Religious freedom topic as Catholic bishops convene
From Staff Reportsreligion@newnan.com
Wilton D. Gregory, Catholic archbishop of Atlanta, welcomed the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for their annual Spring General Assembly from June 13-15 in Atlanta.
Gregory commented on the significance of hosting the USCCB meeting in Atlanta. “This year we mark our 50th Anniversary as an archdiocese having received that designation from Blessed Pope John XXIII on Feb. 10, 1962 at the same time appointing Paul J. Hallinan from the Diocese of Charleston to become the first archbishop of Atlanta,” he said.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta currently has one million members in north and central Georgia.
At the meeting, the bishops held a two-hour floor discussion on domestic and international religious freedom. They also heard an address by Carolyn Woo, PhD, the new president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services, the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic Church in the United States.
The agenda included a 10-year progress report by the National Review Board on the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People and recommendations by the National Review Board from the study and from The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2010. A report was given by Bishop Salvatore Cordileone of Oakland, Calif., chairman of the USCCB Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, and by Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Communications, on the Task Force for Communications.
