WASHINGTON (October 29, 2010) — The U.S. bishops will elect their president and vice president at their annual Fall General Assembly, November 15-18, in Baltimore.

The new president will succeed Cardinal Francis George, OMI, of Chicago, who completes his three-year term at the meeting. His successor assumes the presidency at the end of the meeting. Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona completes his term as vice president at the November meeting.

WASHINGTON(October 29, 2010) — On Saturday, November 27, Pope Benedict XVI will open the new liturgical year by celebrating a Vigil for All Nascent Human Life at St. Peter’s Basilica. The pope has requested that “all diocesan bishops (and their equivalent) of every particular church preside in analogous celebrations involving the faithful in their respective parishes, religious communities, associations and movements.”

Many dioceses have already made plans to celebrate this special worldwide vigil for the unborn. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Secretariats of Divine Worship and of Pro-Life Activities have developed resources to help other parishes, religious communities and organizations participate. English and Spanish language worship aids are available in multiple formats at www.usccb.org/prolife/papalvigil.

WASHINGTON (October 28, 2010) — Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, Utah, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s (USCCB) Committee on Migration, today commemorated the tenth anniversary of enactment of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), signed into law on October 28, 2000.  The TVPA is the landmark federal legislation used to fight human trafficking operations and to rescue and assist victims of human trafficking in the United States.

Congress has re-authorized the TVPA three times since its original enactment, in 2003, 2005 and 2008.  The TVPA again will be considered for re-authorization in 2011.

WASHINGTON (October 28, 2010) — For the second year in a row, Telecare, the television station of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, will broadcast the Fall General Assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in Baltimore. The proceedings will also be covered via the social media outreach of the USCCB on Twitter (twitter.com/usccb) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/usccb).

The telecast will air during the days of public sessions of the bishops’ meeting, Monday, November 15, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Tuesday, November 16, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. This coverage will be “free to air” via satellite.

WASHINGTON (October 27, 2010) — The Seventh Round of the Catholic-Reformed Dialogue concluded their final plenary in Henryville, Indiana, from October 6-8. The dialogue produced two documents to present to the churches, one on Baptism and the other on the Eucharist/Lord’s Supper. The dialogue is jointly sponsored by the Christian Reformed Church in North America, the Presbyterian Church-USA, the Reformed Church in America, the United Church of Christ, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.

WASHINGTON (October 26, 2010) — Members of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue in the United States approved by unanimous consent on October 17 the dialogue’s final report on "The Hope of Eternal Life." The 65-page report represents the fruit of the dialogue's four-and-a-half-year study. It explores issues related to the Christian's life beyond death, such as the communion of saints, resurrection of the dead, and final judgment, as well as historically divisive issues such as purgatory, indulgences, and prayers for the dead.

WASHINGTON (October 26, 2010) — “The Review and Renewal of CCHD reaffirms CCHD’s Catholic foundations and priority for the poor,” according to Bishop Roger Morin of Biloxi, Mississippi, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). “It also responds to concerns about CCHD funding policies and makes 10 commitments to strengthen CCHD as a faithful and effective expression of Catholic teaching and the Gospel mandate to defend the lives and dignity of those who are poor in our nation.” It builds on the teaching of Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, which urges Catholics to pursue “the institutional path … of charity.”

WASHINGTON — A delegation of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America will travel to Cuba November 3-6, 2010 to attend the opening of the new National Seminary located some 30 miles outside of Havana. The seminary is the first new religious construction in Cuba in more than 50 years.

The delegation will be led by subcommittee member Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami, and will also include Father Andrew Small, OMI, National Collections Office director for the Church Latin America, Thomas Quigley, counselor to the subcommittee, and local clergy from the Archdiocese of Miami.

WASHINGTON (October 23, 2010) — Pope Benedict XVI has named Bishop John Noonan, an auxiliary bishop of Miami, bishop of Orlando, Florida.

Bishop Noonan, 59, succeeds Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who served as bishop of Orlando until his appointment as archbishop of Miami on April 20.

WASHINGTON(October 22, 2010) — Representatives of the U.S. Bishops and two Orthodox Jewish associations discussed a wide range of ethical and cultural issues at their semi-annual meeting on October 18 at the Orthodox Union (OU) headquarters in New York City.

The challenge of attracting youth to synagogue and church worship topped the list of topics covered at this fall’s consultation, which was co-chaired by Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York, and Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld of the Rabbinical Council of America’s Joint Committee on Interreligious Affairs.

WASHINGTON (October 21, 2010) — The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is encouraging Catholics to learn about the pope—in 140 characters or less. Following the success of the week of “Pope Culture” trivia on the USCCB’s page on the social networking site Facebook, the Conference is sponsoring a similar contest on the micro-blogging site Twitter.

WASHINGTON (October 19, 2010) — Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of auxiliary Bishop Richard Sklba of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, for reasons of age. Bishop Sklba reached the retirement age for bishops of 75 on September 11.

Bishop Sklba’s retirement was announced Monday, October 18, 2010 at the Vatican.

WASHINGTON (October 14, 2010) — Pope Benedict XVI has named Auxiliary Bishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of Chicago, 53, Archbishop of San Antonio.

Archbishop-designate Garcia-Siller, a native of Mexico, is a member of the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit. He was superior of the congregation’s United States and Canadian province, “Cristo Sacerdote,” when he was named an auxiliary bishop of Chicago in 2003.

WASHINGTON(October 8, 2010)—The annual Fall General Assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will be November 15-18, at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel. The meeting will begin with Mass at 8 a.m. on Monday.

At the assembly, the bishops will hear addresses by the president of the USCCB, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, and the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Pietro Sambi. On Tuesday, they will elect the next president, vice president, treasurer-elect and general secretary of the USCCB, as well as the chairmen-elect of six committees.

WASHINGTON (October 7, 2010)—Representatives of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches have issued two new documents outlining immediate steps they can take to overcome their thousand-year separation. The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation finalized these agreed statements when it met at Georgetown University in Washington, September 30 to October 2.  The Consultation is co-chaired by Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans and Metropolitan Maximos of Pittsburgh.

WASHINGTON—The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is sponsoring Pope Culture Week on the USCCB page on the social networking site, Facebook (www.facebook.com/usccb).

Every day, starting Monday, October 11, and ending Friday, October 15, the USCCB will ask one question relating to the life and teachings of Pope Benedict XVI of the Facebook fans of the USCCB. The first person to provide the correct answer as a comment will receive a free copy of the book, Benedict XVI: Essays and Reflections on his Papacy, published by Sheed & Ward and the USCCB.

WASHINGTON (October 6, 2010)—Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation from office of Bishop Guy Sansaricq, until now auxiliary bishop of Brooklyn, New York, due to age limits.

Guy A. Sansaricq was born October 6, 1934, in Jeremie, Haiti. He studied for the priesthood at the diocesan seminary of the Jeremie Diocese and at St. Paul’s Pontifical Semirary in Ottawa, Canada.  He was ordained a priest in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 1960.

WASHINGTON (October 1, 2010)—God’s Mission, Many Faces: A Portrait of U.S. Catholics in Mission is the theme of  Mission Congress 2010, which will meet October 28-31, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Using the image of a portrait, Father Michael Montoya, executive director of the United States Catholic Mission Association (USCMA), said the 2010 Mission Congress “will bring together dedicated men and women from across the nation and around the world into a faith-filled environment to discern the movement of the spirit within the U.S. Church in mission; discover the varied colors and brushstrokes of U.S. Catholics in mission; invigorate mission identity and leadership in the U.S. Church, and celebrate the faces and creativity of U.S. Catholics in mission.”