Names of new committees in bishops' conference

Published: 2006-11-17

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- When the nation's bishops adopted a plan to reorganize the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops next year, a major component was a sharp reduction in the number of the bishops' standing committees and the elimination of all their ad hoc committees. The bishops approved the plan by a 213-19 vote on the second day of their Nov. 13-16 meeting in Baltimore. It is to take effect after their November 2007 meeting. At that time the current 36 standing committees and 16 ad hoc committees will be reduced to 16 standing committees, also sometimes described as program committees. The new committees, like the current ones, will have only bishops as members. Five current management or administrative committees will be reduced to four. Some of the current standing or ad hoc committees will become subcommittees.

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