Proposed plan would mean far fewer bishops' committees

Published: 2006-06-01

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When the U.S. bishops meet in June, they will discuss a draft plan to reduce drastically the number of committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The USCCB is the national membership organization of all active Catholic bishops of the United States and U.S. Virgin Islands. Under the proposal from the bishops' Committee on Priorities and Plans, the number of USCCB program or mission committees would drop from 35 to 14. The number of executive-level or management committees would go from five to four. Ad hoc committees -- currently numbering 16 -- would be eliminated, although ad hoc subcommittees or temporary task forces could be created when needed. As in the current USCCB structure, some committees could have permanent subcommittees dealing with areas that require extensive ongoing work or special expertise. The committee restructuring, to be voted on when the bishops meet again in November, is a first major step in a planned streamlining of the USCCB national offices. Staffing changes are to be discussed and decided the following year.

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