eucharist and the Parish from 2020-2021, now the entire country is asked to renew our faith in the mystery of the Eucharist in the life of the Church in a process which will culminate in a National Eucharistic Congress in 2023 in Indianapolis. Our archdiocesan Year of the Eucharist and the Parish was not intended to be an occasion for establishing rules about the Eucharist but to focus upon our consistent Catholic belief in the Real Presence of the Eucharist. Similarly, the USCCB document on the Eucharist is intended to present our teaching on the mystery of the Eucharist, how to prepare to receive the great gift, and how to live the Eucharist in our daily lives. May the Spirit use this document to touch many hearts.