Plans to discuss possible U.S. plenary church council outlined

Published: 2003-11-11

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein of Indianapolis Nov. 10 urged the U.S. bishops to attend their entire special assembly next June when they will discuss the pros and cons of convening the first plenary council of the U.S. church since 1884. There will be no debate or votes on particular proposals until next November's general meeting, he said, but the ad hoc committee overseeing the process hopes that at the June gathering "by the end of the week there may well be an emerging common sense of the body" on where to go next. The bishops meet in a special assembly, in place of their regular spring business meetings, every third or fourth June. The assembly is usually a longer meeting, held in a more retreat-like atmosphere, and no formal business sessions are held. The upcoming assembly will be held June 14-19 in Denver. The crisis of the clergy sexual abuse scandal in 2002 prompted some bishops to propose convening the U.S. church's first plenary council since the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1884.

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