Thematic Framework of the 2021-2024 USCCB Strategic Plan

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Thematic
 Framework
  of the 2021-2024
USCCB Strategic Plan
Thematic Framework of the
2021–2024 USCCB
Strategic Plan
    T
            he Gospel of Christ and the teach-           the provision of inputs by bishops on the
            ings of his Church guide the work            2021-24 USCCB Strategic Priorities. These
            of the United States Conference of           inputs were used to draft Strategic Priorities,
    Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The work of the            which were provisionally approved by the
    Conference is rooted in three general mission        full body of bishops at the June 2019 General
    goals and organized into three key areas of          Meeting and then fully approved at the
    responsibility: (1) to act collaboratively and       November 2019 General Meeting. This was
    consistently on vital issues confronting the         followed by the drafting of operational plans
    Church and society; (2) to foster communion          by the USCCB committees, subcommittees
    with the Church in other nations, within the         and departments that began in July 2019
    Church universal, under the leadership of its        and was originally completed in January
    supreme pastor, the Bishop of Rome; and (3)          2020. Operational plans were submitted
    to offer appropriate assistance to each bishop       with the intention of the presentation of the
    in fulfilling his particular ministry in the local   final version before the body of bishops for
    Church. This report is a window into the             their approval in November 2020 at their
    2021-2024 USCCB Strategic Plan and an                November plenary.
    invitation to join the work of the Church at
    the national level in the United States.             The theme chosen for the 2021-2024 Strategic
                                                         Plan, “Created Anew by the Body and Blood
    Developing a comprehensive strategic plan for        of Christ: Source of Our Healing and Hope”
    an organization that works on and addresses          emerged as the result of listening sessions
    such a wide breadth of issues is a significant       with bishops, the National Advisory Council,
    undertaking. The 2021-2024 USCCB Strategic           and groups of priests, religious, and lay
    Plan includes more than 235 objectives and           people. The groups were asked to reflect on
    869 individual activities, each one compre-          the challenges and opportunities facing the
    hensive and complex in their own right.              Church in the four years ahead. The most
    The work is carried out by approximately 45          commonly heard and heavily discussed issues
    committees, subcommittees and departments            among the groups naturally formed the over-
    at the USCCB. The strategic plan invites more        arching theme of the strategic plan that will
    than 1,800 partners—individuals and organi-          guide the USCCB for the next four years.
    zations—from within the Conference and the
    broader community of faith into a collabora-         In March 2020, shortly after the operational
    tion that serves the common good.                    plans were submitted for approval, the world
                                                         was abruptly faced with a major disrup-
    Through active participation of the bishops,         tion due to the widespread outbreak of the
    USCCB staff and volunteer consultants, the           novel coronavirus, which the World Health
    development process for the strategic plan           Organization declared a global pandemic on
    takes two full years. In the case of the 2021-       March 11. Within a matter of weeks, every
    2024 plan, it began in November 2018 with            aspect of life was impacted as daily routines

2
were forcibly disrupted in order to curb          The CPP working group met on April 15,
exposure to the virus and limit its spread.       2020 and developed a new “Pandemic
In the United States, local and state “stay-      Recovery” strategic priority and agreed to
at-home” ordinances forced employers to           allow for adjustments to the strategic plan.
deploy telework plans, schools switched to        The Conference’s Executive Committee
online instruction, retail and service-oriented   expressed full support, and USCCB
businesses were closed or reduced to a min-       Committees reviewed their operational plans
imal scale, and sporting and cultural events      in light of the new strategic priority and
were cancelled to prevent large gatherings of     emphasis areas to determine if there were
people. In all too many cases, employers faced    additions or revisions that were appropriate.
the difficult task of having to furlough or lay
off staff.                                        As Committees worked on exploring the
                                                  need for revisions to their plans, the May 25
Severe limitations on gatherings impacted         death of George Floyd spurred national and
houses of worship and non-profit operations.      international uproar. The incident sparked
Parishes were closed. The public celebration      protests nationwide against excessive use of
of Mass was suspended. The availability of        police force, and the subject of racism was
the sacraments to the faithful was severely       brought to the forefront with calls for deeper
limited. In dioceses across the country, the      reflection and meaningful, lasting social
financial impact of church closures had an        reform. This was another cataclysmic series of
immediate and detrimental impact on parish        events that would call for the Church to stand
ministries, schools, and diocesan operations      in solidarity with all those peacefully seeking
as offertory collections were halted and          racial justice.
parishioners faced abrupt income reductions
or sudden job loss.                               The revisions made to the strategic plan
                                                  in June 2020, therefore, include both these
As the duration of the suspension of regu-        global events that have rapidly reshaped the
lar activity was unclear, the Committee on        world in which the Church must continue to
Priorities and Plans (CPP) considered how         proclaim the Gospel message.
the USCCB would incorporate this new
reality into the proximate strategic plan, as     The five strategic priorities identified by the
submitting and implementing a plan with           bishops and each of the specific empha-
no mention of COVID-19 would neither              sis areas that will guide the bulk of the
represent the will of the bishops nor fulfill     Conference’s work are defined as follows:
the mission of the Conference. It was clear       •   Evangelization: Form a band of joyful
that an emergent priority was keeping the             missionary disciples.
Church spiritually close in a time of physi-
cal distance. In late March, the CPP chair-       •   Life and Dignity of the Human Person:
man formed a COVID-19 Impact Working                  Serve the common good as a leaven in a
Group that would develop a strategic priority         free society.
and accompanying emphasis areas on the
                                                  •   Protect and Heal God’s Children: Restore
pandemic to allow for the amendments of
                                                      integrity, foster virtue.
operational plans.

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•   Vocations: Equip all Christ’s disciples for   While each of the initiatives and activities in
        mission.                                      the 2021-2024 Strategic Plan have components
                                                      that bridge multiple strategic priorities and
    •   Pandemic Recovery: Promote the heal-          emphasis areas, the select highlights below are
        ing of the personal, spiritual, and soci-     meant to give a sampling of the wide-encom-
        etal wounds of COVID-19 through               passing work of the Conference.
        the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ, the
        Divine Physician.

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Five Strategic Priorities

     Evangelization
     Form a band of joyful missionary disciples.

     Life and Dignity of the
     Human Person
     Serve the common good as a leaven in a free society.

     Protect and Heal
     God’s Children
     Restore integrity, foster virtue.

     Vocations
     Equip all Christ’s disciples for mission.

     Pandemic Recovery
     Promote the healing of the personal, spiritual, and societal wounds
     of COVID-19 through the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ, the
     Divine Physician.

                                                                           5
Evangelization: Form a band of joyful
    missionary disciples.
    As Christians, we are called to bring the           membership has shifted
    Gospel message of Christ to the world though        to reflect a more cul-
    word and action. Every day, the Catholic            turally diverse body of
    Church in the United States lives out this call     faith. In order to help
    to evangelize at the local level in communities     ministers and educators
    across the country through her parish min-          in their outreach to youth and young adults,
    istries, education, health care, and social ser-    the Committee for Cultural Diversity in the
    vices. The USCCB’s initiatives, activities, and     Church will continue to work with the Youth
    advocacy through its committees, subcommit-         and Young Adult Ministry office within the
    tees and offices uphold the strategic priority of   Secretariat for Laity, Marriage, Family Life
    evangelization, with special emphasis on the        and Youth in the production of intercultural
    following areas:                                    materials about Christus Vivit, the post-syn-
                                                        odal apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis
    •   Evangelize a culture in need of hope,           released after the 2018 Synod of Bishops on
        especially the religiously unaffiliated.        young people, faith and vocational discern-
    •   Invite and empower youth/                       ment. With this exhortation, along with (1)
        young adults to become missionary               the insight and information gathered as part
        disciples.                                      of the V Encuentro process with Hispanic-
                                                        Latino young people (2017-2019) and (2) the
    •   Foster an evangelizing focus in cat-            National Dialogue collaborative initiative with
        echesis and Catholic schools.                   youth and young adult ministries (2017-2020),
                                                        the Church has been challenged to think anew
    •   Communicate more effectively how the
                                                        of its work with young people as synodal,
        faith transforms lives.
                                                        pastoral, popular, and missionary/vocational
    •   Offer our society an account for the hope       through a methodology of discernment and
        that is within us.                              accompaniment with a non-judgmental, com-
                                                        passionate, and hopeful spirit.
    •   Acknowledge and welcome the gifts and
        talents that the Hispanic community             Pastors, pastoral leaders, families, and engaged
        brings to Christ’s Church.                      youth and young adults are called to be “pro-
                                                        tagonists” in the Church and in society—with
                                                        an impact of transforming parish and diocesan
    The following highlights are a                      efforts to reach and accompany young people.
    sampling of the Conference’s                        This new national framework would draw
    work in these emphasis areas.                       together experts to work with the Committee
                                                        on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth with
                                                        a process of communication and dissemina-
    Supporting a Culturally                             tion following up from World Youth Day 2022
    Diverse Faith Body of Youth                         and the following 2-3 years in order to create
    and Young Adults                                    this guiding vision for our Church.
    As the demographic makeup of the Church
    in the United States has changed, parish

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Strengthening Missionary                           celebrate the blending of the Catholic faith
                                                   and Native American culture and its gifts in
Discipleship of Asian and                          enriching the spirituality of the first peoples
Pacific Island Catholics                           of the Americas. Saint Juan Diego was cho-
                                                   sen because of his closeness to Our Lady of
A national encounter for Asian and Pacific
                                                   Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas.
Island Catholics and those who minister
among them will aim to strengthen mission-
ary discipleship and unity amidst diversity        National Eucharistic Congress
in the U.S. Catholic Church. This gathering        The Committee for Evangelization and
will be through the collaboration with mul-        Catechesis is coordinating the effort to
tiple offices within the Conference, bishops,      explore, plan and execute a National
national ministry networks, Asian and Pacific      Eucharistic Congress. Declining Mass atten-
Island organizations, national, diocesan and       dance, the lack of understanding of the real
parish leaders, and representatives of Catholic    presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and
organizations who serve Asian and Pacific          increasing religious disaffiliation are major
Islanders to welcome and integrate the faithful    challenges facing the Church today. The com-
of this community to live a faith-filled life in   mittee has recognized that the return to the
the Catholic Church.                               Eucharist as the “source and summit” of who
As a follow-up to the V Encuentro process,         we are and what we do as Catholics is key to
the Subcommittee on Hispanic Affairs will          revitalization. Such a renewal would require
review the operational plans and activities        work at every level of Church: the parish, the
of the USCCB contained in the 2021-2024            diocese, the region, and the nation—to reeval-
Strategic Plan and develop a thorough state-       uate all of her activities from the celebration
ment and pastoral plan for Hispanic minis-         of the Mass and the preaching of a homily to
try, so the Church in the United States may        its ministries, social programs, evangeliza-
strengthen and enhance this ministry over the      tion of the unaffiliated, and advocacy in the
next ten to fifteen years. A working docu-         public square. The framework for developing
ment will be created first and reviewed by the     programs and resources will follow the three
Subcommittee on Hispanic Affairs with the          great transcendentals to provide formation in
intention of having the statement and pastoral     these crucial areas: Catechesis and Apologetics
plan used during the Raices y Alas Congress in     (Truth); Devotion and Worship (Beauty);
September 2021.                                    Conversion and Mission (Goodness). By first
                                                   focusing on best practices for parish-based
National Day of Prayer to                          renewal around the Eucharist and then shar-
                                                   ing recommendations for diocesan and/or
Celebrate Native American                          regional Eucharistic conferences, these dioce-
Culture and Gifts                                  san and regional initiatives could then lead to
The Subcommittee for Native American               a national event in 2024 to inspire participants
Affairs is working on the development of a         to return to their parishes and dioceses with
National Day of Prayer to be observed on the       a renewed Eucharistic focus as they proclaim
Feast of Saint Juan Diego. The intention is        the Gospel through the corporal and spiritual
to make Catholic Native American Ministry          works of mercy.
more visible and have an opportunity to

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African National Eucharistic                        movement towards youth and young adults’
                                                        calling as missionary disciples, transforming
    Congress                                            their churches, their local communities, and
    The African National Eucharistic Congress           society at large by concrete actions.
    (ANEC) is a gathering of African Catholics
    in the United States every five years to cel-       Assisting the Church in
    ebrate their Catholic faith and strengthen          Central and Eastern Europe
    their response to be missionary disciples.
                                                        Following decades of communist oppression
    The Committee for Cultural Diversity in the
                                                        and persecution, the National Collection
    Church will collaborate with other USCCB
                                                        to Aid the Church in Central and Eastern
    committees to support the next ANEC,
                                                        Europe was established to help the Church in
    planned for 2021, to explore best practices
                                                        Eastern Europe rebuild their churches from
    and to find ways to respond to the growing
                                                        physical infrastructures to renewed pastoral
    pastoral needs of African Catholics, such as
                                                        and organizational capacity. In collabora-
    (1) strengthening their faith, marriages, and
                                                        tion with the Diocesan Fiscal Management
    family life, (2) nurturing their vocations to the
                                                        Conference (DFMC), Villanova Church
    priesthood, religious life, and lay ministry, and
                                                        Management Program, and select local dio-
    (3) supporting the parish communities that
                                                        ceses, the Subcommittee for Aid to the Church
    welcome them.
                                                        in Central and Eastern Europe has been able
    World Youth Day                                     to provide a rich experience of exchange for
                                                        diocesan financial managers from nine out
    More than one million youth and young               of twenty-eight countries it serves through
    adults from around the globe will converge on       the annual national collection. The experi-
    Lisbon in summer 2022 for the next interna-         ences have covered management and pastoral
    tional World Youth Day (WYD), convened by           topics such as diocesan finances, stewardship,
    the Holy Father. Leading up to this moment of       Catholic universities, and special ministries
    encounter, the Committee on Laity, Marriage,        such as post-abortion counseling. Participants
    Family Life and Youth will coordinate the           are able to return to their home countries
    United States’ participation. This massive          inspired by the best practices demonstrated in
    undertaking will include the development of         the U.S. and seek creative solutions to the their
    resources and tools for the pilgrim experience      local challenges.
    through catechetical, spiritual, and practi-
    cal preparation leading up to WYD, as well
    as continued evangelization and vocational

8
Life and Dignity of the Human Person:
Serve the common good as a leaven in a
free society.
From conception to natural death, the Church        National Catholic
teaches that the sanctity of human life must be     Anti-Racism
upheld with special concern for the vulnera-
                                                    Gathering
ble: the unborn, the elderly, the sick, and those
with disabilities; the poor; migrants and refu-     The Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism had
gees; and those who are marginalized or perse-      the framework and plans underway for a
cuted. As a key theme of his pontificate, Pope      national gathering of Catholic lay leadership
Francis continuously reminds us to minister to      and clergy in [Date/Location] with the goal
those in the peripheries, and through the stra-     of educating, raising awareness, and having
tegic priority of upholding the life and dignity    a forum for authentic and transformational
of the human person, the bishops are placing        conversion of heart and mind while building a
special emphasis on the following areas:            capacity for understanding. The gathering has
                                                    a renewed sense of importance and urgency
•   Work to heal the scourge of hatred based
                                                    with the killing of George Floyd that re-awak-
    on race and/or religion.
                                                    ened the national conscience on the issue
•   Protect and defend the dignity of migrants      of racism in America. The incident sparked
    and refugees, of the poor and those on          protests against the excessive use of police
    the peripheries.                                force, but it also fueled intense, renewed calls
                                                    for meaningful and lasting social reform. The
•   Defend the right to life for all people espe-   Church will have an important role to play to
    cially the unborn, elderly, sick, dying and     ensure America’s long journey toward freedom
    persons with disabilities; and fight the        and justice for all is finally completed. The
    advance of abortion, infanticide, assisted      national gathering [which has been adjusted to
    suicide, euthanasia, and the death penalty.     take place as a virtual event in the wake of the
                                                    pandemic] will seek to engage campus min-
•   Defend and secure religious liberty and
                                                    isters and administrators, as well as catechists
    freedom of association.
                                                    and teachers in Catholic K-12 schools on
•   Foster reverence for God’s creation, our        the Church’s history regarding race. There is
    common home.                                    an additional educational track designed for
                                                    seminarians and priests on how and when to
•   Articulate a convincing anthro-                 preach homilies on racism.
    pology of the human per-
    son, male and female, as proclaimed             Reconciliation and Atonement
    by faith and affirmed by science
    and right reason.                               The ethnic and demographic shift of the
                                                    Church in the United States has also meant
                                                    that in some instances, communities no lon-
The following highlights are a
                                                    ger reflect an original parish’s predominant
sampling of the Conference’s                        community. A reconciliation and atonement
work in these emphasis areas.                       initiative by the Ad Hoc Committee Against
                                                    Racism focuses on helping the Church and its
                                                    members navigate communal healing caused

                                                                                                       9
by racial disparities. There will be liturgical,    providers and Asian Pacific organizations
     theological, and pastoral resources for com-        around the country, an effort is underway to
     munities and parishes created as a part of this     raise awareness, provide educational and out-
     reconciliation and atonement project.               reach activities, and engage the Asian commu-
                                                         nity in grassroots advocacy for the protection
     50th Anniversary of the                             of life and dignity in their communities.
     Catholic Campaign for Human
     Development                 Pastoral Visit with Migrant
                                 Farmworkers
     Since its founding a half-century ago, the
     Catholic Campaign for Human Development             Each year, a pastoral visit is made to migrant
     (CCHD) has strengthened social justice efforts      workers in different areas of the country to
     in communities and has touched and empow-           see and to hear the reality faced by those
     ered the lives of low-income individuals across     who work in the U.S. agricultural fields and
     the country. The campaign’s 50th anniversary        industries. The visit allows the members of the
     provides an opportunity for reflection on the       Subcommittee on Pastoral Care of Migrants,
     founding and the history of the campaign, its       Refugees and Travelers to express the U.S.
     ongoing work, achievements, and its future.         bishops’ care and concern for them and artic-
     The gathering was initially planned as an           ulate the moral concern of the Church in the
     in-person celebration from May 12-14, 2021 in       United States regarding immigration to better
     Chicago, but it has been changed to a virtual       seek avenues toward addressing the challenges
     event to gather in solidarity and look back on      and difficulties confronting immigrants.
     the Campaign’s founding, its history, and the       Through continued engagement with the
     challenges it has faced. In addition to celebrat-   migrant workers—listening to their needs and
     ing CCHD’s achievements, it will also be an         advocating for dignified working and living
     important time to look forward and shape the        conditions—the Church is able to strengthen
     future of the Campaign. A key component of          its solidarity with immigrants and understand
     the gathering will be listening to the voices of    the needs of the migrant farm workers, as
     people who live on the margins of our soci-         well as recommend best practices and identify
     ety: people from diverse communities with           priorities, pastoral care and advocacy.
     different lived experiences. Living out the call
     of Pope Francis for the Church to minister to       Parental Choice in Education
     those “on the peripheries,” this gathering will
                                                         Parental choice in education allows families to
     seek to connect, learn, and find new ways to
                                                         have access to state or federally funded schol-
     work for social justice and promote human
                                                         arships to attend the school that best meets the
     dignity in our communities.
                                                         needs of their child. As of 2020, there is only
     Human Trafficking                                   one federal education choice program (limited
                                                         to residents of Washington, DC), and there
     Asians are among the vulnerable and                 are fifty-five programs in twenty-six states
     at-risk population of migrants, refugees,           (plus Puerto Rico) at the state/local level. The
     displaced persons, and those who are traf-          Church teaches that “parents who have the
     ficked. Through a collaborative effort among        primary and inalienable right and duty to
     USCCB offices such as Migration and Refugee         educate their children must enjoy true liberty
     Services, and Justice, Peace and Human              in their choice of schools” (Gravissimum edu-
     Development, as well as with Catholic service       cationis), but also that choice is not sufficient

10
if recourses are not made available. Therefore,    Relations—is developing resources and tools
the Committee on Catholic Education has            for educating diocesan superintendents and
prioritized expanding parental choice at the       school administrators, as well as parents and
state and federal level. This initiative will be   the faithful in the pews, as well as developing
enhanced through parental outreach, building       outreach efforts that support ongoing vigilance
awareness within the Catholic community,           and policy advocacy to uphold and protect
advocacy and ensuring the public policy            what has been called our “First Freedom.”
around these types of programs uphold
Catholic schools’ autonomy to teach and hire       Walking with Moms in Need
according to their mission, protecting religious
liberties and upholding Church teachings.          Pope Francis reminds us that our parishes
                                                   need to be “islands of mercy in the midst of
Educating on Christian                             the sea of indifference.” Pregnant and parent-
Anthropology                                       ing moms in need are in our parishes and our
                                                   neighborhoods, and everyone in the parish
A convincing and authentic Christian anthro-       community should know where to refer a
pology lies at the heart of understanding          pregnant woman for lifesaving support. The
the Church’s teaching on issues surrounding        25th anniversary year of Pope John Paul II’s
sexuality, gender, and racism. It is vital that    encyclical Evangelium vitae (The Gospel of
Catholic schools become more intentional           Life) gives us an opportunity to assess, expand,
about it, which will necessitate ongoing           and communicate resources to pregnant moms
teacher and administrator formation. The           and families in need. In the ongoing effort to
Committee on Catholic Education—work-              uphold the dignity of human life through both
ing with other USCCB standing commit-              word and action, the Committee for Pro-Life
tees (Evangelization and Catechesis; Laity,        Activities is inviting parishes, through the sup-
Marriage, Family Life and Youth; Clergy,           port of their bishop, to join a nationwide effort
Consecrated Life Life and Vocations; Ad Hoc        entitled: “Walking with Moms in Need: A
Committee Against Racism)—seeks to sup-            Year of Service.” Initially envisioned for March
port school leaders by creating and compiling      25, 2020 to March 25, 2021, many dioceses
resources that would include webinars and          have been using alternative launch dates due
workshops aimed at deepening the under-            to COVID-19. The committee has developed
standing of Christian anthropology.                educational, pastoral, and action-oriented
                                                   resources for parish use, such as tools to
Protecting Religious Freedom                       document an inventory of local resources for
                                                   pregnant mothers in need; ideas for improving
In recent times, there have been several           parish responses; prayers for building a culture
attempts to curb the religious liberty of          of life and a civilization of love; reflections on
Catholic institutions. For Catholic schools,       the teachings of Evangelium vitae, Evangelii
whether in response to legislative actions         gaudium, and Laudato si’. The hope is that
or judicial decisions, school leaders and          this Year of Service will kick off a multi-year
parents need resources about the issue             effort at the local, diocesan and national levels,
and tools for advocacy. The Committee on           to better reach and assist pregnant women
Catholic Education—in collaboration with           in need.
the Committee for Religious Liberty and the
offices for General Counsel and Government

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Protect and Heal God’s Children:
     Restore integrity, foster virtue.
     The Catholic Church has confronted the            The following
     scandal of sexual abuse. The U.S. bishops
                                                       highlights are a
     have expressed their commitment to helping
     survivors find healing and hope, and dioceses     sampling of the
     across the country have worked to put policies    Conference’s work
     and programs in place to protect young people     in these emphasis areas.
     and to create safe environments in parishes,
     schools and other Church ministries. As the       Abuse Prevention and Safe
     issue of leadership and bishop accountability     Environment Training
     began to take center stage, Pope Francis con-
     vened the heads of bishops’ conferences from      In its ongoing efforts to end child sexual
     around the world for a summit on the protec-      abuse—and out of concern for the protection
     tion of minors in the Church and he issued his    of all of God’s children—the Secretariat of
     motu propio, Vos estis lux mundi (“You Are the    Cultural Diversity in the Church will be facil-
     Light of the World”), which set new rules and     itating a dialogue between the Office of Child
     procedures to ensure that the world’s bishops     and Youth Protection, diocesan safe environ-
     and religious superiors would be held account-    ment directors, and the leaders of particular
     able for allegations made against them for        Catholic ethnic and cultural groups. The
     either committing abuse or mishandling abuse      purpose of this dialogue is to discern cultur-
     claims. As part of the ongoing commitment to      ally appropriate ways to conduct child protec-
     restoring the trust of the faithful and working   tion and safe environment trainings and enlist
     toward the goal of ending the scourge of child    community leaders in abuse prevention and
     sexual abuse—not only in the Church but in        identification, as well as encourage reporting
     the wider society—protecting and healing          of abuse and promote the healing of abuse sur-
     God’s children is a strategic priority for the    vivors. As part of this effort, existing services
     U.S. bishops, with special emphasis on the        and resources will be identified, and there will
     following areas:                                  be an effort made to encourage the sharing of
                                                       these resources and know-how between the
     •   Create and maintain safe environments         dioceses so that healing of victims and abuse
         through sound policies and procedures.        prevention can better reach all linguistic and
     •   Extend and ensure effective collabora-        cultural communities.
         tion with the laity.
                                                       Sharing best practices and
     •   Cultivate an ever‐deepening spiritual-        encouraging ongoing dia-
         ity of chastity and virtue.
                                                       logue on child and youth
     •   Nurture courageous and transpar-              protection
         ent reflection and leadership.
                                                       Though Vos estis lux mundi, the Holy Father
     •   Accompany survivors and embrace their         set new rules and procedures to ensure that
         witness.                                      the world’s bishops and religious superiors

12
would be held accountable for allegations
made against them for either committing
                                                  Continuing education and
abuse or mishandling abuse claims. As part of     awareness for clergy
the U.S. bishops’ ongoing commitment to end       Recognizing that ongoing education, aware-
the scourge of child sexual abuse, ongoing dia-   ness, training, and vigilance is necessary in
logue and the sharing of lessons learned and      the area of child and youth protection, the
best practices is paramount. The Committee        Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and
on Protection of Children and Young People        Vocations will consult and collaborate with the
will attend or host an international child        Committee on the Protection of Children and
and youth protection conference. Providing        Young People to provide practical resources
resources to English-speaking episcopal           for the initial and ongoing formation of priests
conferences and exchanging ideas and sharing      and deacons related to the protection of chil-
best practices in the area of child and youth     dren and youth.
protection benefits all.

                                                                                                     13
Vocations: Equip all Christ’s disciples
     for mission.
     Encouraging, supporting, and educating on          national organizations
     the Church’s teachings and its pastoral needs      with a vocations mission,
     with regard to vocations is a vital part of the    and youth and young
     work of the bishops. Each person is called to      adults to enhance their
     fully live out their vocation, whether it is to    ministries.
     the priesthood, diaconate, or consecrated life,
     or through marriage and family life, as well as    Promoting and Strengthening
     single life. As part of the ongoing work of the    Marriage and the Family
     Church to foster and embrace one’s vocation,
     equipping all of Christ’s disciples for mission    Each year, National Marriage Week (February
     is a key priority for the bishops with special     7-14) and World Marriage Sunday (second
     emphasis in the following areas:                   Sunday of February) provide the opportu-
                                                        nity to focus on building a culture of life and
     •   Foster lifelong discernment and forma-         love that begins with supporting, promoting
         tion to fulfill one’s God‐given vocation.      and upholding marriage and the family. The
                                                        Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life
     •   Prepare for and sustain the living out of
                                                        and Youth (LMFLY) chooses a theme each
         marriage and family life.
                                                        year and provides tools for diocesan ministry
     •   Create a culture that nurtures Consecrated     leaders and clergy to encourage participa-
         Life and Holy Orders.                          tion in dioceses and parishes, such as virtual
                                                        retreats for couples, preaching resources for
     •   Encourage the laity in their mission to        clergy, and a bulletin insert in English and
         evangelize society.                            Spanish. A social media kit is also provided to
                                                        dioceses and parishes to use with their own
     The following highlights are a                     media channels.
     sampling of the Conference’s
     work in these emphasis areas.
                                                        World Meeting of Families
                                                        The World Meeting of Families (WMOF)
     Fostering Vocations in the                         started by St. John Paul II is an international
     African American Community                         gathering of families held every three years. To
                                                        encourage more families to participate from
     The Subcommittee for African American              the United States, the LMFLY staff are plan-
     Affairs will be focused on increasing form-        ning to pilot a comprehensive project to assist
     ing clergy, lay leaders, and solid allies in the   families and groups with resources for pil-
     African American community for the evange-         grimage planning. These resources will include
     lization of African American Catholics and for     prayer and reflection guides, handbooks for
     promotion of vocations. Part of this initiative    travel safety and other useful information, as
     would be to research, examine and synthesize       well as materials to assist diocesan and par-
     both best practices and deterrents to promot-      ish leaders in their efforts to coordinate local
     ing vocations within the Black Catholic com-       events around the WMOF with the hopes that
     munity and to provide helpful information          more families will be able to access the riches
     to the bishops, seminary rectors, vocations        and blessings of this international gathering.
     directors, diocesan staff, Catholic educators,

14
Pandemic Recovery: Promote the heal-
ing of the personal, spiritual, and soci-
etal wounds of COVID-19 through
the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ, the
Divine Physician.
The world in which the Church proclaims             Equipping the
the Gospel has changed with the COVID-19            Church to minister during a
pandemic, and once the recovery process
                                                    pandemic and in a post-pan-
begins, additional changes will be needed to
adjust to a new reality. The impact of the pan-
                                                    demic world
demic touches upon every aspect of our lives.       The Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life
Stay-at-home orders and limits on gatherings        and Vocations (CCLV) will collaborate with
have meant that even operational aspects of         organizations dedicated to ongoing clergy
the Church’s ministry need to be re-evalu-          formation to incorporate into the annual
ated. With no guarantee that 2020 will see the      theme—particularly at annual conferences—
end of this pandemic, thoughts turn to what         the support of those in the clerical state,
Church ministry will look like in the long-         focusing on the Eucharist and on recovery
term and what adjustments may be needed.            after the pandemic. Additionally, CCLV will
With that in mind, one of the key priorities        host a meeting with experts in the field of
for the bishops focuses on pandemic recovery        ongoing formation to discuss drafting the sec-
with special emphasis in the following areas:       ond edition of the Basic Plan for the Ongoing
                                                    Formation of Priests, taking into account new
•   Foster the efforts of dioceses and parishes
                                                    circumstances revealed in the life of priests
    to recover from the destructive power of
                                                    by the stresses of the novel coronavirus. In
    COVID-19 upon the body, mind, and soul
                                                    doing so, CCLV hopes to identify new mea-
    especially among the poor.
                                                    sures and assist in existing efforts to prepare
•   Identify new measures and assist in             clergy to minister effectively in the face of the
    existing efforts to be prepared to minister     next potential pandemic or existential threat.
    effectively in the face of the next potential   Additionally, in a unified effort to continue its
    pandemic or existential threat.                 ministry and evangelization efforts during and
                                                    after the COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee
•   Invite the faithful to share in the triumph     on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs will
    of the Cross over all destructive forces by     continue to dialogue with different Christian
    encountering the Lord Jesus in Holy Mass        denominations to share best practices for
    and being renewed in the healing power of       ministry and evangelization. The Committee
    the Body and Blood of Christ.                   on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth
                                                    (LMFLY) will be enhancing its marriage and
The following highlights are a                      family ministry efforts, as well as support-
sampling of the Conference’s                        ing its lay ecclesial ministers in light of the
work in these emphasis areas.                       circumstances and stresses caused by ongo-
                                                    ing economic, mental, emotional, and spir-
                                                    itual impacts.

                                                                                                        15
Pandemic recovery and dis-                          The Church’s works continue
     proportionately impacted                            The Church’s works of social justice, evan-
     communities                                         gelization, education, and national and local
     The Committee for Cultural Diversity in the         institutional development must continue,
     Church will facilitate consultation on par-         despite a global pandemic. In order to effec-
     ticular issues and participation in various         tively carry out our mission as Catholics, we
     collaborative projects with an emphasis on          need to combine resources in order to support
     (1) supporting pandemic recovery efforts,           the Church and those in need. The novel coro-
     especially among the communities that have          navirus knows no bounds, and the COVID-19
     been disproportionately impacted, as well as        pandemic hit each and every community. The
     (2) preparedness to minister in the face of         weekly offertory was not available with the
     future threats.                                     parish closures, and parishes that did not have
                                                         electronic giving options (or parishioners who
     Catholic education during a                         usually give electronically) found themselves
                                                         in an especially difficult position. Across the
     global pandemic                                     board, there were faithful parishioners who
     The financial impact of the closure of churches     lost their jobs or saw drastic income loss as a
     has had an immediate and detrimental impact         result of the pandemic that made it difficult to
     on the parish schools, as weekly offertory          continue financially contributing to their par-
     collections were halted and some parishioners       ish. The Committee on National Collections
     faced abrupt income reductions or sudden job        has been working with the dioceses to pro-
     loss. The Committee on Catholic Education           mote options to assist with financial recovery,
     has continued its advocacy efforts through          including e-giving platforms. One specific
     the state Catholic conferences in support           example of the way that the Committee is
     of legislative and regulatory initiatives that      preparing for pandemic recovery efforts is
     impact Catholic schools, including school           the adjustments made by the Subcommittee
     choice and funding, emergency financial aid         on Catholic Home Missions to include the
     for families, governmental aid to assist finan-     procurement of personal protective equipment
     cially challenged schools, and the health and       (PPE) as an acceptable use of the grants.
     safety of students, teachers and staff related to
     the pandemic. As plans are made to re-open
     schools amidst uncertainty with the ongoing
     spread of the virus, the Committee is working
     on resources to prepare diocesan education
     leadership on health and safety measures in
     Catholic schools.

16
Created Anew by the Body and Blood of Christ:
Source of Our Healing and Hope
Throughout these pages, you can uncover the        Francis spoke to God for us all, “You are call-
architectural plan for the Holy Father’s beloved   ing on us to seize this time of trial as a time of
field hospital in the United States. They show     choosing. It is not the time of your judgment,
how the United States Conference of Catholic       but of our judgement: a time to choose what
Bishops will help bind the wounds—physical         matters and what passes away, a time to sepa-
and spiritual—that are so present in society       rate what is necessary from what is not.”
today. Bringing the real presence of Christ to
those hungering for God’s healing mercy is our     This has been the task of writing and updating
commitment to every soul in need of hope.          our strategic plan during these times. We set
These pages are an invitation to Catholics,        about this work guided by the wisdom of St.
Christians and people of good will to join the     Luke found in chapter 14 of his Gospel.
saving work of serving our sisters and broth-         Which of you wishing to construct a
ers. As Pope Francis has said, “If we act as one      tower does not first sit down and calcu-
people, even in the face of other epidemics           late the cost to see if there is enough for
that threaten us, we can make a real impact.”         its completion? Otherwise, after laying
This strategic framework was written by more          the foundation and finding himself
than 300 bishops, 1,800 collaborators, and            unable to finish the work the onlook-
more than three dozen committees, subcom-             ers should laugh at him and say, “This
mittees, ad hoc committees, secretariats, and         one began to build but did not have the
offices of the Conference. The work reveals           resources to finish.”
the Holy Spirit animating more than 230            Now, with our preparations done, let us go
objectives and nearly 900 activities—all for the   forth and renew our sacred commitment to
purpose of building the Kingdom of God.            bring the hope of our resurrected Lord to
During his extraordinary Urbi et Orbi message      the world.
at the height of the global pandemic, Pope

                                                   The Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio,
                                                   Chairman
                                                   Committee on Priorities and Plans

                                                                                                        17
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