Bishops want more time to dialogue on major church issues

Published: 2004-11-16

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- After two years of extensive discussions about whether to convene a potentially historic national plenary council or regional synod of the U.S. Catholic Church, the U.S. bishops have clearly rejected those ideas. But they also made clear that they need to spend more time in dialogue and debate among themselves about what they need to do to respond to major issues facing the church across the nation. The big issues they are concerned about are two generations of disarray in evangelization and catechesis in the U.S. church, declining Catholic participation in the Eucharist and other sacraments during that period, and the dramatic decline in vocations to the priesthood and religious life in the past three decades. Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein of Indianapolis was head of the ad hoc committee formed in 2002 to guide the bishops through a proposal by a group of bishops to convene a national plenary council. He reported to the bishops Nov. 15 that after major discussions at their national meetings in June of 2003 and 2004, there was little support among the bishops for the idea of such a plenary council or another suggested alternative, a U.S. regional synod of bishops.

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